OCR A-Level Ancient History guide FAQ (H407)
Guide overview All 8 topics Sample questions Papers and weighting Look inside Questions and answers
OCR A-Level Ancient History: questions and answers
Specification H407. Two sets, because students and parents ask different things.
For students
I only do two of these. Is the rest wasted?
No. You sit the compulsory Greek period study plus one Greek depth study of three, and the compulsory Roman period study plus one Roman depth study of three.
All six depth studies are in the guide because schools choose differently. Work the two you are taught and skip the other four.
Which parts are compulsory?
Relations between Greek States and non-Greek States, 492 to 404 BC on Component Group 1, and The Julio-Claudian Emperors, 31 BC to AD 68 on Component Group 2. Every student sits both.
How are the ancient sources examined?
The specification prescribes the ancient authors for each study and you are assessed on their reliability as well as their content. The guide asks what each source says, when and why it was written, and the standard reasons to doubt it.
Do I need to know dates precisely?
Yes. Ancient History rewards specific evidence, and a date or a name is the difference between a supported point and an unsupported one.
How long does one session take?
About twenty minutes for one subtopic, all three steps. These topics are large, from 218 to 427 questions, so work by subtopic.
Can I do it in my head instead of writing?
Write. Step 2 is where a half-remembered name or date gets replaced by the correct one. The method page sets out the evidence.
When should I start?
H407 is linear, so both papers are sat at the end of Year 13. The period studies are usually taught first and are compulsory, which makes them the sensible first passes.
Do I still need past papers?
Yes. The method puts the evidence into memory. Past papers train the source questions and the extended essays across a two and a half hour paper. OCR publishes them free.
For parents
What is this, in plain terms?
A PDF of 2,709 exam-style questions covering the whole of OCR A-Level Ancient History including all six depth studies, with the answers printed after each topic.
My child only studies four of the eight topics.
That is correct. Two are compulsory and two are chosen by the school from three options each. All eight are in the guide because schools choose differently.
How do I know if it is being used properly?
There should be handwritten answers on paper and three passes over the same questions, and two scores per session to compare.
My child writes well but the marks are middling.
Ancient History essays are marked on specific evidence: a named source, a date, a person, a term. Fluent writing without those reads well and scores less.
How much is it compared with a textbook?
£8.00 for the whole specification. Individual study guides for this subject usually run £20 to £30 each and you would need two or more.
How much time does the whole course take?
176 subtopics at roughly twenty minutes each is about 59 hours for everything, and closer to 30 once the four unused depth studies are skipped.
What else does my child need?
Past papers, which OCR publishes free, the prescribed source translations their school uses, and their own notes.
OCR A-Level Ancient History Active Recall Guide
2,709 questions with their answers, 176 subtopics, one file.