A LEVEL HISTORY
Exam Board
OCR
Overview
The new A level requires the study of British and global history as well as units which cover a period of 200 years.
Unit 1: Lancastrians, Yorkists and Henry VII (1455-1485)
Unit 2: Apartheid and Reconciliation: South African Politics 1948–1999
Unit 3: The Middle East 1908–2011: Ottomans to Arab Spring
Unit 4: The Cold War
Why Choose This?
Young children constantly ask ‘why?’ as they seek to make sense of the world. For a historian this should still be your favourite question. Over the course of your A level studies we will help you to understand ‘why?’. As part of this learning journey you will
By the end of your A level you will have acquired a deeper understanding of key historical events and processes, enabling you to apply your evaluative skills to other aspects of the past as well as the present.
Areas of Study & Assessment
Unit 1 and Unit 2 are taught in Year 12
Unit 1:
Wars of the Roses 1445-1461
The Reigns of Edward IV and Henry VI
The Reign of Richard III
The Reign of Henry VII
Unit 2:
Establishing apartheid
The development of apartheid and growing resistance
The collapse of apartheid 1978-1989
A new South Africa 1989-1999
Unit 3 and Unit 4 are taught in Year 13
Unit 3:
The Role of the Great Powers in the Middle East
Zionism, Israel and the Palestinian Issue
Religion, ethnicity and political minorities
Statehood and Pan-Arabism in the Middle East
Unit 4:
Guided teaching on the beginnings of the Cold War in preparation for independent investigation focused on the historiography of the Cold War
What Our Students Say
I would really recommend an A level in history to anyone who has a genuine interest in the past or in current affairs. It is one of the most highly valued humanities degrees by universities and it can lead to a whole range of career options, not just a history teacher! You need to be a student who has an inquiring mind and who is willing to act on your own initiative to find out the detail of the topics studied. I’m going to university to study history for three more years but, even if that wasn’t my path, I wouldn’t regret studying history at all. It has made me much more questioning and evaluative about everything I see and hear in life.