How useful 12 Mark GCSE Battle of the Somme

How useful are sources A and B to a historian considering the success of the Battle of the Somme? This will be question 2 paper 1 in the Conflict and Tension part of the AQA GCSE exam. The sources will either be cartoon (picture based) or written. This one is based on a newspaper and

Write an account explaining how events in July 1914 became an international crisis. 8 marks

For these write an account questions, the exam board at AQA are not looking for: “Dear Diary.” It is easy to fall into this trap. The examiner is looking for an answer that is clearly structured (not necessarily in chronological order but that makes sense) and has historical concepts. CAUSE CONSEQUENCE CHANGE CONTINUITY SIGNIFICANCE These

Marking & Assessment

Here I am, at it again, writing about the same thing. But this time a little different. I am a forever marking grid convert thanks to Mr.ThorntonTeach on twitter, who introduced these to me back in my ITT year. Since then I have used, forgotten about them at my old job, then come back to

A Level Teaching

Are you nervous about A Level teaching? Are you an NQT who feels as though you are no more than a sixth former dressed slightly smarter, with a degree and a year of teaching under your belt, and that you are definitely blagging this teaching thing? Never fear, you are not alone. Teaching A Level

Thoughts & Takeaways

I operate a no hands policy in my classroom. I expect everyone to be paying attention at all times when questioning, and I expect students to bounce ideas from answers, add to them and expand them. That is a key way I show progress, but also gauge the level of understanding from the class. It

A Level History: Extract Questions on Paper 1

At the start of the exam, are three extracts (two for AS). These extracts are taken from historians and their opinions about history. I teach the Russian breadth study, which means the historians will be commenting on certain aspects or key events in Russian History. It is important that each extract is closer evaluated, and

Explain what was important about the navy for Elizabethan England. [8 marks]

Navy has been important throughout British History in order to secure the island from attacks. Henry VIII spent a fortune building a strong navy that would make England powerful at sea, due to the fact that as an island England was vulnerable to attack. During Elizabeth’s reign this did not change- the navy continued increasing

“Manor houses demonstrated the prosperity of the gentry class in the Elizabethan period” How far do you agree using the study of Hardwick Hall? [16 marks]

You need an introduction, to briefly show off that you know your stuff about the topic of the question and the study, one point to agree, two to disagree and a conclusion. In conclusions don’t just repeat what you have written about, you need to have a punchy last go at convincing the reader that

How useful is the source to historians studying the Scramble for Africa? 8 marks

The first question in the breadth topic in Paper 2 will be a “how useful is source A to historians studying X?” [8 Marks]. In order to achieve in this answers you should NOT just repeat what you can see in the source, without developing an explanation to link to the question. You need: Content

Explain the significance of the American Wars of Independence on the British Empire. 8 marks

Significance questions will appear on Paper 2 in the breadth topic (1000 year span in most cases). A simple way to think about significance is importance. But a more advanced way is: What was it like before? What happened during that changed? What was the impact after? In essence, how did X event or person,