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Investigating history

Using our virtual classroom

These pages will provide you with information and interactive exercises relating both to areas of history that are commonly studied by UK students in Years 12 and 13 and to other areas less often studied at school.

In this section of the site you will find a variety of source exercises, sample lectures, and information. The main aim of the Virtual Classroom is to help you develop your students' interests and skills as a historian.  Many of our undergraduates find that the papers they enjoy most are on time periods or parts of the world about which they knew next to nothing before arriving at Cambridge! It's for this reason that we have deliberately tried to give a flavour of periods and places which are often not found on the school syllabus, as well as some more familiar elements.

Our virtual classroom provides a variety of source exercises, sample lectures, and information. There is no need to work through all of the exercises and lectures on offer here, and we certainly don't expect this of applicants to Cambridge. The main aim of the Virtual Classroom is to help you develop your interests and skills as a historian, and you should look at the exercises and lectures you feel will help you most.

That said, don't be afraid to tackle a subject you haven't studied before; many of our undergraduates find that the papers they enjoy most are on time periods or parts of the world about which they knew next to nothing before arriving at Cambridge! It's for this reason that we have deliberately tried to give you a flavour of periods and places which are often not found on the school syllabus, as well as of things which are. And please don't worry if you find some of the questions in our Source Exercises and Secondary Literature Exercises difficult. They are meant to be challenging, and we certainly don't expect you to know all the answers straight away; we have created the exercises to help you develop your skills.