aqa alevel history how do i not flop it

I got a 7 at GCSE and a C in my end of Y12 history papers overall (tbf I could've worked harder lol) but I'd say it's definitely more intense than GCSE as there's more to learn and exam technique is also really important.
But it's good that you're making flashcards, I really regret not revising and making useful materials throughout Y12. Reading around the subject (or watching documentaries) is really important as it'll build your familiarity and understanding with what you're studying. But yeah keep revising and also ask for help from your teachers when you need it and get as much feedback on your essays as possible bc that will really help you improve.
Hope this helps, good luck with Y12!!

i’ve just started year 12 and did really good in gcse history and have a genuine interest in the subject but i’ve heard that alevel history is soo hard and so i’m a little worried. i know that ALL alevels are hard but getting a bad grade in alevel history would definitely be a shock to the system since i’ve never done bad in gcse. any advice and tips before i start?? i’ve been making flashcards along the way but how different is it really to gcse like what should i know beforehand? will i also have to expect to do really bad in my first ever y12 history exam

Hi! I sat my a-levels this year and achieved an A* in history, but in year 12 I was similarly worried about not doing well in the A-level after doing well at GCSE, so hope I can provide some advice! It's great that you're making flashcards as you go along - and that is something that you should try to keep up with, which I appreciate can be difficult once the workload starts to ramp up, but if you set aside time in holidays to catch up on any that you have missed then you will be in a great place - and flashcards are a great way to revise history! I'd say to try not to stress too much about doing really well in your first assessment, I think that I got a low C in my first essay in year 12, which isn't a bad grade at all, but similarly to you I did very well in GCSE history so it can be a bit of a shock to the system! Make a note of the feedback you get and keep it in mind the next time you write an essay, and this should ensure that your grades gradually increase. Please don't worry too much about it right now, you're only at the start of year 12 and you clearly love the subject, so as long as you try your best and apply your teachers' feedback, you'll be fine. Hope this helps!

thank you SO so much!! this is so reassuring and so great to hear and congratulations!! your hard work didn’t go to waste just one question did you happen to do the same exam board AQA? I’m just wondering how the exam structure differs from GCSE but genuinely thank u sm for replying🤍

i’ve just started year 12 and did really good in gcse history and have a genuine interest in the subject but i’ve heard that alevel history is soo hard and so i’m a little worried. i know that ALL alevels are hard but getting a bad grade in alevel history would definitely be a shock to the system since i’ve never done bad in gcse. any advice and tips before i start?? i’ve been making flashcards along the way but how different is it really to gcse like what should i know beforehand? will i also have to expect to do really bad in my first ever y12 history exam

Ah thank you, glad it helped! And yes, I was also on AQA (I did Germany 1918-45 and Britain 1851-1964) - honestly the exam structure at A-level is different to GCSE in that there isn't really a formulaic structure to use in the same way there is at GCSE as the specific essay question types can vary but I can give you a rough outline of what I used for the 25 mark essay questions.
I would say there are 2 main kind of essay questions
For those that read (for example) "The Treaty of Versailles was more damaging politically than economically, to what extent do you agree", these questions provide you with 2 factors and kind of guide you towards comparing the impact, if that makes sense?
So for me, I would do maybe 4 main body paragraphs:
So, - Intro

or alternatively
(this specific structure can work really well for questions such as this 'By 1964, British society was as unequal as it had been in the 1930s. Assess the validity of this view’ which can seem complicated to untangle and structure, by giving you a basic outline of how to answer it)
Either can work fine honestly but I preferred the first structure because I found that it gave me more scope to create nuanced arguments to get into higher bands of the mark scheme.
Other questions may be something like "the main reason for the creation of a welfare state by 1951 was due to the social legacy of the 1930s". Questions like this will give you one factor to speak about but leave it very open to you how to approach it. I know some people would structure these essays in a similar way as the ones comparing factors i.e. Agree, disagree, agree, disagree but others (and myself) structured them in a style more similar to the 16 markers in GCSE AQA history (i.e. factors). For these type of questions I would usually write 3 larger main body paragraphs rather than 4, which I preferred because it allowed me to go into greater depth exploring the arguments for and against the importance of each factor, but you can definitely write 4 if you can, I just struggled to fit it into 45 minutes haha!!
So for example for the above question I would structure my argument like this:
These were my fav type of question because they allow you to use similar skills to GCSE but go into a lot more depth, and it makes it easier to link factors together in your argument to create unique points.
And this may sound quite obvious but be sure to outline your main line of argument throughout, from the intro, through your paragraphs and into your conclusion. I only say this because my a-level geography teachers kept telling me off for doing this as in geog we were supposed to save our main argument to the end - this is not the case in history where your response needs to have a clear line of argument throughout
Sorry if the example questions were very unrelated to your topics but I just used questions I remembered writing before haha
Hope this helps somewhat (and sorry if some of it doesn't make sense) and please ask if you have any other questions!!!