History A Level
Subject Information
Curriculum information
Year 12 overview
The benefit of the AQA qualification allows for simple co-teachability and therefore in Year 12, students study half of the content of the A-Level. In Year 12, students study a period in-depth either, The Making of Modern Britain 1951-1979, or, The War of the Roses 1450-1471 and a period in-breadth, Tsarist and Communist Russia 1855- 1917. Students are assessed through a regular sequence of knowledge tests and exam style essay and source questions. Furthermore, students are required to present on a number of topics, such as Tsarist Opposition, in order to hone their skills of advocacy. At the end of Year 12, students begin their Non Exam Assessment, an extended essay on the motivations of Irish Nationalism in the period 1798-1916.
Year 13 overview
At the beginning of Year 13, students pick up where they left off. Thus students continue their depth study of either, The Making of Modern Britain 1979-2007, or, The War of the Roses 1471-1499 and the breadth study, Tsarist and Communist Russia 1917- 1964. Students are assessed through a regular sequence of knowledge tests and exam style essay and source questions. Furthermore, students are required to present on a number of topics, such as Societal changes under Lenin and Stalin, in order to hone their skills of advocacy. Students continue with their Non Exam Assessment, an extended essay on the motivations of Irish Nationalism in the period 1798-1916. The final piece is submitted just prior to the examinations in May.
SLE Video
Student Video
What our students say
My favourite subject in school was History. I entered sixth form believing that would be my least favoured subject, but found through the help of my teachers, I really enjoyed the subject and the different parts of History.
BCHS sixth form has very good resources and teacher's that all have in-depth knowledge on a wide variety of time periods, excellent.
Easily the best subject I took at BCHS sixth form. The parts of History that you study are really interesting, especially Tsarist Russia. The humanities department simply have great teachers, who help and care for you, not just when it comes to your subjects but with your wellbeing.
History is a brilliant subject to choose at A level. The knowledge of the teachers and support offered is outstanding.
I chose History A level as I really enjoyed this at GCSE. The History department always went the extra mile to make sure we all got the most out of our studies.
