history or geography

i’m not sure if i should take history or geography for gcses, which should i take?

Reply 1

The boring answer is that it depends on what you like.

I think History has some of the most content out of any gcse but I find it all really interesting and the grade boundaries are usually super low (they were like 68% for a 9 recently with AQA off the top of my head). It also depends on what modules your school does, so I would say to check that to see if its something you like. History is a LOT of essays though and the exam is almost all essay questions so you gotta like that, but they're not on the same level as english lang or lit, and there are some more straight-forward questions.

I don't do Geography but a lot of my friends do and it seems to also be a lot of content and essays, but it's more like science where it's mixed in with multiple-choice and single line questions too.

Let me know if you want any more advice about History (can't help you with Geography I'm afraid!)

Reply 2

kubach

As someone who took both History and Geography, I would say it is up to what you enjoy. From my experiences with OCR Geography, the course is very content heavy and relies heavily on memorising case studies and facts. The topics are extremely varied and are all very different, so there will always be something you prefer over something else. Physical geography and fieldwork in my opinion tends to be much more boring than human geography, however that's purely down to me finding the composition of rainforest soil beyond boring. History on the other hand is down to the exam board. I do Edexcel and have mixed feelings. Make sure you check with your school which topics you will do, as schools do different ones. Some have loads of resources available whilst some such as Conflict in the Middle East which less than 20 schools do have absolutely nothing online and the textbook itself has been pulled from production. History is completely essay based and involves quite a lot of detail, whilst Geography is a mixture of short answers and extended answers. Overall, you should prioritise what interests you the most! Both subjects equip you with valuable skills so don't worry on choosing one over the other.