Decision on A Level History coursework options

[Velveteen16]

My DS is in Y13 and currently deciding on which question to focus on for History A Level coursework. Choice is either British Empire and Africa or India, teachers have suggested that it is usually easier to gain more marks on the India questions but he thinks the Africa questions look interesting and so can't decide!

Any advice from either teachers or students? - thanks

My advice is that the question is more important than the topic. If it’s AQA spec then, in my experience, change and continuity questions work best.

“How far did X change/improve/develop/deteriorate between Y and Z date?” works well as a formula.

Questions that are more significance or causation or consequence focused are harder to do well on. You have to both stay consistently and sharply focused on the key issue in the question whilst also addressing change and continuity. That’s just easier if your question is a change/continuity question in the first place.

Thanks for your reply, it is helpful and makes a lot of sense. Wish the teacher hadn't mentioned one topic being easier to pick up marks on than the other really!! It is AQA

Is he based anywhere near London? Our students have found SOAS really helpful in the past when doing Asian and African focused coursework. In 2019-20 before the pandemic hit, they gave library passes to a couple of our Year 13 students who were doing niche coursework topics so that they could go and use their library for reference. I don’t know what the chances are of them doing that in a post-covid world, but always worth sending an email in case they can help.