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How to get a good grade in history GCSE!

Hi guys, so next year I will be doing my history GCSE! I did not expect it to be so so hard! I’m in year 10 and my current grades are 3/4’s MAINLY 3’s. Has anyone got any tips or help that they could give to help me improve my grade and actually pass my history GCSE next year? Thanks!
Original post by kaliazdravkovic
Hi guys, so next year I will be doing my history GCSE! I did not expect it to be so so hard! I’m in year 10 and my current grades are 3/4’s MAINLY 3’s. Has anyone got any tips or help that they could give to help me improve my grade and actually pass my history GCSE next year? Thanks!


exam technique is extremely important in history but you need to know the content first. make sure you know the content very well and once you do, learn exam technique, how to structure answer, and read examiners reports
Original post by kaliazdravkovic
Hi guys, so next year I will be doing my history GCSE! I did not expect it to be so so hard! I’m in year 10 and my current grades are 3/4’s MAINLY 3’s. Has anyone got any tips or help that they could give to help me improve my grade and actually pass my history GCSE next year? Thanks!

Doing practice questions is very important, even if you don't write out the full answer for longer exam questions, just planning answers is a good idea. Once you've learnt the content, start planning answers to exam questions and maybe try writing a full answer to a couple in timed conditions and get your teacher to mark them.

What exam board are you with btw?
One tip I remember is to practice evaluating the provenance of a source, when answering source-based questions. Being able to scrutinise a passage of text or photo based on the author, date, validity, background knowledge support etc is necessary for those questions.
Reply 4
Do practice exams, revise content by making mind-maps and flashcards.
It depends on the course and exam board. But if one of the topics in history have a limited number of events that you learn (e.g. For me it was cold war) and has questions that wont change much except for the actual event (e.g. write a narrative on x or explain 2 consequences of x). I had this and what I did I wrote out a brief plan for each event for each question. This may seem very time-consuming but trust me its worth it.
What part are you struggling with? Like the content itself? The structure to your answer? How you are during exam conditions?
Reply 6
Hi, I got a grade 9 in GCSE History last year. I would suggest making mindmaps of each key topic, for example, the Berlin wall and then outlining the causes, consequences, and events. For dates, I would use flashcards and then make sure you have a good structure for each of the questions (I don't know what exam board you are but your teacher should be able to suggest a structure for you). Once you feel you have learned most of the content you should do as many practice questions as you possibly can, even creating them as you go along (i.e once you've covered the Berlin wall create as many questions about this as you can).
Reply 7
One trap that people very often fall into is that instead of actually answering the question, they just end up telling a story. Like if a question asked "explain why the Cuban missile crisis caused problems for Kennedy" there is a temptation to just write down what the Cuban missile crisis was and call that an answer. So you can know the textbook inside-out and it's no good if you can't actually use that knowledge effectively.

Think of how you're asked to write your answers for English - it's actually quite similar. Point, evidence (such as in the source or from own knowledge), explanation (e.g. of significance), then link back to the question.
(edited 3 years ago)
here is ww1 for dummies
Original post by Bl and Wh Army L
here is ww1 for dummies

Hope this helps
Original post by maddiethorp
exam technique is extremely important in history but you need to know the content first. make sure you know the content very well and once you do, learn exam technique, how to structure answer, and read examiners reports


thanks so much I’ll definitely use your advice and practice my exam technique!!
Original post by neko no basu
Doing practice questions is very important, even if you don't write out the full answer for longer exam questions, just planning answers is a good idea. Once you've learnt the content, start planning answers to exam questions and maybe try writing a full answer to a couple in timed conditions and get your teacher to mark them.

What exam board are you with btw?


awesome thanks so so much! I think I’m AQA? Not entirely sure, the topics we cover are 1)Migration, Empire and People 2)Germany and WW2 3)The Cold War and I think that’s all?
Original post by kaliazdravkovic
awesome thanks so so much! I think I’m AQA? Not entirely sure, the topics we cover are 1)Migration, Empire and People 2)Germany and WW2 3)The Cold War and I think that’s all?


Oh I was gonna see whether I could send you any of my old revision notes but nvm, I didn't do any of the same topics you did :frown:
Original post by Bl and Wh Army L
here is ww1 for dummies


thanks!!
Original post by kaliazdravkovic
Hi guys, so next year I will be doing my history GCSE! I did not expect it to be so so hard! I’m in year 10 and my current grades are 3/4’s MAINLY 3’s. Has anyone got any tips or help that they could give to help me improve my grade and actually pass my history GCSE next year? Thanks!


Honestly, half the time I had no idea of what was actually going on in my history class content wise, but I managed to get grade 8's just by understanding how to answer a question. For example, the starting point of the question gives you a great starting point. For example, if it says "write an account..." it is not actually wanting an account e.g. this happened then this happened, it wants causes and consequences. You should probably ask your teacher if you're confused with any starting points as this can make the difference of a grade 3 or grade 6. Additionally, JUST KEEP PRACTICING!!
I think the best way to tackle it is definitely get a hold of the content early on (I used to do quizzes at the end of each week purely on content), and then you can do exam questions. Use your notes for practice papers, but once you feel more confident you can try and see what you remember.
Exam technique is crucial at gcse so it would be a really good idea to learn the structure as that alone can gain you marks. I also found it very useful to practice exam questions so that I could gain a deeper understanding and also revise from the answers. Flash cards were also very useful. Each of my flash cards contained a few bullet points that could be related to multiple questions so that I had less resources to make but more time to revise from them.
Original post by kaliazdravkovic
Hi guys, so next year I will be doing my history GCSE! I did not expect it to be so so hard! I’m in year 10 and my current grades are 3/4’s MAINLY 3’s. Has anyone got any tips or help that they could give to help me improve my grade and actually pass my history GCSE next year? Thanks!


Learn the core sequence of events- watch some basic documentaries or youtube vids.= who did what when and why.

Practice essays- 15 min essay plan.

Only consists of a few issues.



1. Answer the question.asked.
2. Formulate a reasonable answer and supplement it with some facts from your notes above. That should raise you to at least a 5.

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