OCR A-Level History Unit 3 thematic study and interpretations: a complete overview

OCR A-Level History Unit 3 is the thematic study with historical interpretations, the largest paper at 40 per cent of the A-level. Like the other units it is option-based, so your school chooses the theme you study. This overview ties together the popular options and the two skills the paper demands. Each section has a matching dot-point page.

How Unit 3 works

Unit 3 lasts 2 hours 30 minutes for 80 marks. Section A is an interpretations essay weighing two historians' extracts on a depth-study issue, worth 30 marks and testing AO3. Section B is two thematic essays chosen from three, each worth 25 marks and testing AO1, argued synoptically across the whole period.

Civil Rights in the USA 1865 to 1992

This option studies four strands of civil rights, African American, Native American, women's and trade union, over more than a century. The synoptic essays ask you to assess change, continuity and the drivers of progress (federal government, the Supreme Court, grassroots protest and economic change) across the whole period and often across all groups. The interpretations essay draws on the top-down versus bottom-up debate about who drove change.

Rebellion and Disorder under the Tudors 1485 to 1603

This option studies the causes, course and significance of Tudor rebellions, dynastic, religious, economic and political, and the Crown's methods of maintaining order. The synoptic essays ask you to rank the causes of rebellion and the reasons for their success or failure across the whole Tudor century, tracing how the dominant cause changed over time.

How Unit 3 is examined

• The interpretations essay (Section A, AO3). Evaluate two historians' arguments and judge which is more convincing in the light of context and your own knowledge.
• The thematic essays (Section B, AO1). Build a synoptic argument across the whole period, rank the factors, trace change and continuity, and reach a judgement.