Our current IGCSE syllabus offers four units, examined over two papers with no coursework.

Paper 1:

Option 5: Dictatorship and Conflict in the USSR 1924-1953,  the leadership struggle 1924-1929,  five year plans and Collectivisation Purges, show trials, the cult of Stalin and the revision of history, life in the Soviet Union 1924–41, the Second World War and after 1941–53

OR (alternating years)

Option 3: Germany: Development of Dictatorship, 1918-45, the establishment of the Weimar Republic and its early problems, the recovery of Germany 1924-29, the rise of Hitler and the Nazis to January 1933, Nazi Germany 1933-39, Germany and the occupied territories during the Second World War

Option 6: A world divided: Superpower Relations 1943 – 1972, Reasons for the Cold War, early developments in the Cold War 1945 – 49, the Cold War in the 1950s, three crises: Berlin, Cuba and Czechoslovakia, the Thaw and moves towards Détente, 1963 – 1972

Paper 2:

Option A3:The USA 1918 – 1941, Roaring Twenties, increased social tensions in the 1920s, USA in Depression 1929 – 1933, Roosevelt and the New Dea, 1933 – 1941, The Opposition to the New Deal.

Option B6: The Changing Nature of Warfare and International Conflict 1919-2011, the changing nature of warfare 1919-39, changing methods of warfare by land, air and sea 1939–45, new forms of conflict – nuclear and guerrilla war versus conventional war 1945–75, conventional war and the development of ‘new’ wars 1976– 2000, changing methods of warfare at the beginning of the 21st century 2000–2011.

Anyone studying History should gain an excellent understanding of both the recent past and some of the issues we face today.

The department further supports learning with educational visits to local sites or museums, along with international trips e.g. to Russia and Poland.

A qualification in, and a knowledge of, History is useful in preparation for a number of careers – especially those that may require discursive and analytical skills, for example Law, Journalism/media and Public Service. In addition, many companies actively look for applicants that have taken History because the skills developed in that subject fit them for positions in management and administration.

Whatever you may wish to do, to understand something properly you need to be knowledgeable about its past and be able to interpret and analyse that past. Thus, some training in History is never wasted.

Examination Board: Edexcel IGCSE
Specification: 4HI1

Mr S. Fish- Head of History & Politics