Those of you who go on to study history at university will find many challenges, especially in the early stages of the course. There would be no point in going if you were not being assisted to up your game. One of the challenges, and pleasures, is the level and variety of assessment in a university history department. There have been many developments in this area, particularly in the last three decades.
In the 1960s and into the 1970s the 3-hour written exam ruled the roost. It still does in some places, so it is worth paying attention when applying for a course if you want to avoid that. Under such a system, it was possible that one’s entire degree classification would depend on eight or ten 3-hour written exams, sometimes completed within a week, with two exams per day. The model held for decades and was replicated in civil service entrance exams, A-levels and O-levels (as they then were, before GCSEs were introduced). Even the reviled 11+ exam shared similarities.
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