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Switching to AQA from Edexcel

To save you time and help you compare our GCSE History with the Edexcel specification, we’ve created some comparison tables.

These tables highlight the content and requirements side by side, so you can make the right choice for your students.

Mandated similarities

There are certain content requirements set by the Department for Education (DfE) in its document, History GCSE subject content, that must be common across specifications from all boards. The DfE guidance requires students to study, as a minimum:

  • two depth studies, each covering a substantial and short time span: one must be a British depth study from the medieval (500–1500), early modern (1450–1700) or modern (1750–present) eras o the other must be a European or wider-world depth study from an era different to the British depth study.
  • A period study of at least 50 years from any of the eras.
  • The historic environment through the study of a particular site in its historical context.
  • A thematic study involving the study of people, events and developments drawn from all three eras defined above.

The DfE requires that British history must form at least 40% of the assessed content.

Assessment comparison

Paper 1

AQA History Understanding the Modern World

Edexcel History Thematic Study and Historic Environment

Written exam paper

Written exam paper

2 hours

1 hour 15 mins

84 marks  (including four marks for spelling, punctuation and grammar)

52 marks

50% of GCSE

30% of GCSE

Further details

AQA History Understanding the Modern World

Edexcel History Thematic Study and Historic Environment

Section A:

  • 40 marks
  • Students answer six questions.
  • The first three questions test interpretations (AO4).
  • The fourth question tests their knowledge and understanding (AO1) and the last two   questions test AO1 with AO2 (explanation and analysis of historical events and periods using second-order concepts).

Section A:

  • 16 marks
  • Students answer 2 questions.
  • Question 1 targets AO1.
  • Question 2 is a two-part question that tests source analysis and evaluation (AO3).

Section B:

  • The section is worth 44 marks (including four marks for spelling, punctuation and   grammar).
  • Students answer four questions.
  • The first two questions target source evaluation (AO3) and the other two questions test   AO1 and AO2.

Section B:

  • This section is worth 36 marks including up to 4 marks for spelling, punctuation and grammar).
  • Students answer three questions.
  • The first two questions are compulsory and test AO1 and AO2. There are two options for the third question, both of   which, test AO1 and AO2.

Paper 2

AQA History Shaping the Nation

Edexcel History Period Study and British depth study

Written exam

Written exam

2 hours

1 hour 45 minutes

84 marks (including 4 marks for spelling, punctuation and grammar)

64 marks

50% of the GCSE

40% of the GCSE

Further details

AQA History Shaping the Nation

Edexcel History Period Study and British depth study

Section A Thematic Study

  • This section is worth 44 marks (including 4 marks for spelling, punctuation and grammar).
  • Students answer four questions.
  • The first question tests sources (AO3). The other three questions target AO1 and AO2.

Section A Period Study

  • This section is worth 32 marks.
  • Students answer three questions that all target AO1 and AO2.
  • The first two questions are compulsory. For the third question, students select two out of three parts.

Section B British Depth Study

  • This section is worth 40 marks.
  • Students answer four questions.
  • The first question tests interpretations (AO4). The other three questions target AO1 and AO2.

Section B British Depth Study

  • This section is worth 32 marks.
  • Students answer a three part question that assesses AO1 and AO2. The first two parts are compulsory. For the third part, students select one from a choice of two.

Paper 3

AQA History

Edexcel Modern World Depth Study

There is no Paper 3.

Written exam

1 hour 20 minutes

30% of the GCSE

Further details

AQA History

Edexcel Modern World Depth Study

There is no Paper 3.

  • 52 marks (including 4 marks for spelling, punctuation and grammar)
  • There are two sections in this paper.
  • In Section A students answer a question which targets source evaluation (AO3) and one question that targets AO1 and A02.
  • In Section B students answer a four part question which is based on two sources and two interpretations.

Subject content

Paper 1

AQA  History

Edexcel History

Section A Period Study

Section A Historic Environment

Students take one of the following options:

  • 1A America, 1840–1895: Expansion and Consolidation –
    • Expansion: opportunities and challenges
    • Conflict across America
    • Consolidation: forging the nation
  • 1B Germany, 1890–1945: Democracy and dictatorship –
    • Germany and the growth of democracy
    • Germany and the depression
    • The experiences of Germans under the Nazis
  • 1C Russia, 1894 – 1945: Tsardom and communism
    • The end of Tsardom
    • Lenin’s new society
    • Starlin’s USSR
  • 1D America, 1920 – 1973: Opportunity and inequality
    • American people and the ‘Boom’
    • Bust – Americans’ experiences of the Depression and New Deal
    • Post-war America.

Students answer questions on the relevant Historic Environment that relates to their chosen thematic study.

Section B Wider World Depth Study

Students take one of the following options:

  • Conflict and tension, the First World War, 1894–1918
    • The causes of the First World War
    • The First World War: stalemate
    • Ending the war
  • Conflict and tension, the Interwar Years, 1918–1939
    • Peace making
    • The League of Nations and international peace
    • The origins and outbreak of the Second World War
  • Conflict and tension between East and West, 1945–1972
    • The origins of the Cold War
    • The development of the Cold War
    • Transformation of the Cold War
  • Conflict and tension in Asia, 1950–1975
    • Conflict in Korea
    • Escalation of conflict in Vietnam
    • The ending of conflict in Vietnam
  • Conflict and tension in the Gulf and Afghanistan
    • Tensions in the Gulf
    • The war on Al-Qaeda
    • The Iraq War.

Section B Thematic Study

Students take one of the following options:

Option 10: Crime and punishment in Britain, c1000–present and Whitechapel, c1870 – c1900 crime, policing and the inner city:

  • Crime and punishment in Britain, c1000-present
    • The process of change
    • C1000-c1500 medieval England
    • C1500-c1700 early modern England
    • C1700-c1900 eighteenth and nineteenth Century Britain
    • C1900-present modern Britain
  • Whitechapel, c1870 – c1900 crime, policing and the inner city:

The historic environment.

Option 11: Medicine in Britain:c1250–present and the British sector of the Western Front, 1914–1918 injuries, treatment and trenches:

  • Medicine in Britain, c1250–present
    • The process of change
    • C1250-c1500 Medieval England
    • C1500-c1700 Medical Renaissance in England
    • C1700-c1900 Eighteenth and nineteenth century Britain
    • C1900-present Modern Britain
  • the British sector of the Western Front, 1914–1918 injuries, treatment and trenches

The historic environment

Option 12: Warfare And British society, c1250–present and London and the Second World War 1939–1945:

  • Warfare And British society, c1250–present
    • The process of change
    • C1250-c1500 Medieval warfare and English society
    • C1500-c1700 Early modern period
    • C1700-c1900 Eighteenth and nineteenth centuries
    • C1900-present The Modern era
  • London and the Second World War 1939–1945

The historic environment.

Paper 2

AQA History

Edexcel History

Section A Thematic Study

Section A Period Study

Students take one of the following options:

  • Britain: Health and the people: c1000 to the present day
    • Medicine stands still
    • The beginnings of change
    • A revolution in medicine
    • Modern medicine
  • Britain: Power and the people: c1170 to the present day
    • Challenging authority and feudalism
    • Challenging royal authority
    • Reform and reformers
    • Equality and rights
  • Britain: Migration, empires and people: c790 to the present day
    • Conquered and conquerors
    • Looking West
    • Expansion and empire
    • Britain in the 20th century.

Students take one of the following options:

  • Option P1:Spain and the ‘New World’, c1490 –1555
  • Spain reaches the ‘New World’, c1490-1512
  • The conquistadors, 1513-c1528
  • The Spanish Empire, c1528-c1555
  • Option P2: British America, 1713–83: empire and revolution
  • British settlement in North America, 1713-41
  • A disrupted society, 1742-64
  • The loss of an empire, 1765-83
  • Option P3: The American West, c1835–c1895
  • The early settlement of the West, c1835-c1862
  • Development of the plains, c1862-c1876
  • Conflicts and conquest, c1876-1895
  • Option P4: Superpower relations and the Cold War 1941–91
  • The origins of the Cold War, 1941-58
  • Cold War crises, 1958-70
  • The end of the Cold War, 1970-91
  • Option P5: Conflict in the Middle East, 1945 –95
  • The birth of the state of Israel, 1945-63
  • The escalating conflict, 1964-73
  • Attempts at a solution, 1974-95.

AQA History

Edexcel History

Section B British Depth Study

Section B British Depth Study

Students take one of the following options incorporating the study of a specific historic environment:

  • Norman England, c1066–c1100
    • The Normans: conquest and control
    • Life under the Normans
    • The Norman Church and monasticism
    • The historic environment of Norman England
  • Medieval England: the reign of Edward I, 1272–1307
    • Government, the rights of King and people
    • Life in Medieval England
    • Edward I’s military campaigns in Wales and Scotland
    • The historic environment of Medieval England
  • Elizabethan England, c1568–1603
    • Elizabeth’s court and Parliament
    • Life in Elizabethan times
    • Troubles at home and abroad
    • The historic environment of Elizabethan England
  • Restoration England, 1660–1685
    • Crown, Parliament, plots and court life
    • Life in Restoration England
    • Land, trade and war
    • The historic environment of Restoration England

Students take one of the following options:

  • Option B1: Anglo-Saxon and Norman England, c1060–88
    • Anglo-Saxon England and the Norman Conquest, 1060-66
    • William I in power – securing the kingdom, 1066-87
    • Norman England, 1066-88
  • Option B2: The reigns of King Richard I and King John 1189–1216
    • Life and government in England, 1189-1216
    • Involvements overseas, 1189-1204
    • King John’s downfall, 1205-16
  • Option B3:Henry VIII and his ministers, 1509–48
    • Henry VIII and Wolsey, 1509-29
    • Henry VIII and Cromwell, 1529-40
    • The reformation and its impact, 1529-40
  • Option B4: Early Elizabethan England, 1558–1588
    • Queen, government and religion, 1558-69
    • Challenges to Elizabeth at home and abroad, 1569-88
    • Elizabethan society in the Age of Exploration, 1558-88

Paper 3

AQA History

Edexcel Modern World Depth Study

There is no Paper 3.

Students take one of the following options:

  • Option 30: Russia and the Soviet Union, 1917–41
  • The revolutions of 1917
  • The Bolsheviks in power, 1917-24
  • Stalin’s rise to power and dictatorship, 1924-41
  • Economic and social changes, 1924-41
  • Option 31: Weimar and Nazi Germany, 1918–39
  • The Weimar Republic 1918-29
  • Hitler’s rise to power, 1919-33
  • Nazi control and dictatorship, 1933-39
  • Life in Nazi Germany, 1933-39
  • Option 32: Mao’s China, 1945–76
  • Establishing communist rule, 1945-59
  • Economic policy, 1949-65
  • The Cultural Revolution and its aftermath, 196-76
  • Life in Mao’s China
  • Option 33: The USA, 1954–75: conflict at home and abroad
  • The development of the civil rights movement, 1954-60
  • Protest, progress and radicalism, 1960-75
  • US involvement in the Vietnam War, 1954-75
  • Reactions to, and the end of, US involvement in Vietnam, 1964-75.

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