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2. How do I prepare effectively for the A level examination?

3. General Advice
Know the types of questions for the different papers and sections.
Know what is being assessed.
Know the timings for each section
Practise some questions under timed conditions at home.
Read around the topics as much as possible.
Familiarise yourself with the programmes of study (course content) and themes. ( e.g change and continuity/ similarity and difference/ significance/ impact of individuals)

4. Knowledge:
Use note cards to make revision notes on key dates and facts. Use the timelines at the front of the AQA textbooks as a starting point.
Expand your note cards for events that you feel unsure about. (detail)
Test yourself frequently. Give yourself a date/ event/ individual and see how much you know.
Read around the topics as much as possible. Focus on the key themes:
Power- how did this shift over time? Make notes on each monarch’s Parliaments. What were the key events/ concerns/ actions?
Finance- how did each monarch fair? How did parliament respond?
Religion- how did this change? What were the points of conflict across reigns?

5. Skills: Source response: It may be best to take each extract in turn.
Remember to focus on how convincing each extract is. There is no requirement to compare them.
There is no need for an introduction or conclusion.
Try to blend in specific knowledge with commentary on what the argument is in the extract.
use quotations to illustrate the argument.
To Do
Practice reading through sources in the textbook and summarising the argument.
make a list of all the historiography you can find in the textbook. E.g Christopher Hill takes a Marxist perspective on…

6. Skills: Essay questions:
These usually start with a quote or ‘To what extent…’
Think about the dates given in the question. They must be significant.
Be disciplined about answering the question set. Avoid narrative.
Highlight the parts of the question that are significant .
Include own knowledge to illustrate your argument.
Always do a plan showing knowledge/ points. (max 5 mins)
start each paragraph with the point you are making.
Do a conclusion that answers the question directly.
To Do:
Go through each of the A level style essays in the textbook. Plan each one for knowledge and argument.
Go through the essay questions at the end of this presentation.

7. Additional Essay Questions:
‘James I and Charles I were to blame for the breakdown in relations between Crown and Parliament by 1629.’ Assess the validity of this view.
‘James I handling of religion was his greatest success.’ Assess the validity of this view.
‘Religion was the main cause of division in the Three Kingdoms between and 1649.’ Assess the validity of this view.
‘Charles I policy of “Personal Rule”, begun in 1629, led to the English committing regicide in 1649.’ Assess the validity of this view.
‘The Restoration Parliament to 1678 was more successful than the Rump and Protectorate parliaments in creating political stability in Britain.’ Assess the validity of this view.

8. Additional Essay Questions:
To what extent did religious toleration in Britain increase after the Restoration?
‘The Restoration brought political stability to Britain in the period ’ Assess the validity of this view.
‘Charles II was a skilful but unprincipled monarch.’ Assess the validity of this view.
‘The powers of Parliament compared with that of the monarch increased in the years 1678 to 1701.’ Assess the validity of this view.
‘Concerns over Royal Finance dominated relations between Crown and Parliament in the years after the Restoration up to 1702.’ Assess the validity of this view.

9. Useful links
7042/assessment-resources paper 1D (Britain) and paper 2R Cold War. N.b search A level not AS.