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HISTORY AS/A-LEVEL HELP NEEDED ASAP!!! urgent

Hi this is the account holders brother. I'm going to be entering year 12 this September with the subjects; Biology, Chemistry, Maths (core and statistics) as well as History of course). I have plans to do medicine at university and really want to get 4 A's in AS level. I decided to choose history because it's a respectable and classic yet challenging subject which would look great as a fourth AS. I think I will drop the subject in A2 as it's not very relevant to med, although I'm yet to know if I'll even choose maths for AS as i've not yet received my GCSE grade. I haven't received my GCSE history fully, but I did my unit 1 exam in year 10 as well was my coursework - which amounted to 50% and I managed to score full marks on both, getting an A* 50%.

I'm really interested in knowing what the jump is like bewteen GCSE history and A-level. Not to sound overconfident and obnoxious but I found GCSE hisotry quite easy and found the revision aspect quite easy and not stressful as i just created a timeline and read my book a couple of times, that being said history was a very notorious subject in my year and many people hated it due to how 'difficult' it was. I really want to know whats the jump like between GCSE and Alevel, my sister did it for alevel and said the jump is mainly through the amount of content and the timing in exams in marriage with the large essay style questions. Also anyone who recieved an A in history it would be greatlky appreciated if you shared a couple of tips and techniques. :biggrin:

I'm doing the wjec board and these topics international relationships c. 1878-1989, Italy c. 1918-1944, the communist revolution in Russia c. 1917-1941 as well as an in depth study of historical topics and problems relating to the history of Britain, c. 1929- 1939

thanks in advance
Hello!
I can't really speak personally on the jump from GCSE as I never did it at school, but I now do it at A-Level. Perhaps the fact that you don't need to have done it at school to take it at A-Level says something about the jump?
Most colleges recognise that there isn't really a massive correlation between GCSE and A-Level History to be honest. I have friends who got A*s at GCSE and failed this year whilst I never did it at all but have been getting top grades.

The main difference yes is the detail and volume of content, so anyone who thinks they can get away with reading over the textbook the night before an exam are frankly deluded. I think that's where a lot of people trip up.
It is really difficult, don't underestimate it. My advice would be to start early practicing exam papers, as it is just as much about learning how to apply your knowledge as it is learning the content. It is very content heavy, especially with the reform, as you will find that although an essay may ask about one part of your syllabus, there is a lot of overlap and it is very subjective.

As long as you revise thoroughly and keep on top of content I am sure you will be fine, but don't assume you have already aced it because of your GCSE grade. It really isn't an indication of the A-Level difficulty, if it was then they would require you to have the GCSE to do it. :tongue:

Good luck! Any questions just ask. :smile:
Reply 2
Original post by brxvebird
Hello!
I can't really speak personally on the jump from GCSE as I never did it at school, but I now do it at A-Level. Perhaps the fact that you don't need to have done it at school to take it at A-Level says something about the jump?
Most colleges recognise that there isn't really a massive correlation between GCSE and A-Level History to be honest. I have friends who got A*s at GCSE and failed this year whilst I never did it at all but have been getting top grades.

The main difference yes is the detail and volume of content, so anyone who thinks they can get away with reading over the textbook the night before an exam are frankly deluded. I think that's where a lot of people trip up.
It is really difficult, don't underestimate it. My advice would be to start early practicing exam papers, as it is just as much about learning how to apply your knowledge as it is learning the content. It is very content heavy, especially with the reform, as you will find that although an essay may ask about one part of your syllabus, there is a lot of overlap and it is very subjective.

As long as you revise thoroughly and keep on top of content I am sure you will be fine, but don't assume you have already aced it because of your GCSE grade. It really isn't an indication of the A-Level difficulty, if it was then they would require you to have the GCSE to do it. :tongue:

Good luck! Any questions just ask. :smile:



Thank you for the thorough reply, I understand people always say the biggest difference between Alevel and GCSES in general is just the application of knowledge rather than recall but, in all honesty with the wjec board our questions have never been just recall, we have always had source based questions and agrees and disagree type qs as well as a huge essay at the end ? :smile:)

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