Preparing for A Level History

Your GCSEs may now be over and you should be celebrating all your hard work. The summer ahead of you will be a long one, filled with possibility and potential. Whilst, studying and preparation may not be high up your list of things to do, why not take some time to start preparing. Starting to prepare will make your new History A Level far easier and ensures you hit the ground running.

Preparing for A Level History

1) Read

A Level History is a step up from GCSE, there is no question of that, but that doesn't mean you cannot be prepared for it. One key element of A Level History are the views of Historians. Including the views of Historians in your A Level writing will improve and support your arguments and showcase your awareness of the wider history around your subject. Why not select one book for the course you will be studying and use it as a starting point to start your reading?

2) Research your A Level

Many schools and colleges will publish their course options for A Level History on their websites or in their prospectuses. Why not find out which options are on offer and start to find out about those topics. Your first port of call should be the exam board specification. This will be your key to all you need to know for your A Level. The specifications can be found here:

• AQA
• Edexcel
• OCR

3) Use Twitter

Twitter is an invaluable tool for students of history. You can gain access to historians, up to date information and opinion as well as a range of resources to support your studies. In order to get started why not follow some of these:

Tutor2u History | Mr Thomas History | Dan Snow | History Hit | Mary Beard | National Archives | British Library

4) Visit Historical Places

Is there anything better than visiting Historical places? Get some friends together and go exploring. Why not choose somewhere that is going to have significance for your course. For Tudor options why not visit Hampton Court Palace, or the Portsmouth Historic Dockyards, or the local Tudor Manor? For more modern options there is a huge range of sites to choose from including former nuclear bunkers to coastal defenses. If all else fails why not visit the British Museum to seek inspiration. 

5) Relax

A Levels are going to be challenging and for the next two years you are going to work hard so take the time now to relax, you've earned it after all. Meet up with your friends, go on trips, chill out, binge on Netflix. Come back in September ready to start and ready to work hard.