An introduction to A-level

An introduction to A-level History

Neil Evans

GCE History Subject Officer (WJEC)

Before joining WJEC I worked at an international exam board for five years having previously taught A-level History at a sixth-form college for ten years. My main areas of focus were late-medieval and early modern Wales, England and Europe.

Pictured above, a statue of the German reformer, Philipp Melanchthon, Lutherstadt-Wittenberg, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Credit: Pixabay Many, though not all, A-level History students will have studied the subject at GCSE and will have a reasonably good idea what to expect from this subject. Even if GCSE History was not studied, the skills developed in other subjects are easily transferred to this discipline. The course has three aims. To enable learners to:

• develop knowledge and understanding, and to prepare them to make analytical and evaluative judgements about that knowledge and understanding • analyse and evaluate evidence and make judgements as to its value (see pages 12–16 for more on this) • explore how interpretations are formed and to make critical judgements about those interpretations. All of these are important skills – their value should not be underestimated. In completing the course, there are a number of pathways that can be followed. For example, it is possible to choose a pathway that focuses on medieval and early modern history, covering: Europe in the sixteenth century (AS Unit 1); the Civil War and its aftermath c.1625–1660 (AS Unit 2 and A2 Unit 4); and resistance, conquest and rebellion in Wales c.1240–1415 (A2 Unit 3). An alternative pathway is to study the history of people and societies, exploring Wales and England c.1880–1980 (AS Unit 1); the US Civil War and its aftermath, c.1840–1877 (AS Unit 2 and A2 Unit 4); and Russia, c. 1881–1989 (A2 Unit 3).

In fact, there are 34 options and over 200 different pathways that can be chosen. While these are usually chosen by centres (i.e. schools and colleges), many of which opt to offer more than one pathway, there is scope for learners to contribute to the direction of their own learning. They may choose a nonexamination assessment (NEA) – or coursework – option that contrasts or complements the pathway they are studying. Many centres offer up to four different NEA titles to help learners do this, but if a learner has an interest in a specific issue of history and wants to study it for their NEA, then they can – via their teacher – submit their own title to WJEC for approval. Whatever pathway is chosen, we hope that learners enjoy A-level history, that they build on the skills developed at GCSE and use them to become an inquiring, reflective and open-minded thinker who makes a positive contribution in life.