Tips For GCSE History?

This goes out to the people who have taken the course and have reached exceptional grades.
In addition to this, may those you who have taken history please share your thoughts & tips, I will truly appreciate the advice given =)
And no, I was amazing at history, but it seems to me that my critical thinking and analytical skills has decreased.
I wish my analytical comes back *sigh*
How do I do well in the upcoming examinations?
What do you need to be perfect at history??!!
Help TSRians!

Reply 1

Puddles the Monkey

21

Original post by inachigeek21

This goes out to the people who have taken the course and have reached exceptional grades.
In addition to this, may those you who have taken history please share your thoughts & tips, I will truly appreciate the advice given =)
And no, I was amazing at history, but it seems to me that my critical thinking and analytical skills has decreased.
I wish my analytical comes back *sigh*
How do I do well in the upcoming examinations?
What do you need to be perfect at history??!!
Help TSRians!

Heya, I'm going to put this in the History forum for you as you should get more responses there.

You should also check out the forum to see if there's any other threads there which might be helpful to you!

http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=141

Reply 2

h4shem.A

Got 396/400 A* in History GCSE edexcel. Don't just rely on the factual knowledge you have. Make sure you get the structure perfect and also your timing must be on point.

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Reply 3

inachigeek21

OP

12

Original post by h4shem.A

Got 396/400 A* in History GCSE edexcel. Don't just rely on the factual knowledge you have. Make sure you get the structure perfect and also your timing must be on point.

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Have great understanding of the topic and structure your answers in a clear & concise format, correct?

Reply 4

h4shem.A

Yeah and always make sure you get the timing right. The only way to do this is by practising as many questions possible. In history GCSE you can NEVER finish early just remember that.

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Reply 5

jojo10834

11

This applies more to the sources exam paper but this can apply to the other exams as well but underline anything that you think is key, it's best to also underline the main points in any of the questions you're given to make sure your writing the right thing. Also make sure your punctuation is right for the last question in all 3 papers I know it's only 4 marks but they can between what grade you get at the end of the course.

Hope this helped :biggrin:

Reply 6

mathscot

2

So completed my GCSE last year with an A*. Don't just confine yourself to learning in the classroom particularly for source question do some reading around your subject it will give you better understanding and also give you good practice if you want to take history further. Try and find as many sources on your topic because these things have happened the exam board uses sources that you can most likely find. Looking at more sources makes it more likely that one you have seen already comes up in your exam

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Reply 7

likeamotownbeat

10

Original post by inachigeek21

This goes out to the people who have taken the course and have reached exceptional grades.
In addition to this, may those you who have taken history please share your thoughts & tips, I will truly appreciate the advice given =)
And no, I was amazing at history, but it seems to me that my critical thinking and analytical skills has decreased.
I wish my analytical comes back *sigh*
How do I do well in the upcoming examinations?
What do you need to be perfect at history??!!
Help TSRians!

I got an A* at GCSE mainly because I quite simply adored the subject. I loved my teacher and found history to be very interesting. If you have a genuine interest in history then you'll already be flying. GCSE history is mainly just learning chunks of information. Enjoy it and have fun. You don't have to be perfect at it, just enjoy it. I learnt by writing notes out, doing past papers and referring to the mark scheme.

Reply 8

username1230881

18

Original post by inachigeek21

This goes out to the people who have taken the course and have reached exceptional grades.
In addition to this, may those you who have taken history please share your thoughts & tips, I will truly appreciate the advice given =)
And no, I was amazing at history, but it seems to me that my critical thinking and analytical skills has decreased.
I wish my analytical comes back *sigh*
How do I do well in the upcoming examinations?
What do you need to be perfect at history??!!
Help TSRians!

I got an A*, and my main tip is to revise, revise and revise some more. While timing and source skills are both important, there is a vast amount to learn for History and if you know it all then you're essentially guaranteed a good grade. As my teacher said, it's 10% talent and 90% knowledge. Revise early and revise often and you'll do brilliantly.

Reply 9

harrypotterfan6

7

I got a high A* and my greatest tip is to practise. Read your textbooks a couple of times and practise as many questions as you possibly can!

Reply 10

AdamCee

18

Original post by inachigeek21

This goes out to the people who have taken the course and have reached exceptional grades.
In addition to this, may those you who have taken history please share your thoughts & tips, I will truly appreciate the advice given =)
And no, I was amazing at history, but it seems to me that my critical thinking and analytical skills has decreased.
I wish my analytical comes back *sigh*
How do I do well in the upcoming examinations?
What do you need to be perfect at history??!!
Help TSRians!

Knowledge is good.
Exam technique, is almost everything.

Given a question comparing sources:
TOP
tone, origin, purpose

Given a question to analyse the cartoon:
The message of this cartoon is...
We can tell this by...
This refers to... (Contextual knowledge)

I can't think of any more off the top of my head. Learn key dates and events. For example if you're doing OCR History on Russian Revolution, you need to know who the Bolsheviks were. Who the Mensheviks were. Stolypin, Rasputin, Stalin, Lenin, the Tsar, what happened (and when was) the October revolution, etc. Take history textbook, write key points, try and memorize.

With history, past papers are key. As I said you could know EVERYTHING about Russian history, but with bad exam technique you won't get full marks, far from it. Attempt questions and ask your teacher if they can mark them and give feedback.

Reply 11

inachigeek21

OP

12

Original post by AdamCee

Knowledge is good.
Exam technique, is almost everything.

Given a question comparing sources:
TOP
tone, origin, purpose

Given a question to analyse the cartoon:
The message of this cartoon is...
We can tell this by...
This refers to... (Contextual knowledge)

I can't think of any more off the top of my head. Learn key dates and events. For example if you're doing OCR History on Russian Revolution, you need to know who the Bolsheviks were. Who the Mensheviks were. Stolypin, Rasputin, Stalin, Lenin, the Tsar, what happened (and when was) the October revolution, etc. Take history textbook, write key points, try and memorize.

With history, past papers are key. As I said you could know EVERYTHING about Russian history, but with bad exam technique you won't get full marks, far from it. Attempt questions and ask your teacher if they can mark them and give feedback.

The thing is I have a history test tomorrow on 'what caused the economic boom in America during the 1920s' and I cannot remember anything, I just can't cram study. And it's not that I cannot revise, it's just cramming makes me feel anxious and nervous of the test. What do I do?!
I'm considering to drop history, now.

Reply 12

Fatimah21

13

Original post by inachigeek21

The thing is I have a history test tomorrow on 'what caused the economic boom in America during the 1920s' and I cannot remember anything, I just can't cram study. And it's not that I cannot revise, it's just cramming makes me feel anxious and nervous of the test. What do I do?!
I'm considering to drop history, now.

Don't drop it. You've worked too hard for you to give up half way.
here's what you do"
1)Remember the factual detail. Example would be '80% of furniture was brought using hire purchase"
2)Use the DAN technique when doing source work. D for Date- what date is the source made? A for Author- who do you think made it? Was it a cartoonist, artist etc.? And N for Nature-What is the nature of the source? Is it from a newspaper, catalogue etc.?
3) Use the PEE structure. If the question asks "Why did Republican Policies lead to the boom?" as a 4 mark answer, you must give 2 paragraphs using PEE. For Point, you can rephrase the question by saying "Republican Policies lead to the boom because of...". For evidence, use statistics and figures wherever you can "For example, workers were paid 18 cents a day". For explantion, write about why the evidence supports your answer "This helped the boom because..."
4) REMEMBER TO ANSWER THE BLOODY QUESTION!! If it asks you if the source supports the situation, then say if it does or doesn't and why/why not.

Good luck and hope this helps :wink:

Reply 13

I Don't Care

1

I got 397.5/400 UMS in CCEA GCSE History. My #1 piece of advice if you do CCEA is learn every current specification mark scheme. The Unit 1 and Unit 2 exams I got were practically made up of repeated questions, which I knew the mark scheme answers for.

Reply 14

Tdoggydogg2

1

Original post by inachigeek21

This goes out to the people who have taken the course and have reached exceptional grades.
In addition to this, may those you who have taken history please share your thoughts & tips, I will truly appreciate the advice given =)
And no, I was amazing at history, but it seems to me that my critical thinking and analytical skills has decreased.
I wish my analytical comes back *sigh*
How do I do well in the upcoming examinations?
What do you need to be perfect at history??!!
Help TSRians!

I got an A* in my history exam. If i were you, i would concentrate in every lesson, and make even further research. Also, use the facts your teacher has given you

Reply 15

Pokémontrainer

3

Practise essay questions are so helpful, they may even end up being similar to questions in the exams! Do as many as possible. :smile:

Reply 16

Rachel9866

7

I got an A* at GCSE and the main thing that helped me was on the source paper, knowing what you have to write for the different questions in order to get high marks. For example, for some it doesn't say to use your own knowledge but you have to (their very mean and trick you). Also on a couple of others you have to cross reference with the other sources to get high marks and they don't tell you that either, so make sure you know what you need to do for each question.

Tips For GCSE History?

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