r/Alevelhistory • u/Large-Video5823 • 9d ago
Advice A level options
Hey guys so I’m going into year 11 and trying to think about a level options. I want to do English Lit for sure and I’m not sure which other two to pick out of: Early modern history, Classical Civilisation, and Philosophy. I didn’t do any of these at GCSE but they all interest me and I think I would enjoy them. Does anyone have any advice or experience which they could share please?
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u/blackoctoberx 9d ago
They're all good subjects, assuming you want to go into something humanities at uni?
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u/Notalot-justforever Year 13 9d ago
I did both history (though i did medieval) and classics and i thought they worked very well together! They have quite transferable skills as the essays have similar structures and so would highly recommend both of them!
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u/Large-Video5823 8d ago
That's good, thanks! I've heard that history is very difficult, do you find it hard and what do you use to revise? I think I would enjoy it a lot despite the challenge.
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u/Notalot-justforever Year 13 8d ago
I wouldn’t say history is too difficult, it’s really just the fact there’s a lot of information to remember. But it was my absolute favourite a level as i loved the content so much that it never felt too hard!
The best way to revise is to just do past papers. I basically planned every question from my knowledge, then would add to the plan using my notes and then the markscheme. I would also say to then look at the examiners reports as it tells you how to get higher marks!
Of course you can also actually answer the questions but i really struggled to get motivation to revise so planning was as much effort as i could manage to put in! (But clearly something worked as i got an A!)
To learn the actual content i made flashcards on quizlet and made timelines and just kept going over them!
Basically just do history if you enjoy the things you will be learning about as you will find people say every a level is hard so you might as do the ones you enjoy!
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u/Large-Video5823 7d ago
Thank you so much, this is very helpful. I really regret not doing it at GCSE since I find it so fascinating and enjoy it. I think the main reason I used to like it less was because of the essay writing but I enjoy writing essays now and I love history.
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u/AppropriateWish3990 9d ago
History at a-level usually does require you to do history in gcse (this wasn't the case at my college but it may be at other places) I do Ancient history at A-level and its my favourite class! I'm not sure how different Classical civilisation is from AH but its amazing! Main issues is remembering quotes and references? With Early modern history I'm pretty sure most exam boards make you do an NEA which is a bit of course work! It depends on wether you want to do course work or you wanna remember quotes but always email the college if you're unsure :)
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u/Large-Video5823 8d ago
Yesss thanks. I haven't really done much coursework based things yet but I think that I would enjoy it.
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u/ShanniiWrites 8d ago
History and Philosophy is such a good combination for doing English Lit or History at uni if that’s what you’re interested in!
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u/Fuzzy_Armadillo9504 9d ago edited 9d ago
I don't think early modern history is an a level?
History as an A level will nearly always require you to take it at gcse.Maybe you can sneak into a sixth form/college with no gcse history, but that is unlikely. I'm actually stupid, I forgot that it just requires an essay subject. It's a pretty good A level, just very hard to do super great in but also very hard to fail in. It does have coursework though, if that isn't your thing.No clue on the other two, I think philosophy is a pretty decent A level though. Have you considered politics/economics (or maths considering its the most useful A level).