History

STATEMENT OF INTENT FOR HISTORY

History students at Charters School will be curious and inspired by the dilemmas, choices and beliefs of people in the past. Through the study of local, national and international events they will develop a greater sense of their own identity and through this appreciate the values and diversity of the wider community in which they form a part. They will answer questions of the present by engaging with the past and in doing so develop skills that will enable them to play a full part in a democratic society.

COURSE DETAILS

AQA History 7042/HS – 80% Examined and 20% Non-Examined Assessment

Component 1 – Tsarist and Communist Russia 1855-1964 – 40% of A-Level • 2.5 hour assessment based on three essay questions from a choice of four

Component 2 – The Making of Modern Britain, 1951-2007 – 40% of A-level • 2.5 hour assessment based on three essay questions from a choice of four

Component 3 – NEA German Unification and the Challenge of Nationalism – 20% of A-Level • 3000 word essay in response to an identified enquiry question.

COMPLEMENTARY SUBJECTS

History A-level is a course primarily for inquisitive, thoughtful and questioning students. It requires organisational and extended writing skills.

Therefore, the subjects that compliment it most directly include: English Literature and Language, Geography, Philosophy and Ethics, Sociology and Economics. However due to the focus on extended writing skills and the ability to construct persuasive arguments through essays, History can also compliment subjects where those skills are less essential such as Mathematics, Sciences, Languages, Music and Art.

FUTURE OPPORTUNITIES

History A-Level provides an excellent base for a variety of university courses such as: History, Geography, Politics, Economics, Philosophy, Law, PPE, Journalism and English Literature. Aside from university degrees, History A-Level will equip students with essential life skills including: extending writing, constructing arguments, being well informed about our country and others around the world, learning academic discipline, growing confidence in your abilities, research skills, sorting the relevant from the irrelevant, to name but a few.

BE INSPIRED BY EXPLORING FURTHER

Books on History as a subject include:

E.H. Carr’s classic ‘What is History?’. For an updated critique on this is the recently published ‘What is History, now?’ by Hele Carr and Suzannah Lipscomb.

For specific new works which have recently redefined areas of our historical knowledge:

‘She-Wolves’ by Helen Castor which evaluates the most significant women in Medieval England.

‘Black and British’ by David Olusoga which aims to improve education around Britain’s multi-racial past.

‘The Anglo-Saxons' by Marc Morris which is a fresh look at an established period of history, aiming to debunk some common myths.

‘The Silk Roads’ by Peter Frankopan which aims recontextualised our understanding of history away from a West-European worldview.

Some interesting podcasts include:

Versus History, Hardcore History (by Dan Carlin) and The Rest is History (Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook)