Specification at a glance
This qualification is linear. Linear means that students will sit all their exams at the end of the course. GCSE History students must take assessments in both of the following papers in the same series:
Paper 1: Understanding the modern world
Paper 2: Shaping the nation
Subject content
The GCSE History content comprises the following elements:- one period study
- one thematic study
- one wider world depth study
- one British depth study including the historic environment.
Paper 1: Understanding the modern world
Section A: Period studies
Options to be declared at point of entry.
Choose one of the following options:
- AA America, 1840–1895: Expansion and consolidation
- AB Germany, 1890–1945: Democracy and dictatorship
- AC Russia, 1894–1945: Tsardom and communism
- AD America, 1920–1973: Opportunity and inequality
Section B: Wider world depth studies
Options to be declared at point of entry.
Choose one of the following options:
- BA Conflict and tension: The First World War, 1894–1918
- BB Conflict and tension: The inter-war years, 1918–1939
- BC Conflict and tension between East and West, 1945–1972
- BD Conflict and tension in Asia, 1950–1975
- BE Conflict and tension in the Gulf and Afghanistan, 1990–2009
Paper 2: Shaping the nation
Section A: Thematic studies
Options to be declared at point of entry.
Choose one of the following options:
- AA Britain: Health and the people: c1000 to the present day
- AB Britain: Power and the people: c1170 to the present day
- AC Britain: Migration, empires and the people: c790 to the present day
Section B: British depth studies including the historic environment
Options to be declared at point of entry.
Choose one of the following options:
- BA Norman England, c1066–c1100
- BB Medieval England: the reign of Edward I, 1272–1307
- BC Elizabethan England, c1568–1603
- BD Restoration England, 1660–1685
Assessments
| Paper 1: Understanding the modern world |
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What's assessed In Section A there is a choice of four period studies, each with a focus on two key developments in a country's history over at least a 50 year period. In Section B there is a choice of five wider world depth studies. These focus on international conflict and tension. |
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How it's assessed
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Questions
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| Paper 2: Shaping the nation |
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What's assessed In Section A there is a choice of three thematic studies, which look at key developments in Britain over a long period. In Section B there is a choice of four British depth studies incorporating the study of a specific historic environment. |
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How it's assessed
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Questions
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