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A Level | History

History at Leighton Park

Exam Board: OCR

Will the Course Suit Me?

History is a very rewarding subject to study. With group work, written tasks, source analysis, discussions, presentation and debates there are numerous ways to keep you interested and motivated to learn and enjoy this subject.  History seeks to interpret and explain the events, processes and personalities that have helped to shape the world we live in.  If you are keen to ask questions, look beyond the headlines about people and events, and to express your own opinions, then History is the course for you.

Benefits of the Course

History enables you to understand the origins of modern political and social problems and to appreciate how the world in which we now live has evolved. It will help you to appreciate that people in the past were not just good or bad but motivated in complex inconsistent ways just like us. This course encourages analysis and evaluation of information, to investigate historical issues through a friendly and flexible approach. History will help you to formulate clear and consistent arguments that are well supported so you should never lose an argument again! History students are rounded individuals who develop an understanding of both past and present. In developing your communication and thinking skills this subject will leave you one step ahead whatever you want to do in later life.

Outside the Classroom

  • Trip to Hampton Court Palace
  • Trip to London for Student conferences
  • Study tours to the USA and Russia
  • National Archives

Future Opportunities

Apart from reading History at university this course could lead to careers in law, journalism, museums, teaching, marketing, tourism, heritage management, architecture, archaeology, anthropology, philosophy and criminology.

Overview of A Level in History A (H505)

Content Overview Assessment Overview

In search of the American Dream: the USA, c1917-96

This option comprises a study in breadth, in which students will learn about the dramatic political, economic and social transformation of the USA in the twentieth century, an era that saw the USA challenged by the consequences of political, economic and social inequalities at home and of its involvement in international conflict. The focus of study is on developments and changes over a broad timescale and so the content is presented as themes spanning a significant duration: 1917-80. This option also contains a study in depth of historical interpretations on a broad question, which is contextuaiised by, and runs on from, the themes: what impact the Reagan presidency had on the USA in the years

1981-96.

Paper 1: Breadth study with interpretations    

30% of the total qualification
South Africa, 1948—94: from apartheid state to ‘rainbow nation’

This option comprises a study in depth of South Africa during its transition from white minority rule to the free elections of 1994, a long, and at times, dramatic process in which South Africa changed from an apartheid state into a multi-racial democracy. Students will gain an in-depth understanding of the creation and consolidation of the apartheid regime by the National Party and the response and methods used by their political opponents in the struggle to overthrow apartheid, as well social, economic and cultural changes that accompanied this process.

Paper 2: Depth study    

20% of the total qualification

Ireland and the Union, c1774-1923

This option comprises two parts: the Aspects in breadth focus on long-term changes and contextualise the Aspects in depth, which focus in detail on key episodes. Together, the breadth and depth topics explore the Irish struggle for constitutional change, and the ways in which the Irish economy and society changed and their impact on mainland Britain. This was a difficult period in the development of Irish society and for Anglo-Irish relations, involving passion, tensions and commitment to different causes that were in many ways irreconcilable, and an outcome that, by 1923, left many dissatisfied and eager for further change.

Paper 3: Themes in breadth with aspects in depth    

20% of the total qualification
Coursework

The purpose of this coursework is to enable students to develop skills in the analysis and evaluation of interpretations of history in a chosen question, problem or issue as part of an independently researched assignment. The focus is on understanding the nature and purpose of the work of the historian. Students will be required to form a critical view based on relevant reading on the question, problem or issue. They will also be specifically required to analyse, explain and evaluate the interpretations of three historians.		 20% of the total qualification

If you have any queries about this course, please contact Head of Department: Helen Tatlock

To apply for our Sixth Form, please see our Admissions page.

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