Clare Buxton, Careers and House Co-ordinator, Overton Grange School

Let me tell you a secret – eight years ago, I hadn’t really taught the French Revolution. I’d only dipped my toes in with a quick scheme of work for Year 8, back in the early 2000s. But now I’m completely hooked. I switched to teaching the French Revolution when our A Level specification changed, and I haven’t looked back. If you’re new to this topic, this blog might help explain why I love it so much.

Why is the French Revolution so special?

The French Revolution is one of those magical topics that brings history to life. It’s bold, it’s dramatic, and it speaks to so many of the issues we face today. It reshaped the way we think about rights, power and government, and the ripple effects are still being felt across the world. So much of what we value in modern society – liberty, equality, fraternity – has roots in this time. 

It’s not just a story about kings and guillotines – it’s about ordinary people demanding a voice, and how those demands shook an entire continent. The debates from that era, about democracy, secularism, inequality and justice, are still very much alive today. The subject links perfectly with subjects like citizenship, politics and human rights, and gives your students a reason to care in your lessons beyond the exam.

Creative teaching and learning

History can sometimes feel heavy with reading and essay-writing, so I’ve found creative ways to mix it up. When we begin the course, I get the students to create interactive notebooks that explore pre-revolutionary France. We use symbols, colours and flow charts to make sense of the causes and consequences. It’s engaging, visual and genuinely helps them write better essays. 

And one of the most fun tasks I set looks at fashion during the Revolution. Over the years I’ve received red liberty caps, origami dolls, tricolour rosettes, and even a Marie Antoinette loo-roll doll named “Marie Antoilette”. These quirky projects bring the period to life and make students remember it far beyond the classroom.

Taking history outside the classroom

If you’re teaching in or near London, you’re spoiled for choice when it comes to trips. We do a daring day trip to Versailles. We leave around 9.30am, arrive by lunchtime, and the students get to experience the palace, the hall of mirrors, and those jaw-dropping paintings such as the Tennis Court Oath and Napoleon’s coronation. Exhausting? Absolutely. Worth it? Every time. 

We also visit Apsley House, home of the Duke of Wellington, to help students understand Napoleon’s legacy from a British perspective. They’ll see artefacts gifted to Wellington from the coalitions who fought Napoleon and even a colossal statue of Napoleon himself. 

And if you’re planning your own holidays, why not turn them into personal professional development? I’ve visited Napoleon’s camp in Boulogne, explored the battlefield at Waterloo, and walked the streets of Paris tracing the Revolution. From the Place de la Révolution to the Conciergerie, it’s all there: gritty, powerful and deeply moving.

Building student skills that last

One of the things I love most about teaching the French Revolution is how well it supports the development of key A Level skills, especially those needed for structured writing and confident source analysis. We do a lot of work with PEEL paragraphs to help students build their explanations clearly: this led to that, which meant that... It sounds simple, but it really helps them get to grips with cause, event and consequence in a way that sticks. 

I create exam question banks using past papers and the textbook (we use the OCR Mike Wells book), and we regularly practise with model essays so students can see what strong historical writing actually looks like. We also put a big focus on key words, including French terms like Levée en masse, biens nationaux, and cahiers de doléances to genuinely deepen students’ understanding. 

To help them keep everything in order, we make flow charts and chronologies for each chapter, which has made a big difference in helping them remember who did what and when. We even draw maps of Paris to show where key events happened, which brings the story to life and shows how place and politics were often deeply linked. 

At the end of the day, it’s all about giving students the confidence to unpack complex ideas and build well-argued answers, and the French Revolution is the perfect topic for exactly that.

Make it personal

Your passion will carry the topic, and students will respond to that energy. Over the years, my love for the Revolution has led me to board games, re-enactments, and a slightly obsessive interest in spotting Napoleon references in the wild. One of our games is called “Have You Seen Him?” where past and present students send me photos whenever they spot Napoleon. He’s been spotted everywhere from Churchill’s home to local antique shops. Someone even found the skeleton of his horse, Marengo!

Common pitfalls to avoid

No topic is without its challenges, and I’ve had my fair share of “why did I do that?” moments. 

One of the biggest traps is starting too dramatically. It’s tempting to dive straight into guillotines and the Reign of Terror, but without the context of pre-revolutionary France, students can get lost in the chaos. It’s worth taking time to build the big picture before things kick off in 1789. 

Another common issue is timeline confusion – the Revolution moves fast. I’ve found that visual aids like flow charts and chapter-by-chapter chronologies really help students stay on track. Also, watch out for the “everything changed overnight” mindset. We work hard to unpack the pace and scale of change by looking at both short-term drama and long-term impact. It’s also easy to neglect the geography of events, which is why I now include simple Paris mapping activities to link locations to turning points. 

And finally, don’t be afraid of the French! It’s easy to gloss over key terms, but we’ve found that taking time to teach the original French vocabulary boosts both understanding and confidence. Mistakes will happen, but the trick is to keep the energy up and help students feel like they’re piecing together a proper historical puzzle.

Final thoughts

If you’re wondering whether to teach the French Revolution – do it! It’s a fantastic topic that lets you explore powerful themes, stretch your students' critical thinking, and have a lot of fun along the way. There’s creativity, controversy and just enough chaos to keep everyone interested. And who knows? You might find yourself becoming as obsessed with liberty caps and tricolour rosettes as I have! 

If you’re teaching the French Revolution this year, I’d love to hear what you’re doing. Whether it’s your first time or your twentieth, there’s always something new to explore!

Stay connected

The French Revolution and the rule of Napoleon is an optional unit (Y213) in Cambridge OCR A Level History. 

If you have any questions about teaching history, you can email us at history@ocr.org.uk, call us on 01223 553998 or message us on X @OCR_History. You can also sign up to subject updates to keep up to date with the latest news, updates and resources.

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About the author

Clare Buxton is Careers and House Co-ordinator at Overton Grange School and a Team Leader A Level examiner for Cambridge OCR on the French Revolution and Rule of Napoleon. She’s also a tour guide, teacher, guide leader and historian obsessed with the Regency… and guinea pigs.