History GCSE to A level

Ravi_1994

Hey guys im jus re-thinking my AS/A2 levels at college

at the moment i am doing the Nazi Germany and crime and punishment units at GCSE YR 11 in my final year, i am predicted an A* but i think i will get an A

What is the difference between History at A-level and at GCSE and is the subjects you study 'boring' as i feel i need to enjoy the subject to actually do well.

Reply 1

infernalcradle

15

Original post by Ravi_1994

Hey guys im jus re-thinking my AS/A2 levels at college

at the moment i am doing the Nazi Germany and crime and punishment units at GCSE YR 11 in my final year, i am predicted an A* but i think i will get an A

What is the difference between History at A-level and at GCSE and is the subjects you study 'boring' as i feel i need to enjoy the subject to actually do well.

find out what you are studying at A level first then....

and its not that much different, as if you are already writing at an A/A* level, there isn't much of a difference to they style of essay you have to write....

Reply 2

Apollo11

7

Did you do Northern Ireland for coursework (SO boring) and the history of Medicine? Also- what are you going to learn about next year becasue our school has Russia and the cold war (20th century history) and 16th century history (Tudors and whatnot)

Reply 3

Kat_Heine

hey

the style of exam etc doesn't really change, you still have to interpret sources and write essays, your writing style however needs to become a lot more matures & well balanced to go for the top grades at A level.

You should have been told or able to find out what you course would involve by now? And then whether it's 'boring' or not is really down to you. We did Nazi philosphies at as-level which i loved as you got to do a lot of research into the 'who's to blame?' question and that left the exam quite open as long as you structured you're arguement well enough. The A2 year however was all about the british government & relations which really wasn't very appealing to me, but each to their own :smile:

Reply 4

LoveyRae

Given that I did WW1 & 2 at GCSE then British politics 1945 - 1990 at AS and am doing British Foreign Policy 1919 - 1945 now, I'm thoroughly bored of British modern history. Make sure you find out the course you would be doing and decide if you think it would be interesting. Also, History A-level is stupidly hard, I got A* at GCSE then a D at AS. Don't make any assumptions would be my advice!

Reply 5

Alex-jc123

13

I can take you through this if you like. PM me :smile:

Reply 6

Alex-jc123

13

Original post by infernalcradle

find out what you are studying at A level first then....

and its not that much different, as if you are already writing at an A/A* level, there isn't much of a difference to they style of essay you have to write....

GCSE history was crude and straight-forward. A-level requires much more evaluation, analysis, evidence and historiography. You also have to balance your arguments more whereas at GCSE you could just make one point saying, for example, that Nazi propaganda was ineffective.

Reply 7

d_aan

1

Original post by Ravi_1994

Hey guys im jus re-thinking my AS/A2 levels at college

at the moment i am doing the Nazi Germany and crime and punishment units at GCSE YR 11 in my final year, i am predicted an A* but i think i will get an A

What is the difference between History at A-level and at GCSE and is the subjects you study 'boring' as i feel i need to enjoy the subject to actually do well.

To be honest, as a first year student as doing AS Late History, it's pretty much the same as GCSE, I think it really depends on what units your doing, for example, at my college we have studied Russia in Revolution and India, which actually was pretty interesting

Although, some of my friends who did early history, said that some of the content is extremely dull and wish they'd have chosen to do late history. At the end of the day it's up to what you'd think you'll enjoy the most!

In terms of exams, I guess it's pretty much the same core basics of PEE but obviously in much more detail.

Reply 8

infernalcradle

15

Original post by Alex-jc123

GCSE history was crude and straight-forward. A-level requires much more evaluation, analysis, evidence and historiography. You also have to balance your arguments more whereas at GCSE you could just make one point saying, for example, that Nazi propaganda was ineffective.

thats true, but if you are already writing at an A* level for GCSE, you are already doing all of that....

cos I know that my essays haven't changed since GCSE in terms of what I do and style and I'm still easily banging out A grade essays at A2, and as such, I haven't needed to change my style

Reply 9

Alex-jc123

13

Original post by infernalcradle

thats true, but if you are already writing at an A* level for GCSE, you are already doing all of that....

cos I know that my essays haven't changed since GCSE in terms of what I do and style and I'm still easily banging out A grade essays at A2, and as such, I haven't needed to change my style

Yes, you basically have to develop the skills acquired at GCSE. However, A* at A2 is basically university level.

Reply 10

missccify

5

I would advice you to NOT DO IT! basically I loved History too when i was year 11, and got an a*. Now I'm doing my A levels I absolutely loathe it, far too much work and revision to do. I really don't think it's worth the heart ache, and yes the jump is HUGE. But then again that's just IMO.

Reply 11

Ravi_1994

OP

1

I did Vietnam coursework and managed to get a 46/50 in 3 different controlled assesments however i just scaped an A at my nazi Germany unit, however i enjoyed Nazi Germany and vietnam so much it wasn't so much effort to attend revision classes and revise at home.

Reply 12

Tabers

15

I preferred GCSE History to A level history. But it all depends on what sort of history you like. I prefer social history so for me the A level course isn't that interesting. The teachers I had weren't the best either. Also the specific topics can make a difference. Looking at the specification there were lots more interesting topics we could have studied. At AS I did the French Revolution and Radicalism in Britain and at A2 I did the English Civil War and then we had coursework where we could choose to do whatever we wanted pretty much but we had to look at significance so I did Boudica. At AS the exams aren't too difference from GCSE but at A2 the exam is. Well it's not really a sit down in the exam hall exam and you can get breaks in it. I've now finished my A level in history because the schools have to timetable the exam in May.

Feel free to ask me any more questions if you want to.

Reply 13

Joell3

7

I didn't do GCSE History and I'm predicted an A for this year :P I haven't found it any more difficult that those who took it for GCSE, if anything it was easier for me to adapt to the style of the essays. Yes History is hard, but it's perfectly possible to get a high grade in if you put in time and effort. I'd say go for it :smile:

Reply 14

georgeflynn

9

History gcse - fairly straightforward

History A level... it's not so much what you know, i mean knowledge helps but it's more about skills so like cross referencing etc etc

lots of analysis and stuff but honestly it's scary at first but i've just done the two AS exams and in all honesty it was like gcse really they give you a question just demonstrate the skills tbh!

Reply 15

BachIsGod

hey,

hsitory A Level is hard, really hard, its volumes of facts and skills to master.

i do the wars of the roses and the origins of the american civil war and i have to admitt that the latter is as boring as. its too politically based and i really dont enjoy it.

i do however really enjoy the wars of the roses and so i suppose it depends on what you like.

if you are good at history then it shouldnt be that bad, but i could be the dullest thing ever if you dont enjoy or want to do the vast amount of work.

Reply 16

Tomatochuckers

18

Yeah it really does depend on the course I did modern Britsh history for one of the modules and it was boring as hell, I also had a boring teacher and think I got a B at AS.
But its houlda been up to me to work hard, cos if u learn the material, and have a correct essay technique u can go far, and it is also respected in some lines other than history such as law and economics
But if u cant stand essays u might want to think again. GCSE is only like 8 markers, whereas these are much bigger essays u have to write in the exam

Reply 17

stayd001

2

Well, I got an A for GCSE but have just done my exams for AS and am pretty sure I got an E, partly because there is so much to remember and is hard but mainly because I loathed it. I would only recommend doing it if you really like it.

Reply 18

userdloat

Original post by Ravi_1994

Hey guys im jus re-thinking my AS/A2 levels at college

at the moment i am doing the Nazi Germany and crime and punishment units at GCSE YR 11 in my final year, i am predicted an A* but i think i will get an A

What is the difference between History at A-level and at GCSE and is the subjects you study 'boring' as i feel i need to enjoy the subject to actually do well.

It's the same kind of exam style, except with more challenging command words, e.g critically evaluate blah blah

There will probably be some less interesting parts and more interesting parts of it to be honest. I did tsarist Russia, Nazi Germany, Ireland and England and the making of modern Britain.
Tsarist Russia was suprisingly interesting :smile:

Just make sure you know whoever will be teaching you is good at their job. I got an A* at GCSE and went down to a D at A2 because my teacher was an idiot who thought giving us no homework/exam practice or prep would get us an A haha.
History is a demanding A level, you need a solid teacher.

Reply 19

Clumsy_Chemist

10

Original post by LoveyRae

History A-level is stupidly hard

Agreed, history is stupidly hard compared to other subjects :tongue:

but if you're a top student at GCSE, not only will you probably do reasonably well at A level, you should also enjoy it. It's a huuuuuuuge step up but I think it's as interesting and challenging as it is difficult :smile:

History GCSE to A level

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