Official Course Title: GCSE History

Exam Board: Edexcel

Further details can be obtained from: https://qualifications.pearson.com/en/qualifications/edexcel-gcses/history-2016.html

Why choose Edexcel GCSE History?

We’ve used the opportunity of curriculum change to redesign a qualification that will engage students with a broad and diverse study of the history of Britain and the wider world and give them skills that will support progression to further study of history and a wide range of other subjects.

A unified approach – we’re offering a single GCSE History specification that gives you the freedom to select from the most popular topics in current Modern World and Schools History Project specifications, as well as a number of exciting new topics, including some that are brand new to GCSE.

Clear and coherent structure – our qualification has a straightforward structure with four elements, assessed through three externally examined papers. There are no prohibited combinations, giving you flexibility to design a coherent course that is appropriate for your students.

Historic environment sites nested within thematic studies – we have chosen a specific site linked to each of our well-established British thematic studies that will be engaging for students to study.

Period studies that provide an unfolding narrative – all of the topics we have selected tell a story about a period that shaped the world we live in today. We’ve retained two popular topics from current specifications (the Cold War and American West) as well as introducing several new, engaging period studies.

Modern non-British depth studies – all of our non-British depth studies are from the modern era, allowing the popular topics of Germany, Russia and the USA to be retained, while also including a new China topic. There is a focus on interpretations of history in these depth studies.

Medieval and early modern British depth studies – to meet the criteria requirement for depth studies to come from two eras, all our British depth studies are pre-modern, with two medieval and two early modern topics to choose from.

Clear and straightforward question papers – we have focused on ensuring that our question papers are clear and accessible for students and that mark schemes are straightforward in making the requirements clear.

Builds on Key Stage 3 – we have designed the GCSE to extend students’ knowledge by studying new areas of content and by revisiting and deepening their knowledge of content studied previously.

Supports progression to A Level – we planned our GCSE and A Level specifications together. This ensures sensible progression of content from GCSE to A Level and similar approaches to assessment, so that students will have a coherent and diverse experience of history if they take both an Edexcel GCSE and A Level in History.

Below are examples of the end of year exams students sit at the end of the GCSE course and the mark schemes used by examiners to grade them.

Look ahead at possible future careers

Studying history can lead on to some exciting career options, including:

• Journalism • Law • Business • Politics • Archaeology • Marketing • Teaching.

The aims and objectives of this qualification are to enable students to:

● develop and extend their knowledge and understanding of specified key events, periods and societies in local, British, and wider world history; and of the wide diversity of human experience

● engage in historical enquiry to develop as independent learners and as critical and reflective thinkers

● develop the ability to ask relevant questions about the past, to investigate issues critically and to make valid historical claims by using a range of sources in their historical context

● develop an awareness of why people, events and developments have been accorded historical significance and how and why different interpretations have been constructed about them

● organise and communicate their historical knowledge and understanding in different ways and reach substantiated conclusions.

Why choose GCSE History?

History is continuously changing the world around us and historic events have helped to shape our society. Studying GCSE History will help you to answer important questions such as:

• Why do wars happen?

• Why do we have a welfare system?

• How have we come to live in a multi-cultural society?

Learning about past events and the people who’ve influenced history will allow you to understand how the world got to the point it’s at now and how it will continue to develop in the future. You’ll learn valuable skills… Apart from studying a wide range of exciting historic periods, you’ll learn a range of handy skills that will help you with A-levels and future work. These include:

• excellent communication and writing skills

• how to construct an argument

• research and problem skills

• investigation and problem-solving skills

• analytical and interpretation skills. … and useful facts

• Ever wondered why people wear poppies in November?

• Did you know that until 1928 not all women could vote?