Across all levels, the history syllabus is notoriously content heavy which leads students to resort to rote memorisation of content that they then regurgitate onto essays. This method is often also encouraged by parents. 

This study method is not only a laborious and inefficient way of memorising the necessary content but also diverts students from focusing on the path of analytical and writing techniques which are far more crucial in succeeding in history. Here at Herzen, we redirect students onto this path to save them time, reduce stress and ultimately increase marks.

While the amount of content available to study is large, successful history students know that not all of it is necessary to excel at the paper. They do not study everything but only what is needed.

Our tutors at Herzen show students how to critically identify the best content that will strengthen their arguments the most. More crucially, they will be taught how to turn this knowledge into effective examples to make their essays watertight and bolster their analysis in the way Cambridge requires to attain the highest mark.

Writing an analytical yet compact answer is one of the vital skills that students must master. Unfortunately most students have unrealistic expectations of themselves, writing essays that are way too long and thus running out of time to finish the paper. 

Herzen’s lessons teach history students the art of writing less but better, focusing on writing the shortest essays possible to save time without losing any of the essence of the argument that is being advanced. Our writing philosophy is that less is more, and that crafting the best essay involves writing it in the fastest time.

History is not a subject that requires a physical class to teach since all of the content is written and can be displayed on screen. Moreover, students have to juggle coming for class amid other commitments at school and home, so we strive to make coming for class as convenient as possible so students can better focus on the lesson at hand even after a long day at school. 

Furthermore, being in the comfort of their own home gives students the space to better focus on the class as well as gives more room for taking short breaks during the lesson for much-needed breathing space amid the heavy content.

Yes! We account for the fact that different schools may have different writing styles that are not totally the same as the one we initially teach. That is perfectly fine: our tutors will take time to know the writing style your school teachers teach and will curate our style accordingly while still adding value to what is being taught in school.

While there is no fixed number of hours to study history per week for exam success, it is key to study thoughtfully with a specific aspect of the paper or skillset to focus on each time. Our tutors will monitor each student and recommend a study programme specific to that student to make sure they excel in history while still leaving plenty of time to focus on other subjects too.

Critical thinking skills such as the ability to do analysis of source material and write insightful evaluations are what separate the best students of history from those who do average or poorly. 

We focus on the honing of critical thinking skillsets like answering to the question, source breakdown, crafting a watertight argument and arranging points in an essay as these are what make for an essay that is coherent, that flows nicely and that ultimately gets high marks.

Here at Herzen, homework will only be assigned when the tutor deems it necessary for the refinement or perfection of a certain skill the student is being taught. This means that while homework may not necessarily be given every week, it will be issued if the tutor feels the student needs it at the time complementary to what is being taught in class. 

Students are always encouraged to be open with our teachers and let them know if the workload is too high. Our tutors understand that students already deal with work from school to begin with and are always willing to accommodate the needs of each student to ensure they learn history efficiently while keeping stress levels at a minimum.

Yes, Herzen’s tutors do give notes for content and skill mastery. However, we firmly believe notes are not complete guides in and of themselves but are strictly supplementary to the lesson. The notes we give are thus custom made for each student depending on the weak points the student needs to focus on as decided by the teacher. 

We also take extreme care not to write too much content into the notes for fear that students will be overwhelmed and resort to heart memorisation of swaths of content again.