WACE Ancient History study plan

Map the social hierarchy, political offices, and economic base of one ancient society onto a one-page structural diagram

Classify ten primary source types (inscriptions, coins, law codes, letters, archaeological remains) by what each can and cannot reveal about social structure

Define the difference between primary, secondary, and archaeological evidence using three original examples

Identify at least six recurring social institutions (citizenship, slavery, household, priesthood, guild, military levy) and note how each varies across two societies

Compare the political structures of two ancient societies by listing three similarities and three differences with supporting evidence

Explain how economic surplus, trade, and taxation sustained at least two social classes in one society

Evaluate how one excluded group (women, slaves, metics, or foreigners) contributed to the economy despite lacking political rights

Construct a 200-word argument linking social structure to political stability, citing at least two source types

Profile two leaders by separating their institutional powers from their personal authority, with source evidence for each claim

Trace how one governing institution (assembly, senate, council, monarchy) evolved across at least three periods

Distinguish between legal authority and informal influence in one case study

Assess how one leader's reforms redistributed power among social classes, connecting Domain 3 back to Domain 2

Write a timed 25-minute essay on how one leader consolidated and justified power

Identify and label three propaganda techniques used in ancient source material about a ruler

Evaluate two competing interpretations of one leader's motives, noting the evidence behind each

Self-mark the timed essay against a four-criterion rubric (argument, evidence, analysis, communication)

Sequence the causes, key events, and outcomes of one major conflict or expansion on a timeline with at least eight entries

Explain three ways conquest changed the society of the victor, not only the defeated

Link religious practice or civic values to the justification of one war or expansion

Analyse how one belief system shaped identity and loyalty before or after a conflict

Compare two explanations for the same conflict or transformation and identify where they diverge

Evaluate the reliability of one source that was produced by the winning side

Draft a thesis statement and three supporting paragraph plans for a conflict essay

Explain how economic or demographic pressure contributed to one transformation

Describe how religion, ritual, or civic values reinforced one social hierarchy

Practise source evaluation by scoring three sources for origin, purpose, value, and limitation

Identify bias, omission, and audience in two secondary interpretations of the same event

Synthesise religious and social evidence into a single argument about identity

Consolidate all six domains into a one-page revision map showing links between evidence, society, power, culture, and conflict

Complete one full timed practice paper covering short-answer and extended-response sections

Review every error from the practice paper and write a correction note for each

Rehearse three high-frequency source-evaluation sentence structures until they can be written from memory