Self Studying A Level History?

It is do-able definitely, difficult but not impossible, but you will definitely need someone to assign + mark essays. Someone on TSR (Myself included) would be willing to help with essay technique + mark for you (i study history at university and will be doing teacher training in the next couple of years). Out of curiosity which exam board would you be studying with?

Thanks for the reply. I'm an international student so I'll have to do the CIE exam board. There is no coursework but I have four components/modules. I have a list of topics to choose from for each component..they are:

Component 1:
- Liberalism & Nationalism in Germany & Italy (1848-1871)
-The Origins of the U.S. Civil War (1846-1861)
-The Search for International Peace & Security (League of Nations) 1919-1945

Component 2:
-Modern Europe (1789-1917)
-The History of the USA (1840-1941)
-International Relations (1871-1945)

Component 3:
-The Causes & Impacts of British Imperialism (1850-1939)
-The Holocaust
-The Origins & Development of the Cold War (1941-1950)

Component 4:
-Europe of the Dictators (1918-1941)
-The History of the USA (1945-1990)
-International History (1945-1991)

So basically like I said,I choose one topic for each component. What do you think of my modules? They seem pretty interesting.

Do you really think some people on here would be nice enough to mark my essays from time to time?

In terms of your modules, there are a mix of excellent options and frankly some poor sounding ones. I personally would be looking at doing

component 1
- Liberalism & Nationalism in Germany & Italy (1848-1871)

component 2
- Either
-Modern Europe (1789-1917) or
-The History of the USA (1840-1941)

component 3
-The Origins & Development of the Cold War (1941-1950)

component 4 (none of these interest me) But would probably settle on
- Europe of the Dictators (1918-1941)

Definitely, as i said i would be willing to mark, as it allows me to gain experience in the marking of A-level essays. I'm sure others would be willing to as well (although i can't speak for them for definite)

Wow that would be absolutely wonderful. Thanks a lot,man!

The only problem I'm having is I cannot seem to find past year papers for the A Level CIE board. I am only able to find papers for: Component 2 (Modern Europe & The History of the USA) Component 4 (International History).

There are no past papers for component 1 & 3. Also for component 2 & 4 I'm not absolutely sure that I'd want to do those specific modules and had others in mind.
Any way around this?

You are free to choose whichever ones you wish. Having past papers would be a massive bonus, so if for component 2 and 4 those are the only ones you can find them for then do those. As for 1 and 3, again i was only suggesting what i personally would do, and you are free to choose whatever is on offer.

You are free to choose whichever ones you wish. Having past papers would be a massive bonus, so if for component 2 and 4 those are the only ones you can find them for then do those. As for 1 and 3, again i was only suggesting what i personally would do, and you are free to choose whatever is on offer.

hey guys. I'm an international student from Syria whose going to take his A Levels this year. I am going to take three fast track A Levels as that's how our school organizes it. I'll be doing Maths,Economics and History. My question is will I be able to cope with self studying history? I'm taking both AS & A2 in May/June. How hard will it be? I love history and do not mind all the reading and memorizing..the only thing nagging at me is the essay technique. I'm not particularly great at writing essays and the A Level essays I've read so far have been so fantastic that I've been thoroughly convinced I won't be able to do it. Is it THAT hard? My goal is to achieve at least a B. Any advice would be helpful. PS: I'd have all the books that I need however I won't have any teacher to guide me and assign/mark essays :l

It is do-able definitely, difficult but not impossible, but you will definitely need someone to assign + mark essays. Someone on TSR (Myself included) would be willing to help with essay technique + mark for you (i study history at university and will be doing teacher training in the next couple of years). Out of curiosity which exam board would you be studying with?

1) did you pruchase the CIE recommended textbook?
2) Are you doing the A levels in this 2014 Oct/Nov session?
3) Are you allowed to sit for the AS levels first this 2014 Oct/Nov session and then do the A2 next May 2015?

1) What text book are you referring to?
2) I'm doing them in May/June 2015
3) I am allowed but I do not know if I have time to cover the whole AS by then.

Thanks for your input!

CIE recommends textbooks for every subject they offer.
it can be found here.
http://education.cambridge.org/uk/subject/history

what books are you using for History?

Hey,
I'm self studying the same syllabus too, doing Liberalism & Nationalism in Italy and Germany for P1 and International Relations 1871 to 1945 for P2. I'll be doing the AS in May/June 2015. If you want the past papers, the May/June 2014 ones were online for literally about a week before they disappeared I can PM them to you if you like?
Other than that, the only resources I've got are the textbooks and Mr. Allsop's History Podcasts. I'm screwed

Would you be open to swapping essays and things like that? Have you decided on your components yet?
Best of luck!

Yeah, it does :/ Still, if you search for Mr Allsop History, he has podcasts that cover all of the Modern Europe component if I recall correctly. They're really helpful
Are you doing all the papers at once?

Hey
I don't think you need a teacher for history, personally my teacher made my topic boring. Watching documentaries whilst making notes is how I personally revised, and then making a timeline memorising all the dates. My teacher thought I was going to get a C/D but I ended up with an A :P

If you need any help with essay structure or peer marking I'm happy to help


Posted from TSR Mobile

Hey
I don't think you need a teacher for history, personally my teacher made my topic boring. Watching documentaries whilst making notes is how I personally revised, and then making a timeline memorising all the dates. My teacher thought I was going to get a C/D but I ended up with an A :P

If you need any help with essay structure or peer marking I'm happy to help


Posted from TSR Mobile

many of the teachers i had were terrible. they just simply were not interested in teaching.
which exam board were you with for history?
which components did you have to study?
what pointers can you give us especially question that have a passage attached to it?
i always found that intimidating for some reason.