AQA GCSE History guide FAQ (8145)
Guide overview All 16 topics Sample questions Papers and weighting Look inside Questions and answers
AQA GCSE History: questions and answers
Specification 8145. Two sets, because students and parents ask different things.
For students
I only do four of these. Is the rest wasted?
No. You take one period study and one wider world depth study for Paper 1, and one British thematic study and one British depth study for Paper 2.
All sixteen are in the guide because schools choose differently. Work your four and skip the other twelve. Each is a separate page.
How do I know which four I do?
Your teacher and your exam timetable will have them. The topic list here is grouped by paper, so you can match your four against it.
The thematic study covers a thousand years. How do I revise that?
By subtopic. Health and the People is 165 questions and Migration, Empires and the People 158, and both divide into subtopics of 8 to 25. Working one period of one theme at a time is what makes the span manageable.
Do I need to know dates precisely?
Yes. 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. Topics run from 88 to 165 questions.
Can I do it in my head instead of writing?
Write. Step 2 is where a half-remembered date or name gets replaced by the correct one. The method page sets out the evidence.
Do I still need past papers?
Yes. The method puts the evidence into memory. Past papers train the source questions, the interpretations and the essays across two two-hour papers. AQA publishes them free.
For parents
What is this, in plain terms?
A PDF of 1,889 exam-style questions covering all sixteen options of AQA GCSE History, with the answers printed after each topic.
My child only studies four of the sixteen.
That is correct. The specification is built from four sets of options and the school picks one from each. All sixteen are in the guide because schools choose differently.
How do I check it is the right course?
The specification code is on the exam timetable. AQA GCSE History is 8145.
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.
How much is it compared with a textbook?
£7.00 for all sixteen options. Individual GCSE History topic guides run £6 to £10 each and you would need four.
How much time does it take?
Only four topics are worked, so roughly 38 subtopics at twenty minutes each is about 13 hours across two years.
What else does my child need?
Past papers, free from AQA, and their own notes for anything not yet taught.
AQA GCSE History Active Recall Guide
1,889 questions with their answers, 154 subtopics, one file.