History, Years 10 - 11

Why Study History?
An awareness of the past enables us to understand the present. In GCSE History you will discover the people, forces and events which have created the world we live in today. In the process you will develop valuable critical skills that will help you in whatever career you pursue.

What sort of History?
The new Edexcel syllabus is a Modern World course based on 20th century history. It is taught in four units. It is relevant and stimulating in content and provides an introduction to the key concepts and contexts of history, enabling progression to IB, AS and Advanced GCE courses. The syllabus we will study includes the following units;

Unit 1. Peace and War: International Relations 1900-91:
Three units from six have to be taught. This unit gives students an overview of key developments in international relations from 1900-1991. We will teach:

  • Section 4: How did the Cold War develop? 1943-56
  • Section 5:Three Cold War crises: Berlin, Cuba and Czechoslovakia c1957-1969
  • Section 6: Why did the Cold War end? The invasion of Afghanistan (1979) to the collapse of the Soviet Union (1991)

Unit 2. Modern World depth Study
One option from three has to be taught. This unit gives students an opportunity to study in depth a key aspect of modern world history. We will teach Option 2A: Germany 1918-39

Unit 3. Modern World source Enquiry
One option from three has to be taught. This unit gives the students an opportunity to conduct a source-based enquiry within a key context of modern world history. We will teach Option 3C: A Divided union? The USA 1945-70

Unit 4. Representations of History
One option from twelve has to be taught. This unit gives students the opportunity to:

  • analyse and evaluate representations of history
  • carry out a historical enquiry
  • make links between modern representations and the key features of the content area studied.

We will teach Option CA 8: Crime, policing and punishment in England c1880-1990

Assessment Summary

  • Unit 1 is assessed through a 1 hour 15-minute external examination. Students answer three questions on each section and there are 60 marks available in total. This part of the exam is worth 25% of the final GCSE grade
  • Unit 2 is assessed through a 1 hour 15-minute external examination. Students answer six questions and there are 50 marks available in total. This part of the exam is worth 25% of the final GCSE grade
  • Unit 3 is assessed through a 1 hour 15-minute external examination. Students answer five questions and there are 50 marks available in total

This part of the exam is worth 25% of the final GCSE grade. Unit 4 is internally assessed under controlled conditions and externally moderated. There is one task for which 50 marks are available. This part of the exam is worth 25% of the final GCSE grade.

Units 1, 2 and 3 can be assessed in January and June examinations at the discretion of the School. Unit 4 can ONLY be assessed in June. The examiners will be looking for a student to demonstrate their ability to;

  • Recall, select, organise and deploy historical knowledge
  • Describe, explain and analyse key features and events
  • Analyse and interpret historical evidence

Although the content of the course is new to the students, these skills have been developed in Years 7, 8 and 9; at GCSE they have the opportunity to come to fruition.