History

Course summary

History prepares pupils for the future, equipping them with knowledge and skills that are prized in adult life, enhancing employability and developing an ability to take part in a democratic society. It encourages mutual understanding of the historic origins of our ethnic and cultural diversity, and helps pupils become confident and questioning individuals. In A Level History, students are encouraged to investigate and analyse the topics through a range of sources and develop their awareness of different viewpoints. By considering different interpretations, students develop an understanding of the nature of the discipline of History, and the ways in which History is produced. Students will consider why historians produce different interpretations of the same events and of the different approach historians adopt to their work. Students are constantly encouraged to ask the question, ‘What is History?’ and to develop their own responses to this question. Through the study of different events in different countries at the same time, they are able to develop an understanding of the impact individuals and ideas have on society. Linear A Level (assessed at the end of Upper Sixth) Edexcel Route F: Searching for rights and freedoms in the twentieth century. • Unit 1: In search of the American Dream: the USA, c1917-96 • Unit 2: South Africa, 1948–94: from apartheid state to ‘rainbow nation.’ • Unit 3: Ireland and the Union, c1774-1923 • Unit 4: This is the coursework unit, worth 20% of the total A Level. Our students have a free choice of topic, but we run a course on 20th Century Civil Rights in the USA and usually they select a topic from within the course.