A Week in the Life of a History Tutor: Exam Practice & Source Skills

This week has been packed with tutoring sessions focused on exam preparation, particularly for AQA GCSE and A-Level History. With exams fast approaching, my students have been honing their skills in essay writing, source analysis, and structuring their answers effectively.

GCSE AQA: USA Exam Practice

My GCSE students have been tackling the USA topic, covering key themes like the Roaring Twenties, the Great Depression, and Civil Rights. A big challenge has been helping them refine their exam technique, especially structuring 8-mark and 16-mark questions. Ma

ny students struggle with balancing factual knowledge with analysis, so we've been working on:

✅ Writing clear topic sentences that directly answer the question

✅ Using precise evidence to support their arguments

✅ Explaining the significance of their examples in context

A common mistake is including lots of knowledge without explaining why it matters. To tackle this, we’ve practiced the "Point, Evidence, Explain" method and used model answers to see what examiners are looking for.

A-Level AQA: Russia & The Cold War

For my A-Level students, it’s been an intense week of Russia and Cold War topics. We’ve covered:

Russia: Lenin, Stalin, and Khrushchev’s leadership styles and policies

Cold War: Causes, key flashpoints, and historiographical debates

At this stage, essay structure is key. Many students have the knowledge but struggle with crafting strong introductions and conclusions. A big focus has been ensuring they:

✔️ Address the question directly from the start

✔️ Weave analysis throughout rather than just "bolting it on" at the end

✔️ Use historiography effectively without overcomplicating their arguments

Modelling Sources: The Hardest Skill to Master

One of the biggest challenges this week has been source analysis—something that students often find tricky to structure. Many fall into the trap of either summarizing the source or just evaluating provenance without engaging with the content. To improve this, we’ve worked on:

Breaking down sources systematically – What does it say, what does it suggest, and what’s missing?

Balancing content, provenance, and own knowledge – Instead of treating them as separate sections, we’ve practiced weaving them together for a more sophisticated response.

Using sentence starters – A simple but effective way to ensure students are hitting the mark scheme criteria.

Final Thoughts

It’s been a busy but productive week! Seeing students improve in structuring their answers and building confidence with sources has been so rewarding. With exams getting closer, I’ll be focusing even more on timed practice and refining their exam technique further.

If you or your child need extra support with history exam skills, feel free to get in touch – I’d love to help!

✍️ What topics are you finding most challenging in your history revision? Let me know in the comments!