Hey Blog! Over the past year, I have been studying for GCSE History. Now, with the exam over, I can tell you what I’ve been doing!
GCSE or iGCSE is the current level of academic learning roughly expected of 16 year olds in the UK (and international territories where iGCSEs are recognised). History is, well, history. One of my favourite subjects and one I have a lot of knowledge of. However, a History GCSE is more than just telling your examiner everything you know, which would be nice (depending on the period you ask me about, I can wax lyrical all day long) – it is trying to put down a small portion of your learning, in legible handwriting, in a very short period of time, in a structure some higher power of examinations decided was the norm. Not easy. The good news – I managed it. The bad news – I have to wait till August to get the results of how well I did, and I have done very little else – which is why until a week ago you have received no blogs since April, which I’m rather sad about. Let’s explore the exam further.
The exam board I studied was AQA, which requires two papers, four units, three long essays, eighteen questions, seven sources/interpretations, eighty-eight marks in total, and one, year-long headache (not literal but you get the idea) trying to learn, revise and deliver all this in time. I studied for the course with my tutor Jake of Humanatees, who I did an Environmental Management iGCSE with last year. This means while I did not pick the topics, which means I did not focus on some of my best fields of study, I learnt a broader picture with subjects I had never covered so had more to learn for. These were:
America, 1840-1895 – the spread west from the eastern colonies to covering the entire continent. As a Period study, it was all about the events of that period. The most preparation I had for this was reading the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder some years ago. They pretty much cover half the course, albeit in less detail and do not give practice questions!
Conflict and Tension in Asia, 1950-1975 – covers the Korean War, which is not widely known, and the Vietnam War, which people are more aware of. A Wider World Depth study, it focuses on themes across the world which caused the more local events of Korea and Vietnam. Rather gruesome, and particularly immediate because it is within living memory – my parents were alive when it ended. I did not work particularly hard for this unit at the time it was taught, until I realised the exam was only a few weeks away, at which point we ordered the box set of 18 hours of DVDs recommended for more detail on the course and binge watched them. It seems like the people who designed the exam literally watched the series and then wrote the textbook based on it. I think they helped.
Migration, Empires and the People, 790-the present day. By far the longest topic, covering more than a thousand years where the others cover less than 100. This is a Thematic study, which explores seven factors: Religion, Economy, Government, Technology, War, Big Ideas, and the Individual, and their importance for Migration, Empires, or the People. Contact cards, naming a person and then relating them to the factors, is a must for this. For a long time, I did not understand the function of these cards besides homework and a way of writing down something about the person. Then I sort of understood that it’s about linking the factors through individuals. I only realised this two days in advance of the exam. Thank goodness I did – it probably gained me another few of those 88 marks.
Norman England, 1066-1100. Not 1066 and All That, but more factual, and definitely one of my stronger subjects – until the questions they asked in the real exam were fiendish! For this unit, I relied on my visit to Normandy (see last year’s posts on this holiday) and my knowledge of the period from other reading. The essay for this topic was a case study on a particular place – this year, Durham Cathedral – which I told you about visiting last autumn. This question requires you to concentrate on aspects of the cathedral and explain why they were important as a particular design choice. I deliberately chose to do the questions out of order in the exam, so I had more time to work on this and finish it well. However, due to a difficult paper, I only just managed to put a full stop on one of the other questions before time was up.
Because I am home educated, I have to traipse all over the country to get to an exam centre – Birmingham is our one of choice. However, because it was a morning exam, we couldn’t risk getting a late train and not arriving before it started. Premier Inn, here we come. While I wasn’t allowed to get a very Full English (for free, because I’m technically still under child rules though eat more than an adult) before the exam, the lighter breakfast was still fantastic. I can recommend the churros with dipping sauce for pudding the evening before, too. From there, it’s only a short walk to the exam centre, and thankfully I do not get nervous doubts or start questioning myself; I seem to be more relaxed about exams than my Mum or most other mums there for that matter. Maybe it’s a parent thing, to be more stressed about exams than their kids. Either way, once I’m in it’s just half an hour waiting for ID to be checked while you do mental exercises, watch the other candidates (though no one says anything – weird!), or try to dismiss the earworm stuck in your brain. Or just space out like I do. And then the exam.
I was lucky with the papers; everything I’d particularly studied had come up. Kind of as expected, but then, also good because while you are taught everything, including what comes up in the exam, and hopefully learn everything, again, including what comes up, you don’t always study what comes up. So that was good. I think I did ok, and I’m confident for a good mark when I get the results. Remember, I’m a year younger than the majority of children who take GCSEs, so I must be good if I’m going for them so quickly. The one, slight, unfortunate thing is next year I have five or more to do simultaneously. So I’m either going to be not sleeping for a few months while I study, or find a way to study in advance. Looks like I’ll need some more luck for next year!