AQA GCSE History Student Conference

ABOUT THIS CONFERENCE

KEY FOCUS AREAS

• A new AQA GCSE History conference for 2024, covering the key topics and skills required to succeed on every question type
• Fully interactive day, engaging, informative; the specification brought to life in engaging sessions
• Expert guidance from examiners on improving performance in the different exam paper sections
• Take away a new set of notes which give excellent revision advice and demonstrate the levels required for success

PROGRAMME

Welcome and Introduction

Writing Top Level Answers

• Levels and Grades; why are they important? How to move upwards!
• The big, own knowledge questions, what are examiners looking for? What are the differences between Grades 4-5 and Grades 7-8?
• What makes a really good Grade 9 answer? Top tips to impress an examiner.
• Take the planning challenge, can you produce a top-level answer?

Germany 1890-1945

• Planning an answer: do I really have to do it for 4, 8, 12 and 16-mark questions?
• Student exercise: the Munich Putsch
• The Chronology of Germany
• Student exercise: Take the Germany chronology challenge, can you sort it out?
• Germany: how to hit the top levels in each case.
• Describe two problems
• In what ways were …..affected?
• ‘Which of the following was more important….’ How to tackle the question.
• Interpretations questions on Stresemann, the Reichstag Fire and the Hitler Youth Movements

Conflict and tension: 1918-1939

• What went wrong at Versailles, the aims of the Big Four and Manchuria and Abyssinia.
• Student exercise: the League of Nations
• Student exercise: Take the League of Nations chronology challenge, can you sort it out?
• How to hit the top levels in each question.
• Describe two problems
• Writing an ‘account’, what’s it all about?
• ‘Which of the following was more important….’ How to tackle the question.
• Tackling a ‘How far do you agree?’ question
• Using sources: what are the key points? What should you avoid? What gets you the top level?
• Student exercise: How can propaganda be useful?

Lunch

Question Box

A chance to ask direct questions to the keynote speakers, with a prize awarded for the best question.

The Thematic Study: Medicine, Power, Migration and Empire

• The Thematic Studies will be dealt with generically.
• Factors for change across time; why are they important?
• Examples and exercises across all three thematic studies
• What do the questions require? Similar, Explain, How far?
• How to construct an answer to a question involving factors.
• Source questions: what are examiners looking for?

The British Study: Elizabethan England

• Why was religion so important? What was Elizabeth trying to achieve?
• Student exercise: How did Puritans and Catholics behave? Which posed the greater threat to Elizabeth?
• Planning an answer do I really have to do it for 4, 12 and 16-mark questions?
• Student exercise: Explain what was important about the development of the theatre
• Getting to the higher levels in an ‘Explain’ question.
• What does a ‘How far’ question want by way of an answer
• Student exercise: the Historic Environment Mary, Queen of Scots

Final Top Tips

• Getting the whole picture
• Student exercise: Germany
• Student exercise: simple sorting
• Passive and active revision
• Final Top Tip: Answer the Question!