- Can be chosen as one of their core Pure subjects alongside E Maths, Chemistry, Geography, etc.
- Pure History differs from Elect History mostly in terms of amount of content and assessment format. It has much more content and while Elect History only has one paper, the “O” Level exam for Pure History has a Paper 1 and Paper 2
- Unfamiliarity of writing style and type of content dealt with.
- Content matter is vastly different in scope from Lower Secondary History. Students will be required to understand not just facts and figures but fresh concepts such as Nationalism, Stalinism, Expansionism, McCarthyism etc. This is challenging for students as they are likely encountering such concepts for the first time, yet are expected to write thoroughly about them. This issue is only compounded by the added content of Southeast Asian History as they will have to understand region-specific terminology and concepts too.
- Students are often overwhelmed by the sheer amount of content there is to study. This is understandable as on top of the World War and Cold War topics all history students have to take, Pure History students have additional topics on the History of Southeast Asia. This additional content can be tested in both Papers 1 and 2.
- Pure History students often attempt to cram content for the history paper. This is inefficient, stressful, time-consuming, and often leads to rigidity in answering the question since they are unable to adapt what they have memorised to the different writing frameworks needed to answer the question in the paper.
- Parents are generally unfamiliar with the way history is taught and also do not know the most efficient method to study history, often leading to well-intentioned parents forcing their child through more laborious and less effective methods of studying this subject such as heart-memorisation. This is damaging because it usually leads to rigidity in thinking based on stagnant repetition of content, whereas constructing good answers requires the student to be highly flexible in thinking, being able to reframe content according to the requirements of the question.
- Students of Pure History usually find it very difficult to manage their time during the paper. They usually write unnecessarily long answers which is counterproductive since this takes away time from attempting other questions.
- Because Pure History is considered one of the subjects that is a choice to take instead of being made compulsory, the phrasing of the exam questions will be considerably more tricky than Elect History and students will be expected to have greater sensitivity and skill in answering such curveballs.
- We will teach with a focus on developing exam technique and building stamina in a way that allows them to write analytically without getting tired and losing focus for the whole exam.
- We will train them to make their answers shorter while still hitting all the key points the question requires so as to be able to finish the whole paper with every question answered well.
- We teach time-management techniques for studying itself: Under us students will learn how to study history the most efficiently so as to know all their skills and content while still leaving ample time in their schedule to study other subjects crucial for the Os. This is especially important for Pure History as with poor study technique, the massive amount of content can quickly become a leech sucking up their study time.
- We will teach in accordance with the latest MOE syllabus using our acutely specialised techniques and expertise which are not available to parents at home.
- Students of Pure History likely already have some degree of interest in the subject. At Herzen we seek to tap on and expand this interest to aid in their conceptual understanding by engaging their intellect and exploring the areas of history they are already interested in to a deeper level, painting a more rounded photo of the subject as a whole.
Our Tuition Rates
"O" Level Pure History Tuition
$40 / Hour
- Each lesson typically lasts 2 hours
Breakdown of the “O” Level Pure History Paper
The exam structure and syllabus can be confusing. We get it. That's why we're here to explain it to you!
*IMPORTANT NOTE: The format of the questions asked is the same for BOTH papers.
Feel free to download the 2 tables below if it helps you!
Source Based Questions (SBQ)
Structured Essay Questions (SEQ)
Content of “O” Level Pure History
The content of “O” Level Pure History can be broken down into these compartments. When each topic is covered varies school-to-school:
The Following Topics Are More Likely to be Covered in SECONDARY 3:
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The End of World War I (WWI), Paris Peace Conference and Treaty of Versailles
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Rise of Hitler in Germany
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Hitler’s Rule in Germany
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Rise of Militarist Japan
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Life in Militarist Japan
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Outbreak of World War II in Europe
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Germany’s Defeat in World War II
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Outbreak of World War II in the Asia-Pacific
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Japan’s Defeat in World War II
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European Colonisation of British Malaya
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European Colonisation of French Vietnam OR Dutch Indonesia
The Following Topics Are More Likely to be Covered in SECONDARY 4:
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Reasons for the Cold War in Europe
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The Outbreak of the Korean War
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The Outbreak of the Vietnam War
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The Collapse of the USSR and End of the Cold War
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Decolonisation and Establishment of Independent Malaya
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Decolonisation and Establishment of Independent Vietnam OR Indonesia
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Email: herzencentre@gmail.com