Approaching the New Personal Study Module

According to the newspapers, ‘coursework’ is in the process of becoming a thing of the past, and there is a new emphasis on exams. Yet it isn’t quite the same for A level History. For various reasons, not least that University History departments are reluctant to see it disappear, the requirement to produce a Personal Study remains for A Level historians. Coursework isn’t history – it is still History.

However, this is not to say that things are exactly as you were before. In fact, for AQA students at least, the Personal Study module has changed significantly. The examined modules remain relatively similar to previous options, although the total number to be sat is reduced from six to four. The coursework element of AS, the unloved Course Essay option, disappears altogether. But the Personal Study option in Year 13 remains, in effect taking over from one of the hitherto examined modules – and this has several implications.