Follow us on Twitter @AQACPD. GCSE History New Specification Launch Jon Cloake / Richard Staton Autumn 2015 Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights

Follow us on Twitter @AQACPD.

GCSE HistoryNew Specification Launch

Jon Cloake / Richard StatonAutumn 2015

Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.

Objectives

• To understand the key elements of the specification structure, teaching content and assessment

• To start thinking about the implications for teaching and learning

• To review the resources and support available from AQA

• To enable you to ask any questions about the specification

Slide 2 Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved. Follow us on Twitter @AQACPD.

Structure of the session

1. Why is GCSE History changing?

2. What are the new requirements for GCSE History?

3. What is the AQA approach?

4. What are some of the important features of each unit in the new GCSE History?

5. What do the new examination papers look like?

6. What are the practical benefits of the new specification?

7. How can you plan to teach the new GCSE History?

8. How will AQA support you teaching the new specification?

Slide 3 Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.

Why is GCSE History changing?

“New GCSEs are being introduced in England. The primary purpose of the new qualifications will be to provide evidence of students’ achievements against demanding and fulfilling content and a strong foundation for further academic and vocational study and employment.If required the qualifications should be able to provide a basis for schools and colleges to be held accountable for the performance of all their students.”

GCSE History Consultation Document , OfQual, December 2014.


What are the new requirements for GCSE History? (1)

History to be studied from three eras:

• Medieval 500–1500• Early modern 1450–1750• Modern 1700–present day

And five elements to comprise the course:

• Thematic (1)• Depth studies (2 – one British; one – Wider World)• Period study (1)• Historic Environment (1)



Short (depth study); students to understand the complexity of a society or historical situation and the interplay of different aspects*, for example: social, political , religious, technological, military etc. Students should study one British and one European/wider world depth study.

Medium (period study); students to understand the main developments and characteristics of a 50 year time span.

Long (thematic); the study of significant characteristics of different ages to understand change and continuity; comparisons should be possible between different periods of history and aspects (see above *) of society across the centuries, i.e. from all three eras and, if appropriate, from earlier times.



STUDENTS SHOULD HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO STUDY…

a locality (the historic environment); with a focus on the site within its context, showing its relationship with historical events and developments

40% British history

European/Wider world history

BUT

The British and European/Wider World depth studies are not to be taken from same period and era

Only ONE depth study can overlap with a period



Assessment Objective Weighting Target

AO1 35% Knowledge and understanding

AO2 35% Key concepts

AO3 15% Source analysis

AO4 15% Interpretations



AO1 (35%) Knowledge and understanding

Demonstrate, organise and communicate knowledge and understanding of the key features and characteristics of the periods studied and the relationships between them.


AO2 (35%) Key concepts

Explain and analyse key concepts, arriving at substantiated judgements:

Cause and consequenceChange/continuitySimilarity/differenceSignificance within an historical context

Assessment objectives


AO3 (15%) Sources

Understand, analyse, evaluate and make historical claims from a range of source material.

AO4 (15%) Interpretations

Analyse, evaluate and make substantiated judgements about interpretations (including how and why interpretations may differ) in the context of historical events studied.


Assessment objectives




• ‘An attempt to portray and/or make meaning of the past that is a deliberate construct created after the event(s).’

• Interpretations should contain sufficient information and be set in sufficient context to permit analysis and evaluation.

• By implication assessment should involve more than one interpretation.





• Experiences of or evidence used by author.

• As a result of the time/place it was created.

• Audience/purpose/beliefs/circumstance.• Selection of knowledge/evidence – i.e.

what has been deliberately used or discarded to support a particular view.

• Knowledge of the historical debate.

‘Everything about him was reasonable and ordinary looking; he was no shrieking fanatic in a uniform. He spoke passionately; it was hypnotic and persuasive. We were carried on a wave of enthusiasm. It swept away our doubts. Here, it seemed was hope, new ideals, a new understanding. The peril of communism could be stopped.’


Any Questions on the requirements of the new GCSE History and its assessment objectives?


What is the AQA approach?

Created a specification that has been:

• developed by an experienced team of teachers and examiners

• designed to engage young people in this subject and provide effective assessments across the ability range

• fulfils all new National Curriculum and Ofqual requirements

• submitted to Ofqual for accreditation which when gained is for teaching from September 2016 with first assessment in summer 2018.


What is the AQA approach?

AQA’s new GCSE History Specification comprises the following four elements:

One period study Choose ONE from FOUR

One Wider World depth study

Choose ONE from FIVE

One thematic study Choose ONE from THREE

One British depth study (including the historic

environment)

Choose ONE from FOUR


Paper 1 – Understanding the Modern World


Structure of Paper 1: ‘Understanding the Modern World’

Section A

PERIOD STUDY

Choose ONE of 4 key developments in a country’s history over c.50 years• 1A America, 1840–1895: Expansion and consolidation• 1B Germany, 1890–1945: Democracy and dictatorship• 1C Russia, 1894–1945: Tsardom and communism• 1D America, 1920–1973: Opportunity and inequality

Section B

WIDER WORLD DEPTH STUDY

Choose ONE of 5 – these focus on international conflict and tension• Conflict and tension, 1894–1918• Conflict and tension, 1918–1939• Conflict and tension between East and West, 1945–1972• Conflict and tension in Asia, 1950–1975• Conflict and tension, 1990–2009



Paper 2 – ‘Shaping the nation’

Structure of Paper 2: ‘Shaping the nation’

Section A

THEMATIC STUDY - Key developments in British History over a long span of time

Choose ONE of 3• 2A Britain: health and the people, c1000–the present day• 2B Britain: power and the people, c1170–the present day• 2C Britain: migration, empires and the people c790–the present day

Section B

BRITISH DEPTH STUDY (including the HISTORIC ENVIRONMENT)

Choose ONE of 4 • Norman England, c1066–c1100• Medieval England: the reign of Edward I, 1272–1307• Elizabethan England, c1568–1603• Restoration England, 1660–1685


What are some of the important features of each unit in the new GCSE History?

AQA’s new GCSE History Specification comprises the following four elements:




Choose ONE from FIVE


One British depth study (including the historic

environment)


Unpacking the History

Paper 1 Section A

Period studies


Unpacking the History: The period studies 1A -1D

1A America, 1840–1895: Expansion and consolidation

1B Germany, 1890–1945: Democracy and dictatorship

1C Russia, 1894–1945: Tsardom and communism

1D America, 1920–1973: Opportunity and inequality

1 Expansion: opportunities and challenges

1 Germany and the growth of democracy

1 The end of Tsardom

1 American people and the 'Boom‘

2 Conflict across America

2 Germany and the Depression

2 Lenin's new society

2 Bust – Americans' and the Depression and New Deal

3 Consolidation – forging the nation

3 The experiences of Germans under the Nazis

3 Stalin's USSR 3 Post war America


Unpacking the History: the Wider World depth studies

Paper 2 Section B Wider World depth studies


Wider World depth studies: Conflict and tension

Conflict and tension, 1894-1918


Conflict and tension –East & West, 1945-1972

Conflict and tension in Asia, 1950-1975

Conflict and tension, 1990 – 2009

1 The causes of the First World War

1 Peace making

1 The origins of the Cold War

1 Conflict in Korea

1 Tensions in the Gulf

2 The First World War – stalemate

2 The League of Nations & international peace

2 The development of the Cold War

2 Escalation of conflict in Vietnam

2 The war on Al-Qaeda

3 Ending the war

3 The origins and outbreak of the Second World War

3 Transformation of the Cold War

3 The ending of conflict in Vietnam

3 The Iraq War


Unpacking the History:The British thematic studies 2A, 2B, 2C

Paper 1 Section A British thematic studies


Unpacking the History:The British thematic studies 2A, 2B, 2C

2A Britain: Health and the people: c1000 to the present day

2B Britain: Power and the people: c1170 to the present day

2C Britain: Migration, empires and the people: c790 to the present day

1 Medicine stands still 1 Challenging authority and feudalism

1 Conquered and conquerors

2 The beginnings of change

2 Challenging Royal authority

2 Looking west

3 A revolution in medicine

3 Reform and Reformers

3 Expansion and empire

4 Modern medicine 4 Equality and Rights 4 Britain in the twentieth century


Unpacking the History: The British depth studies

Paper 2 Section B

British depth studies and historic environment


Unpacking the History: The British depth studies

Paper 2 Section B

British depth studies and historic environment:

• Norman England, c1066–c1100

• Medieval England: the reign of Edward I, 1272–1307

• Elizabethan England, c1568–1603

• Restoration England, 1660–1685


Historic environment 1

• By embedding the historic environments within the depth studies, students are able to examine the relationship between a specified site and the historical events and developments contained in the depth study.

• The specified sites to be studied will be identified by AQA and published three years in advance on the website.

• There is no requirement to visit the specified site.


Historic environment 2

The historic environment can be explored through the examination of:

• Norman buildings such as the cathedrals, abbeys, and castles and wider historic environments such as towns and settlements

• Medieval buildings such as fortified manor houses and castles and wider historic environments such as towns and villages.

• Elizabethan buildings such as Tudor manor houses and their gardens, theatres and wider historic environments such as villages, towns and cities

• Restoration buildings such as stately homes and gardens, theatres and wider historic environments such as villages, towns and cities

• Equally, key historical events such as battles can be shaped by the historic environment and the time in which they take place.


Unpacking the History: the British depth studies

Norman England, c1066–c1100

Medieval England: the reign of Edward I, 1272–1307

Elizabethan England, c1568–1603

Restoration England, 1660–1685

1 The Normans – conquest and control

1 Government, the rights of King and people

1 Elizabeth's court and Parliament

1 Crown, Parliament, plots and court life

2 Life under the Normans

2 Life in Medieval England

2 Life in Elizabethan times

3 Life in Restoration England

3 The Norman Church and monasticism

3 Edward I’s campaigns in Wales and Scotland

3 Troubles at home and abroad

2 Land, trade and war

4 The historic environment of Norman England

4 The historic environment of Medieval England

4 The historic environment of Elizabethan England

4 The historic environment of Restoration England


32 of x

What are the practical benefits of the new specification?


How can you plan to teach the new GCSE History?

• Subject content based on 120 hours teaching time, i.e. 60 weeks

• Period study: 15 weeks/30 lessons

• Wider world depth study: 15 weeks/30 lessons

• Thematic study: 15 weeks/30 lessons

• British depth study plus historic environment: 15 weeks/30 lessons



A possible route through AQA’s new GCSE History Specification:


Germany, 1890–1945


Choose ONE from FIVE Conflict and tension, 1918–1939


Migration and Empire

One British depth study (including the

historic environment)


Elizabethan England





One Period study Choose ONE from FOUR


One Wider World Depth study

Choose ONE from FIVE Germany 1890-1945

One Thematic study

Choose ONE from THREE

Migration and Empire

One British Depth study (including the

Historical Environment)


Elizabethan England




Choose ONE from FIVEConflict and

tension, 1894–1918


America: Expansion and Consolidation

1840–1895

One British depth study (including the

historic environment)


The reign of Edward I, 1272–

1307


Health and the People


How can you plan to teach the new GCSE History? 1

A theoretical model of a 2 year course


Model 1a): two year course, based on 30 teaching hours spread across 15 teaching weeks with revision time allocated at the end of Y11.

How can you plan to teach the new GCSE History? 2


A three year course, including two review/revision points in Years 10 and 11. AQA. Given that students may mature over the duration of the course, elements taught in Y9 and early Y10 have been given more time.

What do the new examination papers look like?

Paper 1:‘Understanding the modern world’, 50%, 1hour 45 minutes.

Paper 2:‘Shaping the nation’,50%, 1hour 45 minutes

Section A Period study

6 compulsory questions

Section A Thematic study

4 compulsory questions (40 marks + 4 additional marks for SPaG)

Section B Wider world depth study

4 compulsory questions(40 marks + 4 additional marks for SPaG)

Section B British depth study with historic environment

4 compulsory questions(40 marks)



Any questions on the examinations?

How will AQA support you teaching the new specification?

• Sample schemes of work and lesson plans

• Student textbooks, checked by AQA

• Assessment training, plus subject expertise

• Step by step guide to our assessments

• Guidance and materials for the historic environment study


• AQA website

• e-AQA

• Secure Key Materials

• ERA (Enhanced Results Analysis)

• Training courses

• Preparing to Teach events

Contact points for more information and guidance

‘Preparing to Teach’Teacher Support Manager: Robert KirkhamTel: 0161 957 [email protected]


History Support TeamTel: 0161 958 3861Email: [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

Final questions


Documents

Follow us on Twitter @AQACPD. GCSE History New Specification Launch Jon Cloake / Richard Staton Autumn 2015 Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights