History (Modern) GCE A Level

History (Modern) GCE A Level

Qualification: AS/A2 - 2 year course

Course type: Level 3 (advanced)

Entry requirements:
4 x GCSE B grades

Head of Department: Mrs Diane C Mackley

Course assessment:
Formally, in exams set by the examining body for units 1, 2 and 3. The fourth unit - coursework - will be assessed internally and moderated by the exam board.
Informal assessments take place in class on a regular basis through homework, assignments and class presentations.

What can this course offer me?
Results have always been well above the national and College average. In 2006, History at KGV was the subject of a national inspection as a result of its excellence in teaching and delivery of the best results, which has made it one of the top 20 History departments in the country.
Over the past six years, King George V historians have on average, achieved higher grades at A-level than was predicted from their GCSE results. This was especially true of students with modest GCSE scores and those with a range of learning difficulties.
Expert knowledge, teaching and guidance from tutors. All tutors are either examiners for A-level History or have experience of examining with other exam boards. Tutors give particular support to students preparing their coursework in the second year. The quality of this support was singled out by H.M Inspectorate in 2006 for special praise.

What will I learn?
1. DEVELOPING STUDY SKILLS

• asking questions and researching answers
• evaluating information and making informed judgements
• presenting and communicating arguments effectively on paper

2. LEARNING & TEACHING
Students follow the AQA syllabus based on the 19th and 20th centuries :-

AS level (1st year)

Unit 1 (HIS1N) Totalitarian Ideologies of Russia, Germany, Italy 1848 - 1941 (looking at Lenin, Stalin, Hitler and Mussolini)

Unit 2 (HIS2H) Britain 1902 -18 The impact of New Liberalism: emergence of Labour, emancipation of women.

A2 Level (2nd year)

Unit 3 (HIS3J) Britain 1918 - 64: the State and the People (economic, social and political developments)

Unit 4 (HIS4X) Historical Enquiry: 3,500 word individual research on different aspects of the Holocaust, within the context of the development of European anti-Semitism 1848 - 1948.

What Makes a good History (Modern) student?
A desire to want to know all about other people's business! Students need to be interested in what made people in the past act the way they did, how events and ideas in the past help to shape the present.

Which other courses link well with this subject?
The content and skills complement most subjects. History students often combine with Classical Civilisation, English, Languages, Politics, R.E. Philosophy, Economics, Maths and Sciences.

Future Opportunities
Most students go in to Higher Education and read a wide variety of subjects at degree level. Subsequently, they enter careers as diverse as Law, Business Management, the Civil Service, Teaching, Banking, Retailing, Accountancy. Former History students are now barristers, university lecturers, solicitors, accountants, surveyors, judges, writers.

Is there anything else I need to know?
A number of study visits are organised for students to help with coursework research eg to Auschwitz, the Holocaust Exhibition at the IWM. the British Library. Students also run the History Society journal, "Anachronistic", raising money for a special school in Ghana. They also raise awareness of the Holocaust by organising activities across College as members of the Holocaust Awareness Group.