A Level History or English Literature?

I did English Literature on AQA spec B and I don't think there was any linguistic analysis - that's English Language. Although if you're doing specificiation A then it might be different for you, I wouldn't know.

Anyway I did both and enjoyed both. From what it sounds like, English Lit might be better if you're not interested in the topics in History. It's really hard to get into but it was rewarding, and I loved A2 (even though I'm not sure how the exam went ). I did actually enjoy History more, but that's because I really really like it (I'm doing it as my degree) and I liked the topics - its really important you're confident your going to enjoy what you study!

Ooh, Mussolini! I would've loved to study him. I find Dictatorship so interesting. I studied Nazi Germany at GCSE and absolutely loved it! My current school's sixth form do Stalin's Dictatorship at A2 and I'm so jealous! I'm going to check out more of the content of the reformation and C16 Church, and try out the homework we got given (who gives out summer homework to prospective students?) to see how I like it.

Oh wow that sounds scary, but it's reassuring to hear that you did well! Makes it sound doable. Good luck with your A2 results!

I found the IGCSE English Lit exam quite easy (considering the little amount of preparation my school provided us), and the GCSE History exam so-so (due to my lack of revision for Paper 2 ), so if GCSEs are any indication, I think I might be able to fare better with the Lit exams more so than the History exams at A Level.
I don't think I'd carry English Lit onto A2 (same with History). The exam is closed book, isn't it? That sounds too much for me.

What's the coursework for History like? History coursework was a huge problem for me at GCSE. Although I did well in them, they were so time-consuming! Had to stay behind after school many times to complete them!

Mussolini was pretty interesting, its a great pair with NAZI Germany as Hitler and Mussolini were basically copying off eachover. Most people seem to really like dictatorships, perhaps studying C16 church would be a "widened experience" of history? But doing the homework sounds like a good idea, or looking at it at least.

I don't know much about IGCSEs but GCSEs aren't going to be a proper indication of your ability at A-Level unfortunately I've known people to go from A*s-fails, its really the ability to step up your game drastically in a limited time space! But yes, both A-Levels are doable if you put the effort into it, even at A2 where yeah it was closed book. And thanks

Well first off the history coursework is only at A2 so you'll probably never see it but anyway... it was difficult in that you have to research everything (though my college gave out loads of documents and texts which made it easier) - supposedly its as hard as first-year and possibly second-year university history modules. I really enjoyed it though, and it gives you the opportunity to really thrive. I don't know what your GCSE was like but for me it was a controlled assessment, whereas at A2 it was coursework you could complete in your own time, which was a lot better. However, again it relies on how much you like the topic - mine was on witchcraft which I enjoyed but I know those who hate it solely because they found it so boring.

Have a good look at the Spec A syllabus on the AQA website, it'll give you an idea of how much linguistic analysis is involved. Shame I can't really help you on that though.

Oh wow, it's rare to see someone else who did Maths and FM and English Lit! How did you find the Lit exams? I've read that the timings can be pretty rubbish

I think I'll jump on this, even though I live in Northern Ireland and all my exams are done through CCEA
I'm going into A2 in September and I do History and English Lit for A Level, along with RE and Politics. (4 essay subjects; I didn't know what my hand was after the exams!) I do have a friend who goes to another school and did AQA English Lit; all I know is that for the novel (and we both did Gatsby) AQA was open book while my board is closed book. It was horrible.
I actually find what your CoE school wants you to study for History as fascinating! I go to a Catholic school so I only ever did the Churches way back in 2nd year, but I have a personal love for the Tudors anyway. I studied Germany 1918-1945 (again) and Ireland 1820-1866 this year, and while I love Irish history, it's all I study next year, from the period 1800-1925. Great, I have to relearn about many failed rebellions!
Overall, maybe you should consider out of History and English Lit which one will benefit you in the long run, and which one you'll enjoy best and get the better grade. I would push you towards History, but I'm biased with it cause I want to study it at uni and I'm so in love with it, but whatever you do, good luck!

I did Eng Lit B, and the grade boundaries are so low that the only people who don't get an A are those who don't enjoy English/reading and have just taken the A-level not because they like it, but because they want it! Which turns out to be a majority of people (at least at my college it was)..

What do you mean about timings? Exam-wise?

Hey guys

For my A-Levels, I'm definitely taking Maths, Further Maths and Physics as I'm hoping to go for a Maths degree in the future. However, for my fourth option, I'm unsure. I was going to take History, but I'm not entirely keen on the topics they study at the sixth form I want to go to. I was thinking of taking English Literature instead as I'm pretty good at it naturally and have an affinity for reading and creative writing. However, I don't like linguistic analysis all that much so I'm not sure I'd enjoy it. If it's any help, my sixth form is with AQA for all the subjects I'm considering.

Any advice?

Thank you.

English Literature doesn't focus on linguistic analysis that much! As someone who took both English subjects, I was kind of... appalled at how bad some of the "A" grade linguistic analysis was in literature - people who detested it in our class eventually got the hang of it and found it to be the easiest part of English by the end of year 13. It's a great subject and if you enjoy your texts you'll find the analysis easy.

History, on the other hand, is very difficult but very worth it if you can achieve an A. I would only recommend it if you find it interesting though or you'll struggle to stay awake in lessons/struggle to remember it if it's dry. I found 70% of the course SO interesting and loved it so much and thus did very well in those modules but the modern history ones were a total drag - I did well through forcing myself to revise though. It IS easier to revise for history but equally you can be kinda lazy in English if you're good at it.

I'm good at linguistic analysis, I just find it really dull. I did enjoy the analysis we did for the IGCSE English Lit coursework though, it was actually my favourite bit! I was so proud of my coursework and my teacher was really impressed too haha

I experienced exactly what you described at GCSE! Found History kind of difficult at the beginning and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get A*s! I got the hang of it eventually though. Despite struggling with it at the beginning, I enjoyed it so much! It was also really satisfying to see A*s in my coursework and mocks! I did feel like falling asleep a few times in lessons though, haha I found English Lit really easy and never put in any effort in lessons, but still managed to do really well in the coursework. Not too sure about the exam though!

Oooh, easier to revise for History?? That's interesting! I would've thought History would be harder to revise since there's so many facts and dates to remember! Why would you say Eng Lit is harder to revise?

I did both English Literature and History for AS Level, and although I love History, we had to study the medieval period . . which is just about the most boring and uninteresting period of history I could have studied! I preferred English Literature by a long shot. Of course, I also studied the Napoleonic Era in History which I loved, but all in all English Literature's topics were better than History's were. I dropped History at A2, although the topics were a bit better (Weimar Germany and Cold War).

That isn't to say it would be the same with every exam board (I did CCEA for English Lit and OCR for History) however I find with English Lit, even if you don't necessarily like the books/plays/poems that you're studying and writing about, you can at least bring in other pieces of literature that you do like and make them relevant in your answer. Furthermore, as long as you're using big words and referring to the key terms of the question you're guaranteed to do quite well. You should also remember that creative writing usually features as a part of English Literature and can make up as much as 20% of your overall mark! Quite a bit if history and philosophy features in English Lit too, if that interests you. In short, as long as you like writing and being creative, English Lit will always have an element of enjoyability behind it no matter what you're studying.

On the other hand, you're quite restricted in History and can only write specifically about what you're studying. Obviously, if you don't actually like what you're studying, then writing 10+ pages on the subject is going be a nightmare. History does has a slight advantage in that it isn't as subjective as English is ie. what you're writing is generally either factual or it isn't, where as examiners more actively disagree with your opinion in English Lit exams, even if it's well supported by your own evidence.

Both History and English Lit are well respected and challenging A Levels, and when you do well in them it feels very rewarding. No matter what one you choose, know that if you work hard you will feel good and universities and employers will look upon you with admiration. However, personally I think English Literature is a more enjoyable A Level, and I'm glad I took it to A2 and not History. If I were you, I would choose English!

Aww, that's great! You should have no problem at A-level then since most people struggle with it. It can be dull if you don't love it like I do but just remember: you're going to get copious amounts of marks for it for free, basically! The problem I had at AS English Lit was I often ran out of time and ignored context in favour of language (I'm an aspiring linguist) haha, but managed to balance things out and fingers crossed am expecting an A* at A2 this summer!

Yes, that's what history feels like at all levels I think! At AS I was getting rubbish grades to begin with and I progressed steadily throughout the two years and believe me it is SO, SO rewarding to get an A* in your A2 history coursework! If you found that at GCSE, maybe the challenge of A-level and the satisfaction of working and achieving will definitely suit you. Plus history certainly complements science subjects as it shows a more abstract yet still logical way of thinking. Ahh, that's the thing with English Lit - I'm always 100% convinced I've messed up the exams because it is so hard to tell and English papers can get marked incorrectly very often due to how subjective it is. I'm sure you did really well! I've always found it easy, and then been all 'I didn't revise enough' after the exam and always achieved A*s, I'm sure it's somewhat the same for you if your coursework was good and your language analysis is sound!

Well, history is a bit of a mountain to climb in terms of revision but if you start early enough you KNOW you'll get there - whereas with English Lit, no amount of prep can really help with a horrible question or your ability to analyze language because language is always different and no adjective has the same effect, if you know what I mean. History is just a case of being prepared for every type of question and knowing your stuff (and practicing technique of course, which you'll generally have near enough perfected by the time you sit the exam and the greatest pressure IS remembering everything). Lit is just so abstract and too subjective to know how you've done or whether your revision is sufficient - it's just relying on how well you know your novels at the end of the day and despite how much I love it, that still somewhat unsettles me!

Haha that does reassure me! Thanks As for the timing, yeah I found that a problem as well - with the exam in particular as I ran out of time. I don't know how much of that was because my school only gave us about 2 weeks to learn how to answer the exam though

History at GCSE was awesome which is why I was able to work hard to achieve such good grades, but unfortunately I don't think I'd like the topics they study at the sixth form I want to go to (Reformation in Europe and The Church in England: The Struggle for Supremacy).

Exam-wise, I found that History took a huge amount of effort to revise for as I had to revise everything, but not everything would come up in the exam - it was so frustrating! With English Lit, I could blag and still get good grades, haha

I like that Lit is subjective, makes it more fun I think but I do agree it is annoying that you can't predict what you're going to get the exam!

I think I'm going to do Eng Lit because from all the replies, it seems it's definitely most important that I enjoy the subject - which I don't think I will with History (so gutted )

Thank you so much for your replies! Hope everything goes well with your exams!

Oh wow!! Thanks for taking the time to type all of that!

"as long as you're using big words and referring to the key terms of the question you're guaranteed to do quite well"

Haha, yeah I found that's all I pretty much had to do for the IGCSE Lit coursework and I ended up with really high grades!

I looked at the AQA website, but got kind of confused. It says "Unit 2 - LITA2 Creative Study" is worth 40% of AS. I think that's the creative writing but 40% seems a high percentage? I know there's some creative writing involved because that's what I was told by a Year 12 student at the pre-​enrolment...

I actually found that English Lit being more subjective was a good thing - I didn't need to rely on being accurate all the time!

From your reply, English Lit definitely sounds more enjoyable and a lot easier than History!

Thank you sooo much! Your answer was exactly what I was looking for! Unless my sixth form change the topics they're doing for History, I think I'm going to do English Lit!

Ah, I'd be doing Spec A, unfortunately. However, I do love reading, so that does reassure me a little, thanks!

Yeah, I meant exam-wise, sorry for being unclear. I looked at some other threads, and found comments like:

"I found that I enjoyed english lit, but when it came to the exam (we did aqa) the timings were tight and I found myself writing anything just to get words on the page because it didn't leave you with any time to think!"

"I think it also depends on the exam boards. AQA for Lit is ridiculous when it comes to timings etc but Edexcel for History are complete d**ks."

How true would you say they are?

I'm wondering because for my IGCSE English Lit exam, I did run out of time, and it was the only exam I ran out of time for. Although I'm not sure how much of that's down to the fact my school gave us hardly any time to prepare for it... (We only started learning how to answer the exam mid-May!)

From what I know, the exam is open book at AS and closed book at A2, but I don't think I'm going to carry either subject to A2 since I want to focus more on Maths, FM and Physics, so I'm not that worried about the exam. Closed book does sound awful though.

The last time I studied the Tudors was back in primary school, haha - a very long time ago! I actually loved it back then, but nowadays I'm more interested in recent stuff, i.e. from C19/20. Germany 1918-1945 sounds brilliant to me - I wouldn't mind studying it more than once tbh! Can't say anything about Irish history - never studied it, but I'm sure you'll pull through studying it next year! Good luck!

I don't think either subject will benefit me more than the other tbh, and I don't need them to study Maths at uni. I'm also good at both of them, so it's really a matter of which I'm going to enjoy more, but I can't seem to decide!

Thanks so much for the reply!!

Haha no worries at all

Creating writing having a 40% holding for AS on AQA sounds about right. That makes it worth about 20% overall, which is quite a large chunk of your overall grade. I think creative writing was worth about 10% on my exam board, though my exam board was harder than most English ones.

Yeah, I like how it's subjective too. It's just that a lot of people don't, and as a sciencey student I pre-judged you as someone who liked facts and figures rather than a more enigmatic, abstract subject . . sorry

I'm glad I could help. If you have any questions or need any help with anything, feel free to PM.

Ahh, I ran out of time in mine too - and it didn't help that the invigilator didn't notice my pleas for extra paper

Aw, Reformation doesn't interest you?! I find it so interesting. I saw above that you prefer modern history - which I personally detest, haha! That's a shame that it doesn't interest you, but I agree it would be best if you don't take it then - part of the reason I ended up loving history was simply because we studied the Tudors. English LIt is a fab subject and you'll look very well-rounded when you apply for uni, plus English is less effort so you'll have more time to focus on the super important ones! I wish you luck with everything!

Haha no worries at all

Creating writing having a 40% holding for AS on AQA sounds about right. That makes it worth about 20% overall, which is quite a large chunk of your overall grade. I think creative writing was worth about 10% on my exam board, though my exam board was harder than most English ones.

Yeah, I like how it's subjective too. It's just that a lot of people don't, and as a sciencey student I pre-judged you as someone who liked facts and figures rather than a more enigmatic, abstract subject . . sorry

I'm glad I could help. If you have any questions or need any help with anything, feel free to PM.