Paper 1: Understanding the Modern World (2 hours (50%) a) Period Studies: Germany 1890-1945 (looking at newly unified Germany under its emperors; Germany in World War 1, the post-war settlement and Weimar democracy, the rise of Hitler, Germany under Hitler and during World War 2). b) Depth studies: Conflict and Tension 1918-1939 (looking at international relations in the period between the two World Wars, especially the Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations). Paper 2: Britain – Shaping the Nation (2 hours (50%) a) Thematic studies: Health and the people, 1000-present (looking at health and medicine over time, and the individuals and factors shaping developments in science and medicine). b) British depth studies (including a local study of a specific site relating to the period studied) of Elizabethan England. The site for the local study changes every year and is chosen by the exam board.
Enrichment History GCSE involves a local site study and we aim to take students on a field trip to that specific site. In recent years, these sites have included Ham House in Richmond, the Royal Observatory in Greenwich and the royal dockyards at Chatham. In addition to this, we take Year 11 students to the Imperial War Museum in London for a workshop on the Holocaust, which includes a visit to the excellent Holocaust galleries there. This is in support of Paper 1, above.
Future pathways History is useful for a lot of careers and not just the obvious ones. Some careers have a clear link with History such as conservation work, town planning, building restoration, tourism, museum or archive work. It is also a good qualification for all aspects of business, budding journalists, accountants, researchers, police, lawyers and scientists where an ability to gather and read different information, analyse or evaluate it carefully and then communicate it clearly is required. This subject combines with science as well as English, Geography, Modern Languages and the Arts. It is considered by all of the top universities as being one of the most rigorous, and therefore most desirable, academic subjects.
Year 11 students at the Imperial War Museum, February 2020
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