History Year 11
At Key Stage 4, students follow the OCR GCSE History A (Schools History Project) syllabus. They are required to study two examination units. The first is a development study and traces the development of medicine and health through time as follows:
- Prehistoric health
- Medicine in the Ancient World (Egypt, Rome and Greece)
- Medieval medicine
- The Medical Renaissance
- Surgery since 1800
- Public health since 1800
- The fight against disease
The second unit is a development study and requires students to investigate life in Germany between 1918 and 1945. This includes the following:
- Failure of the Weimar Republic
- The growth and success of the Nazi Party
- Establishment of Nazi control over Germany
- Impact of Nazi policy on society
Students also complete a Controlled Assessment which focuses on the struggle for peace in Northern Ireland. This task is set directly by the exam board and completed in class.
The study of History is both important and engaging for students at secondary level. Through studying History, students gain a sense of the past and a knowledge of the importance of historical events and their causes. Their curiosity, interest and enjoyment of history is cultivated. In addition to this, the subject equips students with the ability to approach their studies analytically and logically. It also trains students to think and write coherently and confidently, developing their ability to adopt a viewpoint or reach a judgement based on evidence. As such, it equips students with a broad range of transferable skills which are essential across the curriculum and beyond their school career.
Students’ work is assessed by two examinations which contribute 45% and 30% of the final grade respectively. The remaining 25% comes from the Controlled Assessment.
