Exam Board – Edexcel
Qualification – A Level 9HI0
Entry requirements – GCSE grade 5 in English and grade 6 in history
Course specification
A Level history is fascinating and awe inspiring! As a history student you will gain insight into the multifaceted nature of the human experience and history will help you to make sense of a complex, globalising world.
“Having learnt transferable skills from dedicated and enthusiastic teachers such as creating complex arguments and considering situations from different standpoints, history has contributed greatly to my development as a student and individual, and I would thoroughly recommend studying it at Tuxford Academy.”
– Student
You will learn to examine issues critically and creatively, use evidence to develop a convincing argument and think boldly yet flexibly to reach insightful judgements. You will also learn how to organise and present your ideas, clearly and coherently. Past students have often said what they learn in history helps them achieve in other subjects like drama and English literature.
In year 12 you will study a unit called ‘searching for rights and freedoms in the twentieth century’. This will include two fascinating modules. One module is called ‘in search of the American dream, c.1917-96’ and includes topics such as civil rights, the growth of the USA as a superpower, the Cold War, the impact of the media on American culture and Reagan’s presidency.
The second module is called ‘India, c1914–48 the road to independence’ and includes topics such as the British Raj, Ghandi, the Muslim league, and partition.
In year 13 you will study a unit called ‘Britain: losing and gaining an empire, 1763–1914’. This will include topics such as the growth and role of the empire, loss of America, the birth of Australia ‘the criminal’ colony, making Canada last, and Britain in Africa.
You will also complete a coursework assignment of one 3,000 to 4,000-word essay. For this essay you have the freedom to write your own question on any controversy in history that you find interesting!
History lessons are varied and interactive, and classes have a collaborative environment in which friendships often develop. In classes you will be encouraged to ask questions and develop
informed opinions based upon wide reading. Your progress will be supported through model answers, clear essay guidelines, formative marking, AfL activities and revision guides. To give you extra support we also use Padlet pages, upon which you can post questions and discuss your learning with fellow students, make mentoring available, revision guides, and we are always
willing to talk with you individually about your studies.
The history course is challenging but with hard work students achieve highly – this is evidenced by the fact that across the previous years, on average, students beat their target grade.
What doors will this open up for me?
The skills and knowledge you learn when studying history are highly valued and make history a keystone subject. This means history opens a range of doors in the future and is widely respected by all universities, regardless of what you plan to study. A high number of students each year choose to continue their enjoyment of history at university by taking a history or a history related degree, whilst many others go on to study a broad range of university courses.
