GCSE History
GCSE History at Stanborough:
We follow the Edexcel exam board GCSE 1-9. The aims and objectives of this qualification are to enable students to develop and extend their knowledge and understanding of specified key events, periods and societies in local, British, and wider world history; and of the wide diversity of human experience. Students will also engage in historical enquiry to develop as independent learners and as critical and reflective thinkers and develop the ability to ask relevant questions about the past, to investigate issues critically and to make valid historical claims by using a range of sources in their historical context. Developing an awareness of why people, events and developments have been accorded historical significance and how and why different interpretations have been constructed about them is also a key skill. Students will need to organise and communicate their historical knowledge and understanding in different ways and reach substantiated conclusions.
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Please find an outline for our GCSE History course below:
Historic Environment: Whitechapel, c1870-c1900. Crime, policing and the inner city.
Whitechapel is an excellent case study that explores the issues of poverty and crime in Victorian London. A study of Whitechapel highlights the problems associated with policing at this time and the developments and challenges to investigative policing. Public attitudes to policing and the problems associated with regional and national policing are also highlighted through the study of this historic environment.
Assessment:
Paper 1 Section A
Written examination: 1 hour and 15 minutes (10%)
Thematic Study: Crime and Punishment in Britain, c1000-present
Crime and punishment in Britain from c1000 to present focusses on:
1. The nature and changing definitions of criminal activity.
2. The nature of law enforcement and punishment.
3. Case studies – The 1605 Gunpowder plotters, witch hunts, Pentonville Prison in the 19th Century, Conscientious objector and many more…!
Assessment:
Paper 1 Section B
Written examination: 1 hour and 15 minutes (20%)
Period Study: Superpower relations and the Cold War, 1941-91
This option is a period study, and consists of the three Key topics:
1. The origins of the Cold War, 1941–58;
2. Three Cold War Crises, 1958–70;
3. The end of the Cold War, 1970–91.
Assessment:
Paper 2 Section A
Written examination: 1 hour and 45 minutes (20%)
British Depth Study: Anglo-Saxon and Norman England, c1060–88
1066 is a landmark event in History. While the date is instantly recognisable, few realise the trauma and suffering the Norman Conquest wrought. This depth study, focused on the period 1060–1088, allows students to develop a deeper appreciation of this pivotal time. The content is divided into three key topics broadly covering Anglo-Saxon England, the Norman Conquest and subsequent rebellions and finally, the nature of the Anglo-Norman state.
Assessment:
Paper 2 Section B
Written examination: 1 hour and 45 minutes (20%)
Modern Depth Study: Weimar and Nazi Germany, 1918-39
This option is a modern depth study, and consists of the four Key topics:
1. The Weimar Republic 1918–29
2. Hitler’s rise to power, 1919–33
3. Nazi control and dictatorship, 1933–39
4. Life in Nazi Germany, 1933–39
Assessment:
Paper 3
Written examination: 1 hour and 20 minutes (30%)
