History
History is about people
- Individuals (such as Henry VIII, Elizabeth I, Lenin, Mussolini, Churchill, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, – all of whom can be studied for A level) – their impact on their countries and on world history, as well as their characters, policies, ambitions, prejudices and personal crises.
- Society as a whole, assessing the growth and effects of major movements in world history such as the Protestant Reformation, the British Empire, the Civil Rights Movement in the USA or Communism in Russia.
Acquisition of important skills
A level History provides the opportunity to develop a wide range of skills which are useful not just at school but in higher education and the employment market.
These include:
- Writing with clarity and precision
- Being able to argue a case both on paper and in class discussion
- Forming one’s own opinion based on the available evidence: for much of the history you will study there are no “right” answers: your views can be as worthwhile as those of a professional historian if they are well-argued.
- Assessing the reliability and usefulness of documentary evidence.
- Developing a sceptical approach to “obvious” lines of argument.
With training in these skills it is little wonder that professions such as law, business, the Civil Service and the media recruit heavily from those who have studied History at A level and university.
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