Teaching the OCR Thematic Unit

When AS and A2 History was introduced many teachers and students believed that the Thematic Unit would be the most challenging. It was not the requirement to write two essays in 90 minutes that caused concern, but rather the demand that these essays should cover a period of approximately 100 years. It was felt by many that this would present students with a serious challenge as they were asked to identify themes, patterns of change and continuity and turning points in a developmental account that covered the whole period. However, in most instances the fears of both students and teachers were groundless and the standard of written answers has often been of the highest quality.