History - A Level (Linear)

Applications Open: - Thursday 14th November

Entry Requirements: - Updated subject information and application guidance will 'go live' on our website on the evening of 14th November 2024: https://www.dgsb.co.uk/1106/dgsb-sixth-form-about-us

How to Apply: - We do not accept applications via KentChoices. Please visit https://www.dgsb.co.uk/1106/dgsb-sixth-form-about-us to find out how to apply

This course is a 2 year linear A-Level course with exams at the end of Year 13.

With the new specifications for A-Level teaching having been introduced for first teaching in September 2015, we will follow the AQA History specification, which will include covering Unit 1C The Tudors: England, 1485–1603, Unit 2R The Cold War 1945-1991 and coursework on the Development of the Civil Rights Movement in the USA between 1880 and 1980. Welcome to our award-winning History Department, which has been recognised nationally by the Good School Awards on multiple occasions.

History allows you to open a window on the past, where you can eavesdrop on political conversations in times of crisis. You can join a GI in the jungles of Vietnam and look on while thousands of people crowd to see the crowning of King Henry VIII. You can use your knowledge of the development of Civil Rights to explain the significance of Martin Luther King and his “I have a dream” speech. You also discover the vital role history plays in understanding the present. Where have we come from? Why do we live the way we do?

The A-Level history course is linear, meaning that you sit your two final examinations at the end of Year 13. You will study the development of Tudor England and consider if Henry VII combined majesty with menace or if he created stability or was an incompetent monarch. The Cold War course allows you to discover the reasons behind Churchill’s famous Iron Curtain Speech or consider how and why the Berlin Wall came down in 1989. This will be coupled with a personal investigation into the development of the Civil Rights Movement, the role significance of key people and groups like Malcolm X and the NAACP and the achievements of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Your personal investigation will develop your research and analysis skills. The coursework teaches you how to effectively use many resources including archives.