History at Brampton College is a flourishing department, popular with students at both GCSE and A Level. It can be combined with any other subject but is most often studied alongside English, Politics, Sociology, Economics, Psychology and Languages. Studying history requires good reading and writing and critical thinking skills, so there is a strong emphasis in our small teaching groups at Brampton on developing these skills as much as possible. History is a widely respected subject at A level, which opens the doors to many university courses such as Law, Journalism, International Relations and War Studies, as well as courses involving history itself.
History attracts students from a wide range of backgrounds and previous experience, and we put great store on open student discussion and students’ listening to each other’s point of view. The many concepts covered in the study of History enable students to integrate learning in other subjects, and there is a clear cross-over between work in history and in areas such as Economics, Politics , Philosophy, English Literature, Psychology and Classics.
History is taught by highly qualified and experienced staff and is well equipped with the latest textbooks and a range of borrowing resources.
The courses we offer for our main teaching at Brampton are in Modern History, which reflect the expertise and interests of the department and the background of most students. We can also be flexible enough to offer tuition in other areas as required.
We study the Cambridge International A Level , course 9489. This offers a coherent course in Modern European History from 1750 to 1945 and enables students to cover some of the key events and developments which have shaped the modern world.
Students will benefit from:
Paper 1
This is a document study which will cover The Russian Revolution in 2023. This paper requires study of primary source materials.
Paper 2
This is an outline study. The following topics will be studied
Students who are successful at AS will keep their grades when they continue to A Level.
Paper 3
This is a paper which focuses on the nature of historical interpretation. The topic is the Holocaust.
Paper 4
This is a Depth Study on Europe in the Inter-War years covering:
The course offered is the Edexcel IGCSE course in Modern World History. This is an intensive one year course which does require good reading and writing skills. The course is assessed in two examinations.
The topics studied are:
History at Brampton College is taught by highly experienced A level teachers. A level Examination results are exceptionally high with over 85% of students gaining A* – B grades at A level and 100% of students gaining A*-C grades at A level since 2010. Students who join Brampton for their upper sixth year or to retake in one year are continuously successful in raising their grades. In addition, an increasing number of students are opting to read history at a wide variety of universities.
The history department at Brampton is situated in a dedicated teaching area. The department is well stocked with the latest textbooks for the new specifications, as well as other resources for coursework.
2017-21 | A*/A | A*-B |
34% | 70% |
Lizzie studied History at St John’s College, Oxford, before completing an MA in Art History at the Courtauld Institute of
Art, focusing particularly on Victorian art. After a brief stint at Christie’s and the National Army Museum, I completed a PGCE at the Institute of Education. I began my teaching career at Highgate School before moving to St Albans School, where I was Head of Department for four years. When not working, I enjoy reading, baking, visiting art galleries, travel and chasing after my two small daughters.”
Tom Callaghan has been teaching History at A level and GCSE for over twenty years. Erudite, humorous, and keenly attuned to the academic needs of his students, Tom’s expertise in British, American and European history ranges from the Early modern period of Tudors and Stuarts and the Treaty of Westphalia to the Cold War and beyond. His best years as an attacking full-back for the Philosophy Football XI may also, some say, lie in the past!
Dan has come to Brampton College after 22 years at a highly successful inner-city comprehensive school in London where he served as Head of History & Politics, Head of Sixth Form and on the Leadership Team as an Assistant Headteacher.
He holds the following degrees: BA (magna cum laude in Liberal Arts), Rhode Island College; Graduate Diploma in Law, University of Westminster; PGCE, UCL Institute of Education; MA (Education), Middlesex University.
When not planning, marking or writing, he enjoys reading, gardening, and quality time spent with his family.
I have thoroughly enjoyed taking History Alevel as one of my subjects. Not only are the subject teachers amazing but they make the subject so much more interesting and enjoyable. History at Brampton has changed how I view past events and made me realise how important it is to learn from the past.
Daniel Elek, History student