History

Course summary

Edexcel History A-Level course consists of 4 modules: A British Period study, a non-British Period study, a Thematic Study and a non-examined assessment (coursework). Both period studies are taught in Year 12, and the Thematic Study along with the coursework are taught in Year 13. British Period Study: Britain Transformed 1918 – 1997 Taught in Year 12, students will study the impact of both world wars on Britain – socially, economically, culturally and politically as well as the changing political landscape of Britain with an interpretations-based case study on Margaret Thatcher. Depth Study: The USA Challenge and Conformity 1955 – 1992. Taught in Year 12, students will study the USA from post-1945 affluence, through racial and political protests in the 1960s to the rise of right-wing groups in the 1980s and the development of bitter divisions between Democrats and Republicans. Thematic Study: The British Experience of Warfare, c.1790 – 1918. Taught in Year 13, this unit combines a breadth and depth topic exploring the British experiences in different aspects of major overseas conflicts and the changing relationship between the state and the people. Conflicts covered are Britain and the French Wars, The Crimean War, the Second Boer War and the First World War. Historical Investigation: During the A-Level course students will also undertake an independent study of 3,000 – 4,000 words, fully evaluating historical interpretations to explore a question around the Vietnam War.