History

Course summary

At A’ Level, pupils will study Britain in the seventeenth century, the Russian Revolutions of 1917 (which will also be the focus of their coursework essay in most instances), and civil rights and race relations in the United States from 1850 to 2009. These studies will engage pupils with some of the crucial turning points from three key centuries of European and global history, as well as enable them to consider historical concepts such as revolution, class structures, racial prejudice, and the relationship between ruler and ruled, or powerful and powerless, in a variety of contexts. We follow the Edexcel specification. Stress is placed on independent thought and learning, and pupils will be supported to reach their own conclusions and to read widely beyond the classroom. We will scrutinise historical documents to improve their analytical and critical skills, and take learning outside of the classroom whenever possible. Overall, we hope to have designed an A’ Level course which looks at three contrasting societies at significant moments of change in their history, undergoing developments which have shaped the modern world socially, economically, culturally, and politically. The course is academically challenging, but aims to be intellectually rewarding and should prepare Longridge students very well for further studies in the Humanities at university, and we encourage our A’ Level historians to be ambitious and aspirational when looking to their futures beyond our school.