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How to get a 'A' in AS/A level history OCR?
14
Thanks for looking at the thread. Has anyone got any advice or revision material for OCR History. Your help would be much appreciated.
Reply 1
13
I somehow managed to get an 'A' at AS level History. Look at this thread: http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=441428 I posted a few tips on there yesterday that may help
. Which topics are you studying?
. Which topics are you studying?Reply 2
02mik_e
OP
14
Either:
Coming of the french revolution 1774-1792
England 1603-1660: Personal Rule of Charles I and the Civil War
Europe 1789-1849: Napoleon and Europe.
OR
The Origins of the American Civil War 1848-1861
Foreign Imperial Policy in Britain 1789-1921.
The causes and impact of the first world war.
All of the above i am doing in year 12.
Coming of the french revolution 1774-1792
England 1603-1660: Personal Rule of Charles I and the Civil War
Europe 1789-1849: Napoleon and Europe.
OR
The Origins of the American Civil War 1848-1861
Foreign Imperial Policy in Britain 1789-1921.
The causes and impact of the first world war.
All of the above i am doing in year 12.
Reply 3
13
I did 6 topics in one year too. It's hard work. Unfortunately, I didn't cover any of the above! Even though I was with OCR.
Reply 4
13
oh OR - right... so, haven't your teachers told you which ones you will be doing yet?
Reply 5
15
Honest answer: By working your ****ing balls off.
Answer you want: By reading as much additional material as possible. Create diagrams to understand family relationships / political relationships and create timelines of important events.
I only got a B myself, and would never have done so well at A2 if not for the Personal Study which took a good chunk of the marks. I was with AQA, but I'm sure it's fairly similar.
Incidently, nice modules. I had to do Tudor England and Reformation Europe, with particular reference to the Holy Roman Empire under Charles V, and that really was a case of 'in at the deep end'. We only did that because they were our teachers' favourites, and because they would get bored teaching 20th Century, which I personally think is the most bloody unprofessional approach I've ever seen. Nobody on that course had studied that part of History ever before, and we were duped into believing we would be doing 20th Century stuff until they switched it at the last minute. It was all very interesting and I enjoyed parts of it, but when you need to be pushing for an A grade, it really isn't fair.
Answer you want: By reading as much additional material as possible. Create diagrams to understand family relationships / political relationships and create timelines of important events.
I only got a B myself, and would never have done so well at A2 if not for the Personal Study which took a good chunk of the marks. I was with AQA, but I'm sure it's fairly similar.
Incidently, nice modules. I had to do Tudor England and Reformation Europe, with particular reference to the Holy Roman Empire under Charles V, and that really was a case of 'in at the deep end'. We only did that because they were our teachers' favourites, and because they would get bored teaching 20th Century, which I personally think is the most bloody unprofessional approach I've ever seen. Nobody on that course had studied that part of History ever before, and we were duped into believing we would be doing 20th Century stuff until they switched it at the last minute. It was all very interesting and I enjoyed parts of it, but when you need to be pushing for an A grade, it really isn't fair.
Reply 6
02mik_e
OP
14
Laus
oh OR - right... so, haven't your teachers told you which ones you will be doing yet?
Well he said that i must be flexible with the one i do as they choose it for me.
Reply 7
I was with OCR but I didn't do any of the modules you're doing I'm afraid.
Dionysus really summed it up perfectly: just work at it. The aim of A-Level History is not to learn a hundred interesting facts, it is using what knowledge you have about the period and applying it in such a way that you can create a convincing argument.
To do this and to get an A at it, you need absolutely perfect essay technique. How do you get a perfect essay technique? Practice virtually constantly in the weeks before your exam.
Some important things that you must consider whilst writing history essays:
1. Don't Narrate. People have a natural tendency to just recite history chronologically, everyone in my class did it at the start of the year, including myself, and it took I'd say at least a term to get out of the habit. At GCSE narration is fine, at A-level examiners view it as a very low level skill and so it gets you very little marks. To stop this make sure you link everything you say to a point which contributes to your argument. If it is not relevant don't write it.
2. Make sure your essay flows - this is what gets you the top marks. If your essay jumps from one paragraph to the next with no clear relationship between them then you can't really get an A. To help with this always do a simple plan before you start writing your essay, no matter what the time conditions. List the points relevant to your essay title in a logical order and think about what sort of things you could say to link them. Don't do the plan in too much detail though because it'll waste time, just some quick points.
3. Never sit on the fence in your conclusion. So for example, with the essay:
'How far do you agree that Hitler's economic policy was a success between 1933 to 1939? Explain your answer'
Hitler's economic policy was either an overall success or a failure, not both. In the main part of your essay you must cover the main successes and failings but then in your conclusion you must side with one of them. The examiners will know that you could come to either conclusion no matter what the question is so they will never get marked down for it as long as your reasons make sense. You will get marked down for saying it was neither, or both because you have failed to answer the question. You can say something like 'however it wasn't entirely successful because...' but you have to favour one side over the other.
Dionysus really summed it up perfectly: just work at it. The aim of A-Level History is not to learn a hundred interesting facts, it is using what knowledge you have about the period and applying it in such a way that you can create a convincing argument.
To do this and to get an A at it, you need absolutely perfect essay technique. How do you get a perfect essay technique? Practice virtually constantly in the weeks before your exam.
Some important things that you must consider whilst writing history essays:
1. Don't Narrate. People have a natural tendency to just recite history chronologically, everyone in my class did it at the start of the year, including myself, and it took I'd say at least a term to get out of the habit. At GCSE narration is fine, at A-level examiners view it as a very low level skill and so it gets you very little marks. To stop this make sure you link everything you say to a point which contributes to your argument. If it is not relevant don't write it.
2. Make sure your essay flows - this is what gets you the top marks. If your essay jumps from one paragraph to the next with no clear relationship between them then you can't really get an A. To help with this always do a simple plan before you start writing your essay, no matter what the time conditions. List the points relevant to your essay title in a logical order and think about what sort of things you could say to link them. Don't do the plan in too much detail though because it'll waste time, just some quick points.
3. Never sit on the fence in your conclusion. So for example, with the essay:
'How far do you agree that Hitler's economic policy was a success between 1933 to 1939? Explain your answer'
Hitler's economic policy was either an overall success or a failure, not both. In the main part of your essay you must cover the main successes and failings but then in your conclusion you must side with one of them. The examiners will know that you could come to either conclusion no matter what the question is so they will never get marked down for it as long as your reasons make sense. You will get marked down for saying it was neither, or both because you have failed to answer the question. You can say something like 'however it wasn't entirely successful because...' but you have to favour one side over the other.
Reply 8
02mik_e
OP
14
Thanks a lot for the tips guys.
Reply 9
Dionysus
quote]
so true. I worked so hard the past two years, and I still only scraped an A - and to be honest, I wasn't expecting an A in History at all!
Get the OCR unit guides, I found them them really useful, and they have sample Qs and answers too which also help with essay structuring, which is v important when you come to themes papers at A2.
What modules are you doing? I did for AS: European history (ww1), nazi germany sources, and british history in early 20th century. For A2 I did the Russian Dictatorship (1855-1956) themes module, and the Stalin and the Cold War module. If you're doing these, I could easily send you some material that might help?
Reply 10
man....I did GCSE history OCR....and I got an A!!!
its sooo ****in**** cuz the other A grade was in latin, also OCR!
So...ye...I feel sorry that ur doin OCR....their website is so un-user friendly, its unbeleivable....But they have past paper's and exam reports on their...so u can check that out....although AQA was so much better...
its sooo ****in**** cuz the other A grade was in latin, also OCR!
So...ye...I feel sorry that ur doin OCR....their website is so un-user friendly, its unbeleivable....But they have past paper's and exam reports on their...so u can check that out....although AQA was so much better...
Reply 11
I did OCR History too and came away with an A. In AS we studied the American Civil War (pretty sure the exact module you listed above) and The Wars of the Roses, in A2 for the Historical Theme module we did The Ascendancy of France and the Historical Investigations module was Napoleon (again I think pretty much the same module you listed above but at A2 the dates were 1799-1815).
If you're doing history you will have to work hard, from this I mean don't put off until the last minute, there is just so much information to take in that cramming is just not a desirable route to take.
As Morgan141 said, lots of essay practice, redo the same ones, write out essay plans, also get into the habit of doing the essays in the time you will have during the exam i.e. 45 minutes (admittedly to begin with it will take you longer).
When I was in year 12 my history teacher set us the challenge (we didn't have to do it) of doing 14 essays over the Easter holidays (a tradition created when a student from a while back came in after the holidays with 14 essays), I know it worked out as 1 a day but I ended up doing a few all in one day, doing the 14 essays was the best thing I could have done, and I did a similar thing for the A2 exams.
Comparing my two years I did better during AS than A2, and I would advise doing as well as possible in Year 12 because it takes a lot of the pressure off knowing that you have the option to screw the final exams up a bit (thankfully I didn't :P).
...hmm what else... Read around the subject as much as possible and try not to explode with frustration during year 13 - the historical theme module has to cover a minimum of 100 years and I suppose the whole point of the module is that you understand the themes, ('change' and 'continuity' were the buzzwords on the OCR website -that reminds me coming up to the exam read the examiner's reports on your modules, I found it very helpful seeing where, in general, other candidates fell down or did well) but the amount of information you are given makes you cry with "I'm not going to remember all this!" but don't panic you don't have to remember every little nuance to the extent you do in the AS's, oh that also reminds me...
...don't try and write every single thing you have learnt during the year into the essay, keep to the point answer the question written on the paper not what you want the question to be.
Then I suppose, most importantly, enjoy the course! Hope that helps.
p.s. sorry for the frequent digressions...
If you're doing history you will have to work hard, from this I mean don't put off until the last minute, there is just so much information to take in that cramming is just not a desirable route to take.
As Morgan141 said, lots of essay practice, redo the same ones, write out essay plans, also get into the habit of doing the essays in the time you will have during the exam i.e. 45 minutes (admittedly to begin with it will take you longer).
When I was in year 12 my history teacher set us the challenge (we didn't have to do it) of doing 14 essays over the Easter holidays (a tradition created when a student from a while back came in after the holidays with 14 essays), I know it worked out as 1 a day but I ended up doing a few all in one day, doing the 14 essays was the best thing I could have done, and I did a similar thing for the A2 exams.
Comparing my two years I did better during AS than A2, and I would advise doing as well as possible in Year 12 because it takes a lot of the pressure off knowing that you have the option to screw the final exams up a bit (thankfully I didn't :P).
...hmm what else... Read around the subject as much as possible and try not to explode with frustration during year 13 - the historical theme module has to cover a minimum of 100 years and I suppose the whole point of the module is that you understand the themes, ('change' and 'continuity' were the buzzwords on the OCR website -that reminds me coming up to the exam read the examiner's reports on your modules, I found it very helpful seeing where, in general, other candidates fell down or did well) but the amount of information you are given makes you cry with "I'm not going to remember all this!" but don't panic you don't have to remember every little nuance to the extent you do in the AS's, oh that also reminds me...
...don't try and write every single thing you have learnt during the year into the essay, keep to the point answer the question written on the paper not what you want the question to be.
Then I suppose, most importantly, enjoy the course! Hope that helps.
p.s. sorry for the frequent digressions...
Reply 12
13
I am going to be doing:
* The social conditions of England 1832-53
* English History Period Studies – Robert Peel
* European and American History period studies – America 1846-1919 including the Negro in the south after emancipation.
I am deeply confused about which modules they are though? Can anyone help? http://www.ocr.org.uk/Data/publications/examination_timetables/Advanced_GCE_Unit_AEA_STEP_and_FSMQ_Examinations_Provisional_Examination_Timetable_Jun08_by_subject.pdf
and anyone studied these ones? good/bad/ugly?
* The social conditions of England 1832-53
* English History Period Studies – Robert Peel
* European and American History period studies – America 1846-1919 including the Negro in the south after emancipation.
I am deeply confused about which modules they are though? Can anyone help? http://www.ocr.org.uk/Data/publications/examination_timetables/Advanced_GCE_Unit_AEA_STEP_and_FSMQ_Examinations_Provisional_Examination_Timetable_Jun08_by_subject.pdf
and anyone studied these ones? good/bad/ugly?
Reply 13
To be honest getting an A in OCR History is all about perfecting your essay writing technique...I got a C; knew about Philip II in A2 but probably didn't answer the question properly this year.
I was one mark off a B last year in AS without revising much AT ALL but I wrote essays with a good plan and added random facts I remembered from class. Your coursework is also important, but its hard to know what quality it is when you have finished it. I got told it was a B/C but got a low D for it.
I was one mark off a B last year in AS without revising much AT ALL but I wrote essays with a good plan and added random facts I remembered from class. Your coursework is also important, but its hard to know what quality it is when you have finished it. I got told it was a B/C but got a low D for it.
Reply 14
My advice:
Recap everything you've learnt as often as you can. Theres SO much stuff to learn and it has to be really, really detailed (quotes, statistics, etc), unlike GCSEs where you can pretty much blag a lot of it. So if you revise as you go along (every weekend?) you'll save yourself a lot of stress at the end of the year...
Make timelines and flashcards
Possibly the most important thing is to brush up on your exam technique, which your teacher should go over a lot, so I won't talk about this much more cos its probably stuff you've heard a million times before (if not, it will be this time next year!). As much as I hate practice essays, they do pay off, so always get them done.
Wider reading does help if you already understand everything thats been covered in class, but if you're a bit hazy about it, my advice would be to focus on going over the stuff you've already covered until you're confident with it. One of our tutors never shut up about wider reading and a lot of people on the course seemed to focus on that rather than the things in the lessons, which just confused them. It is useful, but don't prioritise it.
Its a hard course but good luck
Recap everything you've learnt as often as you can. Theres SO much stuff to learn and it has to be really, really detailed (quotes, statistics, etc), unlike GCSEs where you can pretty much blag a lot of it. So if you revise as you go along (every weekend?) you'll save yourself a lot of stress at the end of the year...
Make timelines and flashcards
Possibly the most important thing is to brush up on your exam technique, which your teacher should go over a lot, so I won't talk about this much more cos its probably stuff you've heard a million times before (if not, it will be this time next year!). As much as I hate practice essays, they do pay off, so always get them done.
Wider reading does help if you already understand everything thats been covered in class, but if you're a bit hazy about it, my advice would be to focus on going over the stuff you've already covered until you're confident with it. One of our tutors never shut up about wider reading and a lot of people on the course seemed to focus on that rather than the things in the lessons, which just confused them. It is useful, but don't prioritise it.
Its a hard course but good luck
Reply 15
fantastic advice everyone!
Reply 16
One more thing...
Our school was selling these revision flashcard things for about £7 a pack, and I thought they were rubbish! It was much more useful to make your own.
So if your school tries to do the same, make sure you ask someone in the year above if they're any good before you buy them!
Our school was selling these revision flashcard things for about £7 a pack, and I thought they were rubbish! It was much more useful to make your own.
So if your school tries to do the same, make sure you ask someone in the year above if they're any good before you buy them!
Reply 17
13
The trick for OCR History, especially for A2, is to learn how to jump through the hoops. Exam technique is by far the most important thing. The sad truth about History is that intelligent original argument is in fact penalised - so don't bother too much about whether you like the way your essay flows or whether you actually support the line of argument - the more artificial the better - point evidence evaluation. That's the way to get an A. Otherwise they'll just say your essay doesn't meet the criteria and will give you no more than a C.
Reply 18
02mik_e
OP
14
lucho22
The trick for OCR History, especially for A2, is to learn how to jump through the hoops. Exam technique is by far the most important thing. The sad truth about History is that intelligent original argument is in fact penalised - so don't bother too much about whether you like the way your essay flows or whether you actually support the line of argument - the more artificial the better - point evidence evaluation. That's the way to get an A. Otherwise they'll just say your essay doesn't meet the criteria and will give you no more than a C.
OK, do u mind helping me through my AS/A2 course?
Reply 19
Just like lucho22 has said always PEE on your History Essays. (not literally)
I got an A in AS Hsitory OCR, the way i did it was i revised, revised and revised. As already established good essay structure is by far the most important bit when you have aspirations of getting a high grade for AS History.
Because History is an essay based subject you need to be good at essays. Be analytical and be very evaluative is the way my teacher told me how to do it.(and yes it works)
I got an A in AS Hsitory OCR, the way i did it was i revised, revised and revised. As already established good essay structure is by far the most important bit when you have aspirations of getting a high grade for AS History.
Because History is an essay based subject you need to be good at essays. Be analytical and be very evaluative is the way my teacher told me how to do it.(and yes it works)
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