Switching to AQA from Edexcel

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

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.

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

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.

There is no Paper 3.

Written exam

1 hour 20 minutes

30% of the GCSE

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.

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.

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 20^th 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.

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

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.