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Jump from GCSE to A Level

How big is the jump from GCSEs to A Levels in humanity subjects like English and History? What's the difference? How can you feel the jump?

Thanks in advance :smile:
The jump is mainly around essay writing in English - there isn't a set structure so much as there is at GCSEs, as long as you hit all the assessment objectives! It's also a subject you have to build on gradually, and it's rare to get higher than a B in essays at the beginning of y12... And Es and D's aren't uncommon. But you do improve quickly so that's not a problem! You also have to read around the subject (Google scholar is great for this, and a free JSTOR account will really be useful :smile: )But yeah, it's not so bad, and hard work shows in English!

With history, it's more about your argument than event. You have to be consistently reminding the reader of what your essay is arguing - when I was writing the essay I've had my highest mark on, I felt like I was writing 'supporting the claim that X is more significant than y' pretty much at the end of every sentence! Pay attention to the mark scheme and make your revision resources as you go along and you'll be fine :smile:
Thank you so much! Would you be able to send me sample essays for both English and History. Preferably for history a tudor essay.
Redmeercat definitie covered how different the essay style is, but the course content is VERY different too.

The jump from English GCSE to English Literature A Level is enormous, and I've really struggled with English in year 12, getting Ds even though I got a 9 last year! Rather than focusing on the significance of singular words and phrases (for example with GCSE poems you'd analyse quotes and form etc), you now look at entire elements of the text. For example I'm studying Crime Literature, and you have to analyse the entire text as a whole in relation to groups of things. Like we talk about to what extent the text follows the typical crime genre text.

In history, the biggest jump is the amount of work you have to do. If you thought GCSE history was hard, prepare for this! Of course the essay style is completely different and very difficult, but the content is insane. I've been working since 8am today and I've not even got through a quarter of a chapter in the textbook (and there's sooo many chapters). I get good grades in history though, I think because I've always had a bit of a soft spot for the subject, but my entire class is getting bad marks. In fact history is the second hardest A Level subject after physics.

That being said, I'm only in year 12, and things improve in Year 13 apparently :smile: I encourage you to pick them, they're very interesting although they're hard.
Original post by chloenix
Redmeercat definitie covered how different the essay style is, but the course content is VERY different too.
ct history is the second hardest A Level subject after physics.

That being said, I'm only in year 12, and things improve in Year 13 apparently :smile: I encourage you to pick them, they're very interesting although they're hard.

Can I see your essays? As examples?
I do History and the jump for me wasn't much since I started new topics. The difference would be the amount of content you learn and the independence and initiative you have to take to get those high grades. Definitely a lot more you have to do to get the high grades like historians further reading, histography and etc but you can get used to it eventually. Also, remember to know your exam structure and the exams techniques that will get you marks for your answer. Good luck :smile:
Original post by Equil9nityp
Can I see your essays? As examples?

I don't think that's a good idea because I'm just in year 12 and obviously I don't have top marks. I would advise you to google some.

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