Is A Level History Hard?
Is A level history hard? Much like writing an essay, there’s no certain right or wrong answer to this one. Whether a student will find history A level difficult or not will depend on a variety of factors.
What type of student are you?
The extent of how challenging this A level is can depend on what type of student you are. If you’re better at problem-solving and are weaker at essay-based questions, you’re bound to find this particular A level extremely difficult. In history, you are marked on the quality of your essays, your written communication, and how effectively you can explain your answer.
Every question you will be marked on is an essay to some degree, whether you have to comment on a source you are given or have to come to a judgement on a specific debate question. If you struggle with writing essays, there’s no doubt about it: you’re going to find history hard! GCSEs can be great to show where you’re strengths lie.
History at GCSE also requires a lot of written communication and revision of knowledge. If you feel as if you struggled at GCSE, then know that the A level is an incredibly huge step up in complexity. With A levels, it’s often better to play to your strengths.
The workload
Whilst all A levels offer a much heavier workload compared to the subjects at GCSE, A level history is notorious for its immense workload and online A Level history tutoring can be of benefit. To do this A level, you need to be prepared to put the effort in. You need to be working throughout the academic year.
There’s so much content in each module that you need to be testing your knowledge constantly to keep the massive amount of information in your brain. There’s just no other way to say it – history is so content-heavy, and you need to know everything to be prepared for any essay which may crop up in the exam! So, if you struggle to retain large amounts of information, you are going to find A level history incredibly challenging.
How it’s marked
With most exam boards, students of history will be assessed through written exams and a coursework essay. You’ll need to be able to get your head around referencing sources to succeed at the coursework essay.
Additionally, you’ll also need to be prepared to do research to find relevant historians to comment on. Again, it’s evident from this that a lot of hard work is needed in this subject. Further still, history exams are notorious for being time-sensitive. If you struggle with writing quickly and getting everything down on the page, history may become difficult for you as students can often lose valuable marks through a lack of time management.
So, choosing history A level shouldn’t be taken lightly, although it is doable. Some students will find it easier than others. Although, there’s no doubt that any student needs to put a lot of work in to succeed at this.
If you, or your parents would like to find out more, please just get in touch via email at info@exam.tips or call us on 0800 689 1272.