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How do I get better at history

I'm about 6 weeks into year 12 doing History, Politics and Business, We've just got our predicted grades and ive been given a C- for history. Im not too sure how I can improve this, ive tried revising, but nothing is working, any tips to help?

Reply 1

University of Kent

Official Rep

Hey @RosieJ008,

I hope you're keeping well. 🙂

So firstly, I'd say don’t be discouraged by the initial prediction—Year 12 is already big step up, so it's normal to need some time to adjust to the new demands of A-Level studies, especially only being a few weeks in. In fact, it's great to hear you’re already actively working to improve your History grade - determination is half the battle. 😀

Now, I couldn't say specfically what you might need to work on, but having studied History myself, there are a few areas I would point out to, that might help you both at Alevel, but which actually continue to help me at Uni.
Those would be:

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Understand the Mark Scheme

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Work on Answer Structure

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Practise Past Papers

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Seek Regular Feedback (Don't worry about being annoying)

So, just to got through some of these.

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Understanding Mark Scheme. So with regards to answering any questions, often just being able to understand what the examiners themselves are looking for when marking your paper, and putting yourself in their shoes, helps to make a difference. So firstly, something you can do more actively is ask your teacher to go over assessment objectives with you, so you understand what's being expected in your written response. Secondly, as an example, ask during lessons how a specific topic might display itself or come up in an essay question, then prep and think about the key points surrounding it. Finally, if you imagine yourself as an examiner, what will impress you more, a student's regular answer or a student's regular answer with a source attached to it? Obvsiously, the added source will make a worlds difference. Just thinking about ways to spice up your response and then implementing them in front of an examiner, again, is a nice little way to try and get extra marks.

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Work on Structuring Your Answers: So for literally all subjects, but especially in history, it's crucial to present your ideas logically. If you're not, try using a consistent and reliable essay structure (like Point, Evidence, Explanation, and Link) to organise your thoughts, as well as make it easier for examiners to follow and award marks where available. If necessary, skip over questions that might be time-consuming for little marks, but at a minimum, make sure that every individual question answered is nicely organised.

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Practice Past Papers: Pretty self-explanatory, practising past exam questions under timed conditions can just help get you more comfortable with the exam format and with identifying areas to improve. Ask your teacher if they have any papers or resources they can share, or just search online as well. If you can't find markschemes, it doesn't hurt to ask your teacher to mark and go over the work quickly for you.

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Finally, Seek Feedback Regularly: Please please please don't hesitate to ask your teacher for feedback on your essays or even ask if they can look at part of a response! Getting specific feedback can honestly highlight areas to work on and will absolutely help you make steady progress. Honestly, of all of them, this is probably one of the simplest and most effective ways to help improve, and it's also a casual way of improving as well!

Regardless, I hope this has helped answer your question, even if just a little.
Warm regards,

David 🙂
University of Kent Student Rep

Reply 2

bbu7372

Is this for AQA? I got an A in AQA history.

It depends on the exam board but for AQA general tips:
- you need all the facts memorised but the analysis is the key thing; facts alone will not get high marks
- it’s really important to understand exactly what the question is asking for, because they can be gesturing towards historical concepts like change, continuity, etc (these are on the syllabus online I believe). Also, learn to recognise factor questions (I’m not the best person to explain this clearly, so I’d recommend online resources)
- strong intro and conclusion is important
- answers that are too list-like or narrative will get low marks, even if the facts are all correct

But just to reiterate the answer above, literally almost everyone was getting a C or below at the beginning of year 12, including myself. A lot of these went on to achieve A and A* grades, so I wouldn’t worry at all. I get that it can seem low in comparison to other subjects but with history, getting the essay style down takes some time, but you’ll get there!

Reply 3

A*Essays

I would say just read over the textbook chapter several times. Then find some past paper essays, and just do those en masse. Details are important, so create a sheet or two with all the facts you need to include in your essays, and read over those facts over and over again. Copying out is also very useful. Hope that helps; good luck.