Webinar series: Developing students’ historical thinking at A-level 

HA webinar series for subject leaders and teachers of history at KS5

What does this series cover?

This webinar series will help you to support your A-level students to gain detailed knowledge of particular periods and to engage in rigorous historical thinking. The topics covered will include building students’ knowledge, developing students’ disciplinary understanding in order to help them construct arguments in response to historical questions and helping them to engage with interpretations and evidence. The transition between GCSE and A-level, assessment and managing the NEA will also be discussed across multiple webinar sessions.

  • How is the series structured and delivered?

    The series consists of four webinars. The live session dates are detailed below and recordings will be made available to booked delegates.

    Session 1: Building different types of historical knowledge
    Thursday 12 June 2025, 4.30pm–5.30pm

    This first session will focus on building students’ knowledge of the particular periods they are studying. It will also consider the different methods teachers have used to help their students to apply their knowledge to different contexts. It will include a discussion of how this might be assessed throughout the course and the role that curriculum planning can play in this process.

    Session 2: Responding to historical questions and engaging in extended writing
    Thursday 19 June 2025, 4.30pm–5.30pm

    This second session will consider how teachers have helped their students to develop coherent explanations of historical processes and to form judgments in response to historical questions. The session will then engage with the rich tradition of practitioner research on students’ writing at A-level, particularly focusing on how teachers have helped students engage with historical writing in order to gain a more sophisticated understanding of the discipline and to strengthen their written work.

    Session 3: Engaging with interpretations
    Monday 23 June 2025, 4.30pm–5.30pm

    This third session will focus on how a range of different teachers have dealt with student misconceptions about interpretations. It will first consider how teachers have helped their students to read the work of historians sensitively and will then discuss how teachers have designed teaching sequences to build students’ understanding of this aspect of the discipline.

    Session 4: Engaging with evidence
    Thursday 3 July 2025, 4.30pm–5.30pm

    This final session will focus on evidence. It will include discussion of some of the misconceptions about evidence that students can bring to A-level and how to build students’ understanding of this aspect of the discipline throughout sequences of lessons. It will then consider the interplay between this and their understanding of interpretations.

  • Who is the series for?

    The course is aimed at anyone who teaches history at Key Stage 5. It will also be useful for history subject leaders and departments who are planning on introducing A-level courses.

  • Why should I attend this webinar series?

    The desire to help our students to secure good results can sometimes lead to a narrow focus on meeting the demands of specifications and mark-schemes. Teaching at A-level provides a wonderful opportunity for students to gain detailed knowledge of particular periods and to engage in rigorous historical thinking. This webinar series is designed to draw upon the cumulative wisdom of a range of history teachers to support you to set your students up for success in ways that also advance their historical education.

  • What are the learning outcomes?

    This webinar series will enable you to:

    • • Reflect on the construction of your A-level curriculum
    • • Develop practical approaches to enhance your department’s teaching of A-level history courses
    • • Develop practical approaches to enhanceing your students’ written work at A-level
    • • Develop your understanding of approaches towards assessment at A-level

  • Who is leading the series?

    The webinars will be led by Claire Holliss. Claire has been the Head of History at Reigate College for seven years. During this time, she has delivered training on issues related to A-level teaching via the Historical Association, the Schools History Project and a range of teacher training programmes. She is currently an associate editor for Teaching History and is undertaking research for a PhD in education at UCL.

  • What does it cost?

    Number of webinars booked

     

    HA Member ticket

     

    Non-member ticket

    1 webinar £38 £67
    4 webinars £140 £256
     

    All prices are listed inclusive of VAT. Any webinar booked individually on Cademy will incur an additional fee.

    To access the member price please provide your membership number when prompted. You must have a valid membership at the time of booking and attending. All webinars in this series are eligible for the corporate member free webinar offer.

    Did you know? If booking more than one webinar, it is cheaper to become an HA member and access your tickets at the membership rate, plus a range of other benefits all year round. Find out more about Secondary membership.

  • How do I take part?

    The webinars will take place online over Zoom. While we strongly recommend participating live, if you are unable to attend for any reason a recording link will be made available. This will be emailed to all registered participants to access for a limited period.

    To book for multiple webinars or request an invoice, please complete the form below.

    If you have missed a session, a recording can be accessed using the form. You will be emailed an invoice for the cost of the recording(s) and a time-limited link to access the webinar recording on Zoom.

For any enquiries, please contact events@history.org.uk. Please read the HA CPD terms and conditions before registering.

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