History

Humanities Department

Develop your initiative.

Help you learn about the Present from the Past

Assist you to think critically and form opinions

Allow you to work with others

Develop your investigative skills

Develop your skills of co-operation

Help you gain a certificate which is highly regarded by employers

"History is not History unless it is the TRUTH” - Abraham Lincoln

Assessment

National 3-5 courses.

National 3 course is assessed internally with unit assessment questions for each of the three units - Scottish, British and European & World topics.

National 4 course is assessed internally with unit assessment questions for each of the three units - Scottish, British and European & World topics. There is also an Added Value Unit, which is a project on a topic of the pupil's choice.

National 5 is assessed with an external exam and an Assignment.

External exam: Question Paper is worth 80 marks and lasts 2 hours 20 minutes. It will include questions from each of the three units - Scottish, British and European & World topics.

Assignment: The Assignment is based on a topic from within the course and will allow pupils to conduct research. The write-up will take 1 hour of class time but will be marked externally.

Higher

Higher Assessment consists of two parts:

Exam

Paper 1 - Questions on the British topic and the European & World topic. The exam lasts 1 hour 30 minutes and is worth 44 marks.

Paper 2 - Questions on the Scottish topic. The exam lasts 1 hour 30 minutes and is worth 36 marks.

Assignment (1 1/2 Hours):

Students write an essay under exam conditions in class during one continuous sitting and are allowed a Historical Resource sheet. This is worth 30 marks.

Advanced Higher

Advanced Higher Assessment consists of two parts:

Question Paper (3 hours)

2 essays from 5, each worth 25 marks.

3 questions from 4 sources worth 40 marks.

Exam papers are externally marked.

The Dissertation

The Dissertation is worth 50 marks. It should not be more than 4,000 words in length.

The Dissertation is externally marked.

This is undertaken throughout the session.

Ideal Candidate

We have suitable courses for all levels. Someone interested in life in the past and how these things can still affect us today. Ability to read and analyse historical sources and take relevant information from them.

What you will learn

National 3-5

SECTION 1 - Scottish topic: Era of the Great War.

A study of the experiences of Scots in the First World War and the impact of the war on life in Scotland, illustrating the themes of conflict, technology and society.

SECTION 2 - British topic: The trade in enslaved African people, 1770–1807.

A study of the nature of the British trade in enslaved Africans in the later 18th century, changing attitudes towards it in Britain and the pressures that led to its abolition, illustrating the themes of ‘race’, empire, exploitation and rights.

SECTION 3 - European & World topic: USA 1850-1888.

A study of the reasons settlers moved West and the impact of that migration on Indigenous American peoples, and of the Civil War and reconstruction, illustrating the themes of migration, enslavement and rights.

Higher

SECTION 1 - Scottish topic: Migration and Empire, 1830-1939.

Population movement and social and economic change in Scotland and abroad between 1830 and 1939. Themes: empire, migration and identity.

SECTION 2 - British topic: Britain, 1851-1951.

Development of the United Kingdom into a modern democracy and the development of the role of the state in the welfare of its citizens. Themes: authority, ideology and rights.

SECTION 3 - European & World topic: The Cold War, 1945–1989.

Superpower foreign policy after 1945, the growth of international tension, the development of the policy of detente, and the end of the Cold War in Europe in 1989. Themes: ideology, conflict and diplomacy.

Advanced Higher History

Advanced Higher develops further, and more deeply, the elements of Knowledge and Understanding, Evaluation and Investigation. The topic studied is: 'The House Divided’: USA 1850—1865.

A study of American society and tensions within it, the causes and nature of conflict, and the political, social and economic outcomes of that conflict, focusing on the themes of conflict, rights, identity and authority.