AQA A-Level History: Reviewing the 2025 Exams

ABOUT THIS COURSE

This in-depth course is designed to analyse the key lessons from the 2025 AQA A-Level History exams and provide actionable strategies to improve student outcomes. Through expert-led sessions, you will explore common mistakes, examiner expectations, and ways to refine students’ essay-writing skills, source analysis, and historical interpretations. The course will help you develop effective teaching strategies to strengthen students’ argumentation, use of evidence, and engagement with historical debates.

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BENEFITS OF ATTENDING

• • Gain key insights from the 2025 AQA A-Level History exams • Identify common pitfalls in essay writing, source analysis, and interpretations questions • Develop strategies to help students construct well-argued, evidence-based responses • Improve students’ ability to engage critically with historical sources and interpretations • Learn how to create a progressive teaching culture that fosters continuous improvement

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PROGRAMME

10.00am: Understanding the 2025 Exam Performance

• Key takeaways from examiner reports – strengths and areas for improvement
• Identifying patterns in student performance across different question types
• Addressing common errors in argument structure, evidence use, and historical analysis
• Developing an action plan to refine teaching approaches

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10.45am: Break

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11.00am: Mastering the Essay Questions (Paper 1 & 2)

• How students’ essays compared to examiner expectations
• Structuring responses to ensure clarity, depth, and balance
• Strengthening the use of evidence and historical knowledge (AO1)

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11.45am: Excelling in Source Analysis (Paper 2)

• Common pitfalls in answering source-based questions
• Teaching students to evaluate provenance, context, and tone effectively
• Developing a structured approach to integrating own knowledge (AO1) with source evaluation (AO2)
• Practical strategies to enhance depth and precision in responses

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12.30pm: Lunch

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1.30pm: Navigating Historical Interpretations (Paper 1 & NEA)

• Understanding the demands of interpretations-based questions

• Improving analysis and evaluation of historical arguments (AO3)
• Teaching students to critically engage with historians’ views
• Balancing own knowledge with evaluation of interpretations (AO3)
• Supporting students in developing high-quality NEA coursework

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2.30pm: Break

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2.40pm: Moving Forward – Preparing for Success in 2026

• Key lessons from 2025 and how to implement them in teaching
• Preventing recurring mistakes with targeted intervention
• Developing a progressive teaching culture for continual improvement
• Practical action planning for the year ahead

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3.30pm: Depart