History
Overview
Qualification
GCSE
Awarding body
Pearson Edexcel
Course leader
Mrs J Hunter
Assessment
- Examination: 100%
- Paper 1: Medicine in Britain c.1250-present | 1 hour 15 mins | 30%
- Paper 2: Early Elizabethan England c.1558-1588 and the American West c.1835-1895 | 1 hour 45 mins | 40%
- Paper 3: Weimar and Nazi Germany c.1918-1939 | 1 hour 20 mins | 30%
- Non-examined assessment: 0%
Curriculum
Course content
Paper 1: medicine through time c.1250-present
The history of medicine and the key changes that occurred, including ideas about diagnosis, causes, treatments, cures, who treated the sick; case studies of diseases such as the Black Death and cholera; treatment of the ill, wounded and injured in the trenches of the First World War.
Paper 2: early Elizabethan England 1558-1588
The problems of the young Tudor queen including foreign threat, religion, finances, and rivals; Elizabethan society and the age of exploration; deteriorating relations with Spain that that led to the Spanish Armada.
Paper 2: The American West 1836-1895
The making of the modern USA, covering the push west and reasons for this including the gold rush; those who pushed west including the Mormons and the Donnor Party; the conflicts that resulted with the indigenous peoples of the Plains; cowboys and cattle ranching, the railroads and the problems of law and order.
Paper 3: Weimar and Nazi Germany, 1918-1939
The difficulties faced by Germany in between the First and Second World Wars, including why recovery in the mid-1920s failed; reasons for Hitler’s rise to power; how the Nazis ensured a dictatorship with little open opposition; how life changed for those living in Nazi Germany.
Skills and requirements
Skills required
- The ability to read independently and write at length.
- Assess how sources are useful and what can be learned from them.
- ‘Weigh up’ an argument and give reasons and evidence to support your view.
- Discuss different opinions and be respectful of the content you are studying.
- A commitment to work at home as well as in the classroom.
Beyond the classroom
Future pathways
History can lead to many careers, some directly connected with history, others using the skills history gives you. These include:
- researcher
- archivist
- conservator
- events manager
- heritage manager
- historian
- gallery curator
- librarian
- media researcher
- museum curator
- political analyst
- newsreader
- teacher or lecturer
- writer or journalist
Other potential opportunities include: accountant, archaeologist, charity worker, magazine editor, human resources, solicitor, police, solicitor and many more!