• Learn about exciting people, dramatic events and developments in the past
• Develop your understanding of how the past influences the world we live in today
• Act as a detective - research, sift through evidence and reach conclusions
• Express your own point of view in class discussions and debates
• Put yourself in the shoes of people from the past by producing and participating in reconstructions and role plays of past events

Knowledge, Skills and Understanding (click here for more details)

During the course you will gain and apply knowledge, skills and understanding in five main areas:

• Chronological understanding
• Knowledge and understanding of events, people and changes in the past
• Historical interpretation
• Historical enquiry
• Organisation and Communication

Assessment and National Curriculum Levels (click here for more details)

Your work will be marked regularly and you will receive effort grades and advice from your teacher on how to improve in history. In addition to this you will have formal assessments in history (at least one per term) for which you will receive a National Curriculum Level.

Chronological Understanding

Students will be taught to recognise and make appropriate use of dates, vocabulary and conventions that describe historical periods and the passing of time.

Knowledge and understanding of events, people and changes in the past - Students will learn:

• to describe and analyse the relationships between the characteristic features of the periods and societies studied including the experiences and range of ideas, beliefs and attitudes of men, women and children in the past
• about the social, cultural, religious and ethnic diversity of the societies studied, both in Britain and the wider world
• to analyse and explain the reasons for, and results of, the historical events, situations and changes in the periods studied
• to identify trends, both within and across different periods, and links between local, British, European and world history
• to consider the significance of the main events, people and changes studied.

Historical interpretation - Students will learn:

how and why historical events, people, situations and changes have been interpreted in different ways
• to evaluate interpretations.

Historical enquiry - Students will:

• identify, select and use a range of appropriate sources of information including oral accounts, documents, printed sources, the media, artefacts, pictures, photographs, music, museums, buildings and sites, and ICT based sources as a basis for independent historical enquiries
• evaluate the sources used, select and record information relevant to the enquiry and reach conclusions.

Organisation and Communication - Students will:

• recall, prioritise and select historical information
• accurately select and use chronological conventions and historical vocabulary appropriate to the periods studied to organise historical information
• communicate their knowledge and understanding of history, using a range of techniques, including spoken language, structured narratives, substantiated explanations and the use of ICT.

Understanding National Curriculum Levels in History

In Key Stage 3 most students operate between levels 3 and 7. You should aim to move up one or two levels during Key Stage 3.

Level 3 means that you can write basic information about a topic (e.g. you can give a reason why something happened or write some brief points about an event). To get to Level 4, aim to develop your answers in more detail. Try to be more specific in your work and include more names, facts and dates. With sources, try to quote directly from the evidence to support your point.

Level 4 means that you are beginning to develop some detail in your answers. You are able to support some of your points with evidence from the sources. To get to Level 5, start organising your work into paragraphs, with each paragraph focusing on a separate point. With source-based work, remember to comment on who wrote the source, when and why, when try to make some judgements about its reliability or usefulness. Think about whether the source could be biased (one-sided), could it still be useful to a historian?

Level 5 means that your work is getting more structured and you are beginning to evaluate the reliability of sources. To get to level 6 try to include more detail in support of each point, but remember to keep your work organised into paragraphs. If you are thinking about causation or consequences try to group points together (e.g. into long term and short term causes or political, economic and social consequences). When evaluating sources, use more than one criteria in order to assess each source, e.g. is it biased, who wrote it, when, why, etc.

Level 6 means that your work is developing well with good organisation and detail. You are able to analyse sources carefully and you are aware of issues of reliability. You have a sophisticated understanding of cause and consequence. To get to Level 7, make more links between separate paragraphs and make sure that points develop logically. Comment on the relative strengths and limitations of historical evidence and refer to the content of the source and the circumstances under which it was written. Also, carry out more independent research to broaden your historical understanding.

Level 7 you are a first rate historian and already capable of a great deal of success at GCSE. To improve further, carry out more independent research and plan your answer thoroughly before you begin to write it up. Remember that evaluating historical sources is complex and avoid making simplistic judgements. Thoroughly evaluate the usefulness of sources considering their strengths and limitations. Quote from the sources to support your views.

Back to Curriculum Page
Back to Top

Last Updated: 24.05.2005