A-Level Tips #1 -Take History (not sponsored) – Amelia
EACH WEEK THIS TERM, AN A-LEVEL STUDENT WILL EXPLAIN TO YEAR 11 WHY THEIR SUBJECT IS A GOOD OPTION FOR A-LEVEL. TAKE ADVICE WITH PINCH OF SALT AND ALWAYS CONSULT YOUR PERFORMANCE INDCATORS BEFORE DECIDING ON AN A-LEVEL.
As an a-level history student hoping to continue studying the subject at university, I think history is one of the most interesting and rewarding subjects available. Often compared with geo, there is less colouring in, but still the odd map every now and then. With year 11 choosing their a-levels soon, now seems like a good time provide you with some insight if you are considering history, and for any year 12s hoping to jump ship, it’s not too late (EDITORIAL: NOT ADVISABLE, AND THERE’S PROBABLY A VERY GOOD REASON FOR STUDYING GEO TOO – WAIT FOR NEXT WEEK…)!
What can history teach you?
History is far more than memorising dates, conferences and policies; it teaches you how to be critical, form your own opinions and write very quickly, a great skill to transfer to any other a-level. It is also key in understanding the world we live in today while basically learning historical stories and gossip, making it very memorable.
My favourite part of taking history at the moment is the coursework cake rota which starts today, we’re all very excited for our period 2 ginger cake, hopefully it lives up to expectations. On the subject of coursework, history allows you to research whatever topic you like for this independent work, which is great because it allows you to find out more about whatever interests you, pushing you to think independently and be creative while still receiving guidance from your teacher. Topics this year vary from the Holocaust to the Civil Rights Movement, Abraham Lincoln’s views on slavery and the Arab-Israeli conflict.
The courses we study have been very interesting and connect nicely to GCSE history but offer a new perspective on history that I hadn’t previously appreciated. The most popular course is probably Russia: from Lenin to Yeltsin which runs through the Russian Revolution and the history of the Soviet Union in terms of politics, economics, control of the people, culture (my favourite part) and social development, allowing us to understand both the big picture of Soviet history and the experiences of regular people and how their lives were impacted by the MANY old men who ruled them, some with rather questionable eyebrows (see below.) You also get a taste of Mr Roe’s GCSE drama skills with his grief at the many state funerals.
In addition to Soviet Russia we also study rebellion under the Tudors, which I found more interesting than I anticipated. Some people really enjoy the Tudors but they’ve previously not taken my interest, however I really enjoyed learning from this perspective and understanding the causes for revolt and disorder, some of which can be linked to patterns in today’s history, making it very interesting when considering modern politics. This topic is brought to life by balloon debates with fake beards, impassioned speeches and rebel petitions.
The third topic is about the German Democratic Republic, which we have only been studying for two weeks but it is already my favourite topic, looking at life in East Germany. We’re looking forward to our Berlin trip at easter where we will visit the remnants of the Berlin Wall, Sachsenhausen concentration camp, the Spy Museum (with laser tag) and so much more which I’m sure will be reviewed in a Bubble article in summer. A great book recommendation on the GDR is a new release called ‘Beyond the Wall’ by Katja Hoyer, it is very readable and explains the political situation of East Germany in a very interesting way focusing on the social impacts, including the widespread obsession with Elvis, cowboys and American ‘blue jeans’ which I found particularly interesting.
Ultimately, History is a very valuable subject to study because it provides you with skills you can transfer to other subjects and build your understanding of the world, but most importantly its far more interesting than geo and we have better colouring pencils.
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