Cambridge AS Level History Tutors Online

Cambridge AS Level History is syllabus 9489. This page works from the syllabus for exams in 2027, 2028 and 2029, which is a revised syllabus for first examination in 2027. Exams are available in the June and November series only, with no March series.

An AS Level candidate takes two papers, Papers 1 and 2, and both are taken in the same exam series. Candidates following an AS Level route are eligible for grades a to e. Candidates following an A Level route are eligible for grades A* to E.

Paper 1 is Historical Sources. It lasts 1 hour 15 minutes and carries 40 marks. It is worth 40% of the AS Level and 20% of the A Level.

Paper 2 is the Outline Study. It lasts 1 hour 45 minutes and carries 60 marks. It is worth 60% of the AS Level and 30% of the A Level.

That 40 and 60 split is unusual and it goes the opposite way to most specifications. Paper 1 is the shorter paper carrying fewer marks and less weight, and Paper 2 is the one that decides the grade. A student who treats Paper 1 as the main event and Paper 2 as the follow up has the weighting backwards.

The two papers also test almost entirely different skills, and the assessment objective table makes this stark. Paper 1 is 25 per cent AO1 historical knowledge and 75 per cent AO3 historical sources, with nothing else. Paper 2 is 50 per cent AO1 historical knowledge and 50 per cent AO2 historical explanation, analysis and judgement, with no source work at all.

So Paper 1 is a source paper. Paper 2 is a knowledge and argument paper. There is no AO2 on Paper 1 and no AO3 on Paper 2. A student who is strong at arguing from knowledge scores nothing on Paper 1 for that strength, and a student who is strong at interrogating sources scores nothing on Paper 2 for that.

There is a fourth assessment objective, AO4 historical interpretations, covering how historians have interpreted and approached aspects of the past. At AS Level it is worth zero. It is examined only on Paper 3, which is an A Level paper and is 50 per cent AO4.

This matters practically. Reading around the historiography is genuinely useful for understanding, but at AS it earns no marks directly. Time spent learning to weigh rival historians is better spent on Paper 1 source technique and Paper 2 causal argument until the A Level year.

The overall weightings confirm the picture. At AS Level the split is AO1 at 40 per cent, AO2 at 30 per cent and AO3 at 30 per cent. At A Level it becomes AO1 at 45 per cent, AO2 at 30 per cent, AO3 at 15 per cent and AO4 at 10 per cent. Sources halve in value between AS and A Level, and interpretations appear for the first time.

Candidates study one option. For Papers 1 and 2 the three options are the European option, Modern Europe 1774-1924; the American option, the history of the USA 1820-1941; and the International option, International history 1870-1939.

Each option has exactly three topics. The European option covers France 1774-1814; Liberalism and nationalism in Germany 1815-71; and Russia from autocracy to revolution 1881-1924.

The American option covers the Civil War and Reconstruction 1820-77; the Gilded Age and the Progressive Era 1870-1920; and the Great Crash, the Great Depression and the New Deal 1920-41.

The International option covers Imperialism and the emergence of world powers c.1870-1918; International relations 1919-1929, conflict and cooperation; and International history 1929-1939, the rise of extremism and the road to war.

Each topic is divided into four key questions, and each key question is accompanied by content that candidates should understand and use when addressing it.

Now the part that catches families out. The three topics rotate year on year. In any given year one topic is assessed on Paper 1 and the other two are assessed on Paper 2, and the prescribed Paper 1 topic is not assessed on Paper 2 in that year.

For 2027 the rotation is as follows. On the European option, Paper 1 examines France 1774-1814, and Paper 2 examines Liberalism and nationalism in Germany and Russia from autocracy to revolution. On the American option, Paper 1 examines the Gilded Age and the Progressive Era, and Paper 2 examines the Civil War and Reconstruction and the Great Crash group. On the International option, Paper 1 examines Imperialism and the emergence of world powers, and Paper 2 examines the two international relations topics.

For 2028 the rotation moves on by one. On the European option, Paper 1 examines Liberalism and nationalism in Germany, and Paper 2 examines France and Russia. On the American option, Paper 1 examines the Great Crash group, and Paper 2 examines the Civil War and Reconstruction and the Gilded Age. On the International option, Paper 1 examines International relations 1919-1929, and Paper 2 examines Imperialism and the 1929-1939 topic.

For 2029 it moves on again. On the European option, Paper 1 examines Russia from autocracy to revolution, and Paper 2 examines France and Germany. On the American option, Paper 1 examines the Civil War and Reconstruction, and Paper 2 examines the Gilded Age and the Great Crash group. On the International option, Paper 1 examines International history 1929-1939, and Paper 2 examines Imperialism and International relations 1919-1929.

So all three topics are examined in every year, but which paper carries which topic changes annually. A school that teaches the three topics in a fixed order and leaves the last one to the spring term can find that the last topic is the Paper 1 topic for that year and has been taught too late.

Paper 1 is one question, answered on one option, and both parts must be answered. Each question uses four sources with a range of types, including at least three written sources and up to one visual source, which could for example be a cartoon, a photograph or a poster. The word count for the four sources in a question is a maximum of 600 words.

Part (a) is worth 15 marks and asks candidates to comment on similarities and differences between two of the sources in relation to a given topic. The command word is Compare, and candidates must comment on both the similarities and the differences. Contextual understanding or source evaluation is used to explain why those similarities and differences exist.

Part (b) is worth 25 marks and asks candidates to use all four sources and their knowledge of the period to address how far the sources support a given statement. The command phrases are how far do the sources support or agree with this view, to what extent do the sources support or agree with this view, and how far do the sources agree. Candidates must show how the sources both support and challenge the statement, and must address the extent itself.

The syllabus is blunt about the most common failure in part (b). It states that answers should not describe the content of the sources, but rather should construct an argument that considers both the given and alternative perspectives in response to the question.

Paper 2 is two questions from one section only, and answers must cover all the parts of the chosen questions. The three sections are Section A European option, Section B American option and Section C International option.

Each Paper 2 question is worth 30 marks and is divided into two parts. Part (a) is worth 10 marks and uses the command phrase Explain why, requiring causal explanation of an event, action or outcome, with factors stated and supported by specific relevant information. Part (b) is worth 20 marks and uses the command phrases To what extent and How far, requiring an argument that considers both the perspective given and alternative perspectives and analyses why one might be stronger.

The syllabus goes further than most in spelling out the command phrases. The How far family covers how far do you agree, how far was something successful or unsuccessful, how far was something the key factor or the main reason, and how successful or how important was something. In every case candidates must explain the given view first, then alternative perspectives, and then address the extent.

The syllabus was reviewed and revised for first examination in 2027. All topics were revised and exemplified, with minor changes to key questions, date ranges and content. Some topics were removed, some were introduced, and some were adapted and restructured.

Two AS Level topics were removed and will not be examined in 2027: the Industrial Revolution in Britain 1750-1850 from the European option, and China and Japan 1912-45 from the International option. That removal is part of why each option now has exactly three topics, and it means a student working from older past papers may be revising a topic that no longer appears.

At A Level candidates take four papers. Paper 3 Historical Interpretations lasts 1 hour 15 minutes, carries 40 marks, and is worth 20% of the A Level. Paper 4 Depth Study lasts 1 hour 45 minutes, carries 60 marks, and is worth 30% of the A Level, answering two questions from a choice of three on one option.

The A Level options are different from the AS options. Paper 3 and Paper 4 use the European option European history 1919-41, the American option The USA 1945-93, and the International option International history 1909-94.

The staged route is worth understanding before choosing it. On Route 2, Year 1 is the AS Level, and Year 2 shows Papers 3 and 4 only, with no repeat of Papers 1 and 2. So the AS papers are taken once, and the AS marks carry forward subject to the rules and time limits described in the Cambridge Handbook.

The syllabus also notes that where the word including is used in the subject content, candidates must study everything in the list, though there may be other relevant examples a school chooses to study.

The qualification is graded a, b, c, d or e for an AS Level candidate.