History

Course summary

Do you have a passion for understanding world events and how human decisions can affect the course of time? Then History is for you! You will gain skills to analyze primary and secondary source documents about real historical events both from an in-depth perspective and a broad-based perspective. You will also gain skills to write analytically about many different historical questions, which can help in just about any future employment. History can help prepare you for further study at university, as well as prepare you for understanding world literature and the government and politics of our present day. Historians move on to a wide range of professions in the media, law, the Civil Service and education. The subject combines very well with a range of arts subjects and languages and also provides a refreshing contrast for students studying the sciences. The History syllabus considers a range of historical periods and places to help students understand the play of human events both from a broad and in-depth perspective. The three paper topics are meant to cover different locations and amounts of time to meet that purpose. It also equips you with essay writing skills and source analysis skills. Finally, there is a balance between exam questions and a coursework question that is worked at throughout the second year. Main Topics Covered: USA history of the 20th century India’s path to independence after World War I The development of attitudes and strategies for dealing with poverty in Britain over the 18th, 19th and 20th century The development of public health policy in Britain