At GCSE Students will be assessed based on knowledge and understanding as well as skills. Students answer examination questions based on the application of their knowledge. It is not enough to merely know facts. These facts have to be used to help you explain key aspects from the periods studied. Skills of source analysis are an integral part of the course. Students again use their knowledge to consider how useful pieces of information are in helping them to understand events of the past. Students will also be assessed on the changing interpretations of past events and why different interpretations have been constructed about them.

Year 10

Thematic Study and a study of a historical environment
Students will conduct a thematic study relating to Medicine in Britain, c1250–present, including the study of key people, key events and important developments drawn from the medieval, early modern and modern eras. Students will also study medicine in the specific historical environment of the British sector of the Western Front, 1914–18. This will include the injuries and treatment of First World War soldiers in the trenches.

Modern depth study – Weimar and Nazi Germany 1918-39
This depth study is focused on the plight of Germany in the period 1918–39. Students concentrate on the extent of recovery in Germany under the Weimar Government following World War One, the rise of the Nazi Party. Students will consider what it was like living under the Nazi regime.

Year 11

Period Study – Superpower relations and the Cold War, 1941–91
This period study will focus on the causes of the tension and the subsequent Cold War between the East and West that followed the end of World War Two. Students will also consider ‘flash points’ during this conflict, including the Cuban Missile Crisis.

British Depth Study – Elizabethan England 1558-88
A British based study of early Elizabethan England where students will investigate the problems faced by Elizabeth and how successfully she handled them.

GCSE Exam Board: Edexcel 9-1 Students will sit 3 examinations