The Student Room Group

History

Whys A level history so freaking difficult? Im self studying and ive been through the whole syllabus and I can barely get through Paper 1. It s been three days and Im still a little confused about what the hell they want to ask from me, and when I do hit a few points, I open the candidate response and theres so much random evaluation the candidate has written that I cant even fathom it.
Plus, politics has so much nuance behind it, I dont understand how you could assume one thing over the other. For Lincolns inauguration speech I wrote that he shouldered the responsibility of the whole of US and hence intended to avoid conflict. While the candidate wrote that his speech intended to appeal to US patriotism, and try to avoid the secession of states. I feel like I cant do this at all, specially without a teacher.
I havent used any of the CIE recommended books but they dont look like theyd help alot. And ive been through a good guide of how to structure my essays, manage exam time etc. but it doesnt tell me how to evaluate questions.
(edited 4 years ago)
Original post by hamzakhusro
Whys A level history so freaking difficult? Im self studying and ive been through the whole syllabus and I can barely get through Paper 1. It s been three days and Im still a little confused about what the hell they want to ask from me, and when I do hit a few points, I open the candidate response and theres so much random evaluation the candidate has written that I cant even fathom it.
Plus, politics has so much nuance behind it, I dont understand how you could assume one thing over the other. For Lincolns inauguration speech I wrote that he shouldered the responsibility of the whole of US and hence intended to avoid conflict. While the candidate wrote that his speech intended to appeal to US patriotism, and try to avoid the secession of states. I feel like I cant do this at all, specially without a teacher.
I havent used any of the CIE recommended books but they dont look like theyd help alot. And ive been through a good guide of how to structure my essays, manage exam time etc. but it doesnt tell me how to evaluate questions.

What exam board are you? I'm on AQA and I could offer advice if you're on the same board?
Original post by eva.bailey24
What exam board are you? I'm on AQA and I could offer advice if you're on the same board?

I dont know exactly. Its just Cambridge international exams. Im not in the UK.
Original post by eva.bailey24
What exam board are you? I'm on AQA and I could offer advice if you're on the same board?

I simply searched ''how to evaluate sources in history a levels'' and got a bunch of results. Hopefully they will help. Time to get over my mental breakdown and buckle up.
Hi there.

I also do CAIE History. It is by far the worst exam board and subject in terms of content.
I recommend history9389.com. They have good information on structure and answering the source paper which is what you're struggling with. Other than that, the candidate response booklet can be useful. Although I didn't use them, the AS books for CIE looks like they could help as they do give exam and course advice.

Other than that, good luck. :smile:
Original post by haventmetyou
Hi there.

I also do CAIE History. It is by far the worst exam board and subject in terms of content.
I recommend history9389.com. They have good information on structure and answering the source paper which is what you're struggling with. Other than that, the candidate response booklet can be useful. Although I didn't use them, the AS books for CIE looks like they could help as they do give exam and course advice.

Other than that, good luck. :smile:

yeah when I said Ive read good exam guides for history, history9389 is what I meant. But it doesnt explicitly tell us how to evaluate sources, it simply tells us how to structure our answers. I read a candidate response booklet a couple hours ago and its the reason I made this post. The candidate response has so much content I couldnt even begin to think of.
Do you think we could trade socials or something to discuss history together? I could really use some help and hopefully I could be of some help to you too :biggrin:. Thanks
an

Original post by haventmetyou
Hi there.

I also do CAIE History. It is by far the worst exam board and subject in terms of content.
I recommend history9389.com. They have good information on structure and answering the source paper which is what you're struggling with. Other than that, the candidate response booklet can be useful. Although I didn't use them, the AS books for CIE looks like they could help as they do give exam and course advice.

Other than that, good luck. :smile:

and ive only found one candidate response booklet. are there more? ive only found one for 2016. Thanks :smile:
Reply 7
Hey all,

I am also currently doing the CIE History 9389 syllabus, I am now in Year 13 and in the progress of preparing for Paper 3 and 4 exam due for May 2020. I have completed Paper 1 and 2 back in May 2019 (I decided to do AS papers during AS then A level papers in Year 13 instead of all 4 papers at once).

My chosen topics for Paper 3 and 4:

- Paper 3: The Origins and Development of the Cold War, 1941–1950
- Paper 4: International History 1945-1991

I was wondering if anyone knows a good resource online or offline to help with these papers? I already know about history9389.com and was wondering if there are any more good ones?

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated!

P.S. Thank God I am not the only one doing CIE A-Level History, I was starting to feel like I was haha.
I’m planning to study CIE A Level History! I’m homeschooled so for this subject I’ll study on my own. What’s your plan of taking the exams? I’ll take AS in June 2021 and A2 in June 2022 (so it is going to be the new syllabus 9489).
@JiayiYing

why would you choose CIE history? There's absolutely zero help from CIE for private candidates. Hundreds of students from pakistan, malaysia, sri lanka, indonesia, hong kong and some of the poorer european countries have failed the CIE history 9389 exams repeatedly. CIE doesn't care and when you email them for help, their replies are useless. Some of their replies were so badly worded I actually wondered how and why the standard of English and/or the lack of concern was so overwhelming. I did a google linkedin search of the people who replied to me and it turns out they're from originally from elsewhere but working in UK for CIE as clerks.
Hi, I choose CIE because the support for edexcel IAL is even more limited (it seems so to me). I’m not in the UK so I have no other option. However, I’ve just found that there is no textbook for A2. So I’m considering taking a correspondence course for A2 (as I’m doing now for IGCSE).
Original post by Audrey18
@JiayiYing

why would you choose CIE history? There's absolutely zero help from CIE for private candidates. Hundreds of students from pakistan, malaysia, sri lanka, indonesia, hong kong and some of the poorer european countries have failed the CIE history 9389 exams repeatedly. CIE doesn't care and when you email them for help, their replies are useless. Some of their replies were so badly worded I actually wondered how and why the standard of English and/or the lack of concern was so overwhelming. I did a google linkedin search of the people who replied to me and it turns out they're from originally from elsewhere but working in UK for CIE as clerks.ch

jesus christ this is a very encouraging message lol.
Original post by JiayiYing
Hi, I choose CIE because the support for edexcel IAL is even more limited (it seems so to me). I’m not in the UK so I have no other option. However, I’ve just found that there is no textbook for A2. So I’m considering taking a correspondence course for A2 (as I’m doing now for IGCSE).

Whats a correspondence course? And indeed there is no textbook for A2 because youre supposed to be an "independent researcher". For AS Id recommend you start early because the whole trick is to learn how to do the exam rather than what's written in the book. I'm doing Civil War for Paper 1 and for Paper 2: French Revolution and World War 1. I have compiled all the information for both Paper 2 topics and wouldn't mind sharing with you.
hello im emmanuel not from the u.k ..........ill be taking my exams in may 2023 and its going to be a straight alevel exam i.e all four papers. i really dont have any experience at all on this and im also a private candidate which obviously makes it more difficult and also i have only the next 6 months to prepare for all the subjects adequately including lit, and sociology. please i wouldnt mind if you can help with your experience and shed some light on how your studying and exam went. id also like to kinow how and which topics to pick for each of the history papers to pick from 1-4
Reply 14
Original post by haventmetyou
Hi there.

I also do CAIE History. It is by far the worst exam board and subject in terms of content.
I recommend history9389.com. They have good information on structure and answering the source paper which is what you're struggling with. Other than that, the candidate response booklet can be useful. Although I didn't use them, the AS books for CIE looks like they could help as they do give exam and course advice.

Other than that, good luck. :smile:

Hey I'm in the CIE A level history boat myself, I have not been able to find the Candidate responses anywhere, are they locked behind the support hub login? If you have any links for them since history9389.com is shut down that'd be super useful. Also I see this was 3 years ago, how did you fare in the exams??
Reply 15
Original post by hamzakhusro
an


and ive only found one candidate response booklet. are there more? ive only found one for 2016. Thanks :smile:

Pleas share if you can, I haven't found any

Quick Reply

Latest