New history A-level will focus on concepts (UK)

A new history A-level will see lessons focus on 'concepts' rather than on periods in time such as the World Wars, the Victorians and the Tudors, it emerged yesterday.

The alternative A-level, developed by the exam board OCR and heading for English secondary schools next year, breaks the convention of teaching history based on events in a particular era.

Pupils will instead study how and why totally unrelated events occurred and consider general themes, such as belief, controversy and the role played by key figures.