History
The more you know about the past, the better prepared you are for the future.
- Theodore Roosevelt, President of the USA 1901-1909
Key Stage 4 Options Information
| Exam board: AQA |
| Qualification: GCSE in History |
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Assessment: Two written exams worth 100% of the final mark. Each exam is one hour and forty five minutes long. Paper 1- Understanding the modern world - is in two sections. 1) A Period Study: Germany: Democracy and dictatorship 1890–1945 2) Wider World Depth Study: Conflict and tension 1918-1939 Paper 2 - Shaping a nation - is in two sections. 1) Power and the People c1170 to the present day 2) Elizabethan England, c1568-1603 |
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Who is the course for? Students who want to study history should be:
History will allow you to discover the world we live in; to develop skills to see beyond the headlines; to understand that people are not just ‘good’ or ‘bad’ and to help you make sense of other subjects. During the course, students develop skills required in many ‘A’ level courses, for example History, Politics, Law, Economics, Philosophy and other Social Science courses. GCSE History is useful for a career in Law, Journalism, Media, Banking, Civil Service, Police, Social Work to name just a few. |
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What will I do on the course? Trips!
Houses of Parliament trip to meet the local MP and see how government works. This links to the Year 11 topic of Power and the People c1170 to the present day.
In Year 10 students will study the topic of Understanding the modern world which includes two sections: 1) A Period Study: Germany: Democracy and dictatorship 1890–1945 This period study on the development of Germany during a turbulent half century of change. This was a period of democracy and dictatorship – the development and collapse of democracy and the rise and fall of Nazism and Adolf Hitler. 2) A Wider World Depth Study: Conflict and tension 1918-1939 This wider world depth study focuses on the causes of the Second World War and seeks to show how and why conflict occurred and why it proved difficult to resolve the issues which caused it. In Year 11 students will study the topic of shaping a nation which includes two sections: Thematic studies Power and the People c1170 to the present day This thematic study allows you to gain an understanding of the development of the relationship between the citizen and the state in Britain over a long period of time. You will study the following factors: war, religion, chance, government, communication, the economy, ideas of equality, democracy and representation and the role of the individual in encouraging or hindering change. Elizabethan England, c1568-1603 The British Depth study will focus on major events of Elizabeth’s reign and the historic environment of Elizabethan England. |
World War One Battlefield trip to Belgium and France to see how the war impacted on the twentieth century. This links to the Year 10 topic of A Wider World Depth Study: Conflict and tension 1918-1939. 
Key Stage 3
History students will follow a broadly thematic programme of study, allowing them to make connections between aspects of life at different periods as well as developing their sense of chronology. The themes are everyday life, religion, war, migration and settlement, power and democracy and UK unity and empire.
In Year 7, students will learn about life in England before and after the Norman Conquest, medieval war and the significance of the Black Death and Peasants Revolt.
Year 8 students will study power and religion under the Tudors and Stuarts and everyday life under the Victorians.
The themes are revisited again in Year 9 with a focus on the 20th and early 21st century, and a study of the Holocaust is a key feature of Year 9. Whilst the majority of the history studied is about Britain, there is also an opportunity for students to study other parts of the world.
Assessment is built into each topic and will include assessing the students' use of historical sources, extended essay writing or simple factual recall.
