The series consists of four webinar recordings, each lasting approximately 1 hour. The webinar series was originally recorded in Summer 2025.

Session 1: Building different types of historical knowledge
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
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
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
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.

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.

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.

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 enhancing your students’ written work at A-level
• • Develop your understanding of approaches towards assessment at A-level

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.

Each webinar is charged at £30 for HA members and £45 for non-members (VAT is zero-rated). You must be logged in to your membership account to access the member rate.

You can purchase and access each set of webinars using the links provided. Once you have purchased each webinar, the recording will be available to view at the bottom of the relevant resource page until the stated expiry date.

Expiry date: 6 January 2028

Payment is available by card only. We are unable to arrange block purchases or issue invoices, but VAT receipts are available upon request.