How do i ace a history 2015 as level essay?

Guys i can't find ANYTHING on an example AS level essay for the new 2015 spec this year and I'm borderline d/c :frown:

And my mocks are in feb:0 i need an A so bad! Can someone help me out and give me advice? my main issues are analysing my evidence and relating back to the question and structuring the essay.. i don't know the mark schemes different from a C to an A .. So can someone help me..PLEASE

Reply 1

TheHopefulMedic

Original post by nadeu002

Guys i can't find ANYTHING on an example AS level essay for the new 2015 spec this year and I'm borderline d/c :frown:

Hey i used to be lime this for history and I am studying ocr as level history this year with the new spec. I think your answers may be too descriptive. What I found helped me move from a D to a B is that I stopped revising as much and started analysing the facts. How significant is this issue? Why? What does it further link to.

I am studying the civil war so my essay question was how far was Buckingham the main cause of dispute between Charles and his parliaments?

First what is ur opinion? Was he the main issue or not? Remember there are other issues e.g. Finance. So make a graph if it helps to show what the most important is to the least. EXPLAIN why you think this!

Buckingham was the main cause of mistrust between Charles and Parliament because he caused disputes in parliament 2. However in parliament 1 finance was the major issue.... His father left him.....which caused....this links with religion etc

So u aren't telling a story as such u are more saying why these events caused tension or disputes or whatever the question is asking.

If u are finding this hard what I do is follow PEEL (POINT EXAMPLE EXPLAIN LINK) SO after have written all the info and explained it link it back to the question.

I realise that I wrote a lot lol! But gd luck!

Reply 2

Adam_26

Having studied the old syllabus for the AS 2015 exams (having achieved a top grade) I planned every PEQ in bullet point form. The key for top marks is:

balanced evidence
precise detail
and a good judgement

The first two points are fairly self explanatory, so I'll give you some tips on how to conclude any AS history essay of around 25/30 marks:

talk about timescale - short/long term
aims of leaders or key figures - were they achieved? and to what degree of success?
underlying/specific factors that contributed to an outcome
political/economic/social factors (depending on the wording of the question)
as discussed above, mention significance of points and/or themes and BE SELECTIVE

is it the AQA spec? do you need any historiography in your answer?

i hope this was useful :smile: