History is not all about ‘great’ men; it is not all about power and those who seek to exercise it; it is not all about politics and the lives of the privileged; it is not all about analysing masses of data or statistics; it is not all about what the Vikings put in their porridge; but it can be about any or all of those things. Perhaps history’s greatest strength as an intellectual discipline is its diversity: the study of the past can be on as narrow or as broad a scale as the subject matter demands; a historical enquiry can be based on biography, sociology, archaeology, anthropology, codicology, or any number of other disciplines, often at the same time. We aim to capture this diversity in our IB History course. The range of subjects studied is broad; however, all topics are linked by the shared theme of the interaction between power and identity. The Historical Investigation (completed in the Lower Sixth) offers a unique opportunity to research and write on a historical topic of your choosing, led by the extensive experience of the History Department. Recent topics have been as diverse as the Congolese civil war, the politics of Leonard Bernstein, Sweden in World War Two, the Stonewall Riots of 1969, and the democracy movement in South Korea.
For popular courses such as Economics, English Literature, History, Medicine, or Psychology, all of the competitive universities require at least grade AAA at A Level or, usually, a score of 37-39 IB points; the most competitive require A*AA (or even occasionally A*A*A) or 7 points in one or more HL subject. Universities such as Bath, Bristol, Durham, Imperial, Manchester, UCL and Warwick may also require A*AA or 7 points in an HL subject for courses in Sciences, Engineering or Mathematics; a few of these courses will require IB students to have 7 points in a specific HL Science or Mathematics and A Level students to have A* in a specific Science or Mathematics. Cambridge currently requires a minimum of A Level grades of A*AA for all Arts courses and for Psychological and Behavioural Sciences, and A*A*A for all Science courses, Computer Science and Economics. Irrespective of course, the standard IB requirement is 40-42 points, including 776 in the three Higher Level subjects. In practice, however, higher (or lower) offers are sometimes made to both A Level and IB students; these are decided on an individual basis. Oxford currently requires A Level grades of AAA for all Arts courses and for Human Sciences, A*AA for most Science courses, Economics and Management, Geography, and Psychology, Philosophy & Linguistics, and A*A*A for Chemistry, Engineering and Mathematics courses. Irrespective of course, the standard IB requirement is 38-40 points with 666-776 in the three Higher Level subjects. Unlike at Cambridge, these entry requirements are standardised across the university and are rarely raised or lowered.
Paper 1 (studied by HL and SL students in the Lower Sixth) is a source paper entitled Rights and Protest, looking in depth at two case studies of race, identity, rights and suppression: the Civil Rights struggle in the United States and the anti-Apartheid movement in South Africa in the middle of the twentieth century. Paper II (studied by HL and SL students in the Lower Sixth) is an essay paper covering the growth, development, and decline of empires. Teachers will select a topic depending on their specialism. The current options are as follows. A study of the English Civil Wars examines the causes of the civil conflict as well as the ensuing wars and the development of military tactics. It enables students to consider the role of the individual by considering key players such as Charles I and Oliver Cromwell. In Independence Movements you will investigate how empires end. Comparing the processes by which different territories, such as Zimbabwe and Ireland, broke with their colonial pasts, you will see decolonisation not from the perspective of the imperialists but instead from the point of view of those who, fuelled by their burgeoning cultural and ethnic self-awareness, sought to build new states and new identities. The Cold War topic explores the origins of the crisis and studies the impact of the Cold War on two countries from different parts of the world. You will also compare and contrast the roles of Cold War leaders and examine the development of the conflict in Europe, Asia, the US and Africa. Paper III (studied by HL students in the Upper Sixth) is an essay paper which examines cultural and intellectual history alongside more conventional, political topics. Britain during the build-up to the First World War is studied allowing an examination of complex international relations in the shift towards global conflict. It involves themes such as Imperialism, nationalism and militarism to be explored to analyse the reasons for the outbreak of war in 1914. The second topic will focus on the nineteenth century, and may cover the history of Russia, 1855-1924; Britain, 1815-1914; or Italy and Germany, 1815-1890. In each case, you will see how the progressive ideals of the eighteenth century developed into new and radical political philosophies (eg Nationalism, Liberalism, and Communism) which threatened to overthrow the established order in Europe. In studying this period, you will glimpse the origins of the ideas and the politics that have shaped the modern world.
About Education Provider
| Region | London |
| Local Authority | Hammersmith and Fulham |
| Ofsted Rating | |
| Gender Type | Girls |
| ISI Report | View Report |
| Boarding Fee | Unknown |
| Sixth Form Fee | £26,831 |
| Address | Iffley Road, Hammersmith, London, W6 0PG |
History is not all about ‘great’ men; it is not all about power and those who seek to exercise it; it is not all about politics and the lives of the privileged; it is not all about analysing masses of data or statistics; it is not all about what the Vikings put in their porridge; but it can be about any or all of those things. Perhaps history’s greatest strength as an intellectual discipline is its diversity: the study of the past can be on as narrow or as broad a scale as the subject matter demands; a historical enquiry can be based on biography, sociology, archaeology, anthropology, codicology, or any number of other disciplines, often at the same time. We aim to capture this diversity in our IB History course. The range of subjects studied is broad; however, all topics are linked by the shared theme of the interaction between power and identity. The Historical Investigation (completed in the Lower Sixth) offers a unique opportunity to research and write on a historical topic of your choosing, led by the extensive experience of the History Department. Recent topics have been as diverse as the Congolese civil war, the politics of Leonard Bernstein, Sweden in World War Two, the Stonewall Riots of 1969, and the democracy movement in South Korea.
For popular courses such as Economics, English Literature, History, Medicine, or Psychology, all of the competitive universities require at least grade AAA at A Level or, usually, a score of 37-39 IB points; the most competitive require A*AA (or even occasionally A*A*A) or 7 points in one or more HL subject. Universities such as Bath, Bristol, Durham, Imperial, Manchester, UCL and Warwick may also require A*AA or 7 points in an HL subject for courses in Sciences, Engineering or Mathematics; a few of these courses will require IB students to have 7 points in a specific HL Science or Mathematics and A Level students to have A* in a specific Science or Mathematics. Cambridge currently requires a minimum of A Level grades of A*AA for all Arts courses and for Psychological and Behavioural Sciences, and A*A*A for all Science courses, Computer Science and Economics. Irrespective of course, the standard IB requirement is 40-42 points, including 776 in the three Higher Level subjects. In practice, however, higher (or lower) offers are sometimes made to both A Level and IB students; these are decided on an individual basis. Oxford currently requires A Level grades of AAA for all Arts courses and for Human Sciences, A*AA for most Science courses, Economics and Management, Geography, and Psychology, Philosophy & Linguistics, and A*A*A for Chemistry, Engineering and Mathematics courses. Irrespective of course, the standard IB requirement is 38-40 points with 666-776 in the three Higher Level subjects. Unlike at Cambridge, these entry requirements are standardised across the university and are rarely raised or lowered.
Paper 1 (studied by HL and SL students in the Lower Sixth) is a source paper entitled Rights and Protest, looking in depth at two case studies of race, identity, rights and suppression: the Civil Rights struggle in the United States and the anti-Apartheid movement in South Africa in the middle of the twentieth century. Paper II (studied by HL and SL students in the Lower Sixth) is an essay paper covering the growth, development, and decline of empires. Teachers will select a topic depending on their specialism. The current options are as follows. A study of the English Civil Wars examines the causes of the civil conflict as well as the ensuing wars and the development of military tactics. It enables students to consider the role of the individual by considering key players such as Charles I and Oliver Cromwell. In Independence Movements you will investigate how empires end. Comparing the processes by which different territories, such as Zimbabwe and Ireland, broke with their colonial pasts, you will see decolonisation not from the perspective of the imperialists but instead from the point of view of those who, fuelled by their burgeoning cultural and ethnic self-awareness, sought to build new states and new identities. The Cold War topic explores the origins of the crisis and studies the impact of the Cold War on two countries from different parts of the world. You will also compare and contrast the roles of Cold War leaders and examine the development of the conflict in Europe, Asia, the US and Africa. Paper III (studied by HL students in the Upper Sixth) is an essay paper which examines cultural and intellectual history alongside more conventional, political topics. Britain during the build-up to the First World War is studied allowing an examination of complex international relations in the shift towards global conflict. It involves themes such as Imperialism, nationalism and militarism to be explored to analyse the reasons for the outbreak of war in 1914. The second topic will focus on the nineteenth century, and may cover the history of Russia, 1855-1924; Britain, 1815-1914; or Italy and Germany, 1815-1890. In each case, you will see how the progressive ideals of the eighteenth century developed into new and radical political philosophies (eg Nationalism, Liberalism, and Communism) which threatened to overthrow the established order in Europe. In studying this period, you will glimpse the origins of the ideas and the politics that have shaped the modern world.
