OCR A-Level History A Active Recall Guide (H505)
OCR · A-Level
OCR A-Level History A Active Recall Guide
Every unit of specification H505 written as exam-style questions with the answers printed after them. 19,669 questions across 58 units and 582 subtopics, covering all thirteen British period studies, all twenty-four non-British period studies and all twenty-one thematic studies.
- OCR
- A-Level
- Specification H505
- 19,669 questions
Guide overview All 58 units Sample questions Papers and weighting Look inside Questions and answers
What the exam asks of you
OCR A-Level History A is built entirely from options. You take one British period study and enquiry of thirteen, worth 25 per cent, one non-British period study of twenty-four, worth 15 per cent, and one thematic study with historical interpretations of twenty-one, worth 40 per cent. A topic-based essay researched independently carries the remaining 20 per cent.
No two schools teach the same three units. This guide carries all fifty-eight, so the three you sit are in it whichever they are, and the other fifty-five are simply skipped.
| Paper | Covers | Length | Marks | Weighting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Y101 to Y113 British period study and enquiry |
One unit of thirteen, made up of a period study and an enquiry topic that precedes or continues it Section A is the enquiry: one compulsory question analysing and evaluating four primary sources to test a hypothesis (30 marks) Section B is the period study: one essay chosen from two, reaching a substantiated judgement (20 marks) |
1 hour 30 minutes | 50 marks | 25% |
|
Y201 to Y224 Non-British period study |
One unit of twenty-four, each built on four key topics One two-part question chosen from two A comparison of two factors and their relative importance (10 marks), then an essay on a different part of the period (20 marks) |
1 hour | 30 marks | 15% |
|
Y301 to Y321 Thematic study and historical interpretations |
One unit of twenty-one, covering themes across at least a hundred years with three named depth studies Section A: an essay judging which of two historians' extracts about one of the three depth studies is more convincing (30 marks) Section B: two thematic essays from a choice of three, each covering the whole period (50 marks) |
2 hours 30 minutes | 80 marks | 40% |
|
Y100 Topic based essay |
An independently researched essay of 3,000 to 4,000 words Explains and analyses different perspectives on a historical issue, using a range of sources and interpretations Titles must be checked by OCR; marked by the centre and moderated |
Non-exam assessment | 40 marks | 20% |
What is in the guide
All 58 units
Every unit has its own page with its subtopics, what it covers and sample questions.
Sample questions
Taken from the guide. Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.
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Edward the Elder 899–924: avoidance of dynastic feuds, campaigns of Edward and Aethelflaed
What is meant by the Danelaw?
Show the answer
It was the area of eastern and northern England settled and governed by Scandinavians, where Danish law and custom prevailed rather than English law. -
Anglo-Saxon England 1035–1066: England in 1035 and Edward’s upbringing
What were the immediate consequences of Cnut's death in 1035?
Show the answer
His empire broke apart and England was disputed between his two sons, so the kingdom was divided in practice between Harold Harefoot in the north and Emma holding Wessex for the absent Harthacnut. -
The minority and early years of the reign of Henry III 1216–1232: Henry’s succession
Which two other men shared power in the minority government?
Show the answer
Hubert de Burgh as justiciar and Peter des Roches, Bishop of Winchester, as the king's guardian and tutor. -
The reign of Henry IV: Bolingbroke’s claim, the Epiphany Rising and Glyndŵr’s revolt
Explain why Henry IV had Richard II's body displayed publicly in London.
Show the answer
He needed to prove Richard was dead and to kill the rumours that he was alive and would return, since those rumours continued to feed plots against the new dynasty. -
Edward IV’s first rule and the crisis of 1470–1471: Edward IV’s management of the government
How did Edward IV treat defeated Lancastrians after 1461?
Show the answer
He attainted more than a hundred of them in his first parliament but reversed many attainders afterwards, preferring to buy loyalty with pardons and restored estates rather than create a permanent party of the dispossessed. -
The government of Henry VII and threats to his rule: Henry’s claim to the throne and Yorkist opposition
What weakness lay in the Beaufort descent on which Henry's blood claim rested?
Show the answer
The Beauforts were the legitimated children of John of Gaunt's mistress and had been expressly barred from the succession by Henry IV, so Henry never rested his title on hereditary right alone. -
Elizabeth and religion: religious situation and problems in 1558, Puritan challenge and aims
Why was Elizabeth styled Supreme Governor rather than Supreme Head of the Church?
Show the answer
The lesser title was less offensive to Catholics, who reserved headship to the Pope, and to Protestants who objected on scriptural grounds to a woman heading the Church. -
James I and Parliament: James I and Divine Right, James I and his financial problems
How did James's own conduct worsen the crown's finances?
Show the answer
He kept a far more lavish court than Elizabeth, gave generous grants, pensions and offices to Scottish favourites, and by 1608 had run the debt up to around £600,000.
How the guide is worked
Answering a question from memory stores it far better than reading the answer again. The guide runs that as a fixed procedure on one subtopic at a time, about forty-five minutes a session.
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Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
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Step 2 · Open book
Go back to the top. Read each printed answer and write it out in full, including the ones you had right.
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Step 3 · Closed book again
Same questions, same order, from memory. The gap between pass one and pass three is the session result.
Read the full method, the return schedule and the research behind it.
Look inside
Questions for a subtopic print together and the answers for that section print after them.
- Y101: Alfred and the Making of England 871-1016321
- Y102: Anglo-Saxon England and the Norman Conquest 1035-1107386
- Y103: England 1199-1272335
- Y104: England 1377-1455352
- Y105: England 1445-1509: Lancastrians, Yorkists and Henry VII324
- Y106: England 1485-1558: the Early Tudors381
- Y107: England 1547-1603: the Later Tudors374
- Y108: the Early Stuarts and the Origins of the Civil War 1603-1660309
- Y109: the Making of Georgian Britain 1678-C.1760351
- Y110: from Pitt to Peel 1783-1853355
- Y111: Liberals, Conservatives and the Rise of Labour 1846-1918382
- Y112: Britain 1900-1951381
- and 46 more
- Describe the condition of England in 1035.
- Name the three great earldoms of late Anglo-Saxon England and the men who held them.
- What were the immediate consequences of Cnut's death in 1035?
- Give two actions by which Harthacnut made himself unpopular after 1040.
- How did the continuation of Danish influence create instability between 1035 and 1042?
- Describe Edward's upbringing before 1042.
- What problems did Edward face on his accession?
- Assess Edward's qualities as a leader.
- It was a wealthy and well-governed kingdom with a uniform coinage, shires and hundreds and an effective land tax, but it formed only one part of Cnut's wider North Sea empire.
- Wessex was held by Godwin, Mercia by Leofric and Northumbria by Siward.
- His empire broke apart and England was disputed between his two sons, so the kingdom was divided in practice between Harold Harefoot in the north and Emma holding Wessex for the absent Harthacnut.
- He levied a very heavy tax to pay his fleet, and he had his half-brother's body exhumed and cast out.
- Two short-lived Danish kings ruled in succession with rival Scandinavian and English backers, so the crown changed hands twice in seven years and no settled following could form around either man.
- He was the son of Aethelred and Emma and spent roughly a quarter of a century in exile in Normandy, returning to England only shortly before he became king.
- He had no landed power base or following in England, faced earls far richer than himself, and could not claim the loyalty owed to a king who had grown up among his own magnates.
- He was skilful at balancing the great families against one another and gave England more than twenty years of peace, but he never broke the earls' dominance and left no clear heir.
questions
Scroll sideways to turn through the pages.
Questions students ask first
I only do three of these. Is the rest wasted?
No. Every student takes one British period study of thirteen, one non-British period study of twenty-four and one thematic study of twenty-one. That is three units out of fifty-eight.
All fifty-eight are in the guide because no two schools teach the same three. Work yours and skip the rest. Each unit is a separate page.
How do I find my three units?
They have codes. The British period study is Y101 to Y113, the non-British period study Y201 to Y224 and the thematic study Y301 to Y321. Your exam timetable and your teacher will have them, and the unit list here is organised by those codes.
Is the coursework covered?
No. Y100, the topic-based essay, is researched independently and marked by your centre. It is 20 per cent of the grade and it is your own chosen question, so there is nothing to recall.
The thematic study is 40 per cent. How should I work it?
It is the largest single share of the grade and the longest paper at 2 hours 30 minutes, and it is examined on historical interpretations as well as on content. Work it first and return to it most often.
OCR A-Level History A Active Recall Guide
Every question paired with its answer, grouped by unit and subtopic, ready to work in three passes.