2018 Cambridge History Applicants thread

Hi I'm Sarah and I'm applying for History at Newnham!

GCSEs : 4A* 3A 2B
A Levels (achieved as gap year student): A*AA in
History, Maths and French

Feeling quite uncertain about the HAA!

hey, just a quick one. how are people revising for the admissions test? I've done the practise papers, but is there anything else we can do to develop the key skills needed?

Hey guys!

I am a first-year student who has just started studying history at Cambridge uni so if anyone wants any tips I'll more than happy answer some stuff. Just tag me in a post!

Thank you and congratulations!
How did you find the HAA when you did it and did your tutors tell you how well you did once you received an offer?

Thank you and congratulations!
How did you find the HAA when you did it and did your tutors tell you how well you did once you received an offer?

If you want another perspective (I'm also a first year historian at camb ) I found the HAA dreadful and not enjoyable at all

I stressed loads beforehand because I felt like I wasn't doing enough prep, got in there and almost cried when I saw the sources, wrote a pretty bad essay, got out and thought 'well, that's that'.

This is less to like worry you but just to reassure anyone who is like me who might be lurking! U don't have to enjoy it guys; I'm very glad that some people do, but if you find it as awful as I did don't think it automatically places you below those who had a good time whilst doing it

I found the HAA daunting, yes, but I really enjoyed it. I thought it was interesting to have an exam where I hadn't been able to solidly prepare for it as I would prepare for A-Level exams, and I enjoyed just being let loose on the source question! In order to get through it, I tried to keep as calm as possible and I put Cambridge into perspective: "I just have to do my best, it is only a University at the end of the day."

No, I was not told how well I did and you stop caring about how well you might have once you (or if you) get an offer. I would like to know how I did but at the same time, I'm more concerned about working towards my degree and completing my supervision reading, essays etc.

If you want another perspective (I'm also a first year historian at camb ) I found the HAA dreadful and not enjoyable at all

I stressed loads beforehand because I felt like I wasn't doing enough prep, got in there and almost cried when I saw the sources, wrote a pretty bad essay, got out and thought 'well, that's that'.

This is less to like worry you but just to reassure anyone who is like me who might be lurking! U don't have to enjoy it guys; I'm very glad that some people do, but if you find it as awful as I did don't think it automatically places you below those who had a good time whilst doing it

If you want another perspective (I'm also a first year historian at camb ) I found the HAA dreadful and not enjoyable at all

I stressed loads beforehand because I felt like I wasn't doing enough prep, got in there and almost cried when I saw the sources, wrote a pretty bad essay, got out and thought 'well, that's that'.

This is less to like worry you but just to reassure anyone who is like me who might be lurking! U don't have to enjoy it guys; I'm very glad that some people do, but if you find it as awful as I did don't think it automatically places you below those who had a good time whilst doing it

Thank you, that's so reassuring! Same question as GovernmentEarner, did you do an introduction and a conclusion and if so, what did you write?

Also, out of interest, which college did you apply to?

Hi, do you remember at all what structure you used for the HAA source question and did you analyse provenance? It's fine if you can't remember

Thank you, that's so reassuring! Same question as GovernmentEarner, did you do an introduction and a conclusion and if so, what did you write?

Also, out of interest, which college did you apply to?

sorry for late replies haha I was just so engaged in an absolutely fascinating article about Mercian hegemony

@sammychu00 @GovernmentEarner


Yep I applied to Newnham where have you applied? (I also make absolutely amazing egg soldiers, not just decent... )


From what I can remember, I read the sources and made a quick plan of points I could compare and contrast. Then each para I did generally corresponded to one of these points. If analysis of provenance fit into a certain para (i.e. if it added/detracted validity to a certain point), I'd include it, but otherwise you could analyse it at the end (but I would defo say analyse it!)

I did like a seriously basic intro and conclusion haha. I would really advise jotting down a plan so you structure your thoughts beforehand - that makes intros much easier, bc you know what you're going to discuss then I probably did like 5 lines for a conclusion really just summarising the main points I'd talked abt, and my own personal opinion based on what the sources had told me abt what that 'topic' was like (sorry I can't go into much detail idk if my HAA paper is public yet??)

@Demesne7

Good thing about HAA is that you can say pretty much anything for that very reason if you don't know the context, you're forced to make (logical) guesses (sorry ""inferences"") abt how it could have affected the source.

E.g. if the question is about idk the nature of a political party in a certain period, and one of the sources was emphasising the position of said party on a certain matter to its own members, you could suggest that there was growing factionalism within that meant party leadership had to reassert its stance (sorry this is a bit of a rubbish example but I can't think of anything else :')). You could be completely wrong, but as you know nothing about the actual context, that is a perfectly legitimate inference that shows you're able to think critically about what the sources could mean