History

GCSE course outline

This qualification will enable students to:

• gain knowledge and understanding of selected periods and/or aspects of history, exploring the significance of historical events, people, changes and issues
• use historical sources critically, in context, recording significant information and reaching conclusions
• organise and communicate their knowledge and understanding of history
• draw conclusions and make historical judgements

The following areas are studied:

Paper 1:

• DEPTH STUDY ONE – Germany 1918 – 1945
• DEPTH STUDY TWO – Civil Rights 1945 – 1974

Paper 2:

• INVESTIGATION (SOURCES) – The USA 1918-1941
• BREADTH (CHANGE) – Medicine in the C19 and C20 world

Skills required

Students interested in GCSE History need solid literacy skills. Above all however, they should have an intellectual curiosity. This means that they want to understand what shaped the world they are growing up in.

Assessment method

Examinations:

This course is examined by two examinations at the end of Year 11. Each examination is one hour 30 minutes in duration.

Post 16 opportunities and careers

Historians are trained to look for bias and prejudice. There is no other subject that deals so well with sorting out what is useful and reliable evidence and what must be sifted out than History. As such, it is a very highly regarded qualification. In LVS Ascot Sixth Form we offer a range of linked A level courses including History, Law, and Government and Politics.

The largest employer of History graduates is the finance sector. However Journalism, Education, Politics, Business, Culture and Human Resources all have a large number of trained historians.