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Failing history need an A for Oxford offer

I am holding an offer from Oxford to read English Language and Literature on the condition that I achieve AAA grades in my A Levels (English Lit, Spanish and History). I am completely on track for Spanish and more or less so for English, but History is looking like a long shot.

My exam board is Edexcel, in class essays I consistently get marks of around 11-15, I’ve got 16 a few times and 17 once (all out of 20). Topics are Civil Rights 1850-2009, Stuarts and French Rev. My coursework is ok, I know it isn’t full marks but it’s just about an A standard, maybe slightly lower. I’ve had two sets of mock exams and got a D in both of them. The first was in summer and was mainly due to a long-term illness which hugely messed up my cognition, but the second was more recent (February) and my main problems were not having enough knowledge and not being able to apply the knowledge I had. I also struggle significantly with timing, but have recently been granted extra time (due to aforementioned illness) which will hopefully improve my chances. In both of those mocks there were times when I was simply unable to answer the question in front of me. I need to consistently get at least 15/20 marks in my real exams to have a chance of reaching that A.

My gut instinct tells me to do essays and essay plans, I know that it works and it’s the most sensible way to revise. However, I find this an incredibly draining and difficult thing to do. I think this is mainly because I’m uncertain of how to structure essays. I’ve been revising recently and it’s coming together somewhat, but I’m not at all confident that it’ll be enough.

Obviously I’ll be devastated to miss my offer, but it’s in my hands and I have to act if I want to meet it. I know it’s an amazing opportunity, and (at the risk of sounding arrogant) that I have the intelligence to reach an A in History, but at the moment I don’t have a proper methodology or framework in the way I approach it. So I’m on here to ask what I can do (and how I can do it) to make sure that I put my revision time to good use.

Thanks for any help :smile:
Timelines and key event noting. Also definitely try to be adaptable in your answers. So while essay plans are really good, if you are strapped for time get done with all of the content. Another good thing to do (which has literally been saving me) is to find a bunch of exemplars and find any good/key factors. Edexcel usually provides exemplars in (I think) the examiner's reports.
Good luck! <3
I have no advice bc im failing history too but i'm wishing you the best of luck, if you got an offer from oxford ur deffo smart enough to get an A x

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