GCSEGeniusHistory

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Exam skills: sources, interpretations and essays

Every option, both boards

  • Using sources: content, provenance and usefulnessAQA Paper 1 Section B Q1 and Q2, AQA Paper 2 Section A Q1, Edexcel Paper 1 Q2(a) and Q2(b), Edexcel Paper 3 Q1 and Q3(a)
    • Make an inference from a source and support it with detail
    • Judge how useful a source is from its content, its provenance and what you know of the time
    • Plan a follow-up enquiry: a detail, a question, a type of source and how it would help
    LessonPractice
  • Interpretations: how and why they differAQA Paper 1 Section A Q1 to Q3, AQA Paper 2 Section B Q1, Edexcel Paper 3 Q3(b) to Q3(d)
    • Tell a source from an interpretation and say what each is for
    • Explain the main difference between two interpretations and why they differ
    • Test how convincing an interpretation is against your own knowledge
    LessonPractice
  • Explanation, accounts and judgement essaysAQA Paper 1 Q4, Q5, Q6 and Section B Q3, Q4, AQA Paper 2 Q2 to Q4, Edexcel Paper 1 Q3 to Q5/6, Edexcel Paper 2 every question, Edexcel Paper 3 Q2
    • Build a developed explanation: point, precise knowledge, and how it answers the question
    • Write an analytical account that links events by cause and consequence
    • Reach a supported judgement in a 12 or 16-mark essay, weighing the stated factor against others
    LessonPractice

Medicine and health in Britain, c1000 to the present

AQA 2AA, Paper 2, Section A · Edexcel 11, Paper 1

  • Medieval medicine and the Black Death, c1000 to c1500AQA 2AA Part one, Edexcel 11 c1250 to c1500
    • Explain supernatural, religious and natural ideas about disease, including the four humours
    • Describe how physicians, apothecaries, barber surgeons and the Church cared for the sick
    • Explain how people responded to the Black Death of 1348 to 1349 and why they could not stop it
    LessonPractice
  • The Renaissance and early modern medicine, c1500 to c1700AQA 2AA Part two, Edexcel 11 c1500 to c1700
    • Explain how Vesalius, Paré, Harvey and Sydenham challenged older ideas
    • Explain why new ideas changed treatment so little before 1700
    • Compare responses to the Great Plague of 1665 with those to the Black Death
    LessonPractice
  • A revolution in medicine and public health, c1700 to c1900AQA 2AA Part three, Edexcel 11 c1700 to c1900
    • Explain Jenner's vaccination and the opposition to it
    • Explain germ theory, from Pasteur and Koch, and its slow impact on treatment in Britain
    • Explain how anaesthetics, antiseptics, Nightingale, Snow and the Public Health Acts changed survival
    LessonPractice
  • Modern medicine and the NHS, c1900 to the presentAQA 2AA Part four, Edexcel 11 c1900 to present
    • Explain the discovery and mass production of penicillin and the role of war and government
    • Explain the Liberal reforms, the Beveridge Report and the creation of the NHS in 1948
    • Explain modern diagnosis, treatment and lifestyle campaigns, including the fight against lung cancer
    LessonPractice
  • The British sector of the Western Front, 1914 to 1918Edexcel 11 Western Front
    • Describe the trench system and the illnesses and wounds soldiers suffered
    • Explain the chain of evacuation from regimental aid post to base hospital
    • Explain the medical responses: the Thomas splint, X-rays, blood transfusion and surgery, and use sources about them
    LessonPractice

Crime and punishment in Britain, c1000 to the present

Edexcel 10, Paper 1

  • Crime and punishment in medieval England, c1000 to c1500Edexcel 10 c1000 to c1500
    • Describe crimes against the person, property and authority, and the new crimes of the Normans
    • Explain tithings, the hue and cry, trial by ordeal and the coming of trial by jury
    • Explain the influence of the Church: sanctuary, benefit of clergy and Church courts
    LessonPractice
  • Crime and punishment, c1500 to c1700Edexcel 10 c1500 to c1700
    • Explain new crimes of the period: heresy, treason, vagabondage and witchcraft
    • Describe town watchmen, constables and the growth of houses of correction and transportation
    • Explain the treatment of the Gunpowder Plotters and of witchcraft under Matthew Hopkins
    LessonPractice
  • Crime and punishment, c1700 to c1900Edexcel 10 c1700 to c1900
    • Explain smuggling, highway robbery and poaching, and the Bloody Code
    • Explain the work of the Fielding brothers and Robert Peel and the Metropolitan Police from 1829
    • Explain the end of public execution and transportation, prison reform and Pentonville
    LessonPractice
  • Crime and punishment, c1900 to the presentEdexcel 10 c1900 to present
    • Explain new crimes and changing definitions of crime in modern Britain
    • Describe modern policing, the abolition of the death penalty and the Bentley case
    • Explain the treatment of conscientious objectors in the two world wars
    LessonPractice
  • Whitechapel, c1870 to c1900: crime, policing and the inner cityEdexcel 10 Whitechapel
    • Describe housing, work and tension in Whitechapel and the work of H Division
    • Explain the investigative methods used in the hunt for Jack the Ripper and their limits
    • Use sources about Whitechapel and plan a follow-up enquiry
    LessonPractice

Germany, 1890 to 1945: democracy and dictatorship

AQA 1AB, Paper 1, Section A · Edexcel 31, Paper 3

  • Kaiser Wilhelm's Germany and the First World War, 1890 to 1918AQA 1AB Part one
    • Explain the Kaiser's difficulties in ruling: parliament, Prussian militarism, industry and socialism
    • Explain the domestic importance of the Navy Laws
    • Explain the effects of the war on Germany: war weariness, shortages and the end of the monarchy
    LessonPractice
  • The Weimar Republic, 1918 to 1929AQA 1AB Part one, Edexcel 31 Key topic 1
    • Explain the strengths and weaknesses of the Weimar Constitution
    • Explain the challenges of 1919 to 1923: Versailles, Spartacists, Kapp Putsch, the Ruhr and hyperinflation
    • Explain the extent of recovery under Stresemann and the changes in society and culture
    LessonPractice
  • Hitler's rise to power, 1919 to 1933AQA 1AB Part two, Edexcel 31 Key topic 2
    • Explain the early Nazi Party, the Twenty-Five Points, the SA and the Munich Putsch
    • Explain why Nazi support grew from 1929: the Depression, propaganda and Hitler's appeal
    • Explain how Hitler became Chancellor in January 1933 and the roles of Hindenburg and von Papen
    LessonPractice
  • Nazi control and dictatorship, 1933 to 1939AQA 1AB Part two, AQA 1AB Part three, Edexcel 31 Key topic 3
    • Explain how Hitler made himself dictator: the Reichstag Fire, the Enabling Act and the Night of the Long Knives
    • Explain the police state, propaganda and censorship and Nazi policy towards the Churches
    • Explain the extent of support and opposition, from Niemöller to the Edelweiss Pirates
    LessonPractice
  • Life in Nazi Germany, 1933 to 1945AQA 1AB Part three, Edexcel 31 Key topic 4
    • Explain Nazi policies towards women, the young and education
    • Explain how the Nazis cut unemployment and what happened to living standards
    • Explain the persecution of minorities and of Jewish people, and the war's impact on Germans
    LessonPractice

The Cold War, 1941 to 1991

AQA 1BC, Paper 1, Section B · Edexcel P4, Paper 2, Booklet P

  • The origins of the Cold War, 1941 to 1949AQA 1BC Part one, Edexcel P4 Key topic 1
    • Explain the Grand Alliance and the outcomes of Tehran, Yalta and Potsdam
    • Explain Soviet expansion in Eastern Europe, the Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan, Cominform and Comecon
    • Explain the Berlin Blockade and Airlift and the division of Germany
    LessonPractice
  • Blocs, the arms race and Hungary, 1949 to 1958AQA 1BC Part two, Edexcel P4 Key topic 1
    • Explain the formation of NATO and the Warsaw Pact and the arms and space races
    • Explain the Cold War in Asia: China, Korea and Vietnam
    • Explain the Hungarian uprising of 1956, the Soviet response and its effects
    LessonPractice
  • Cold War crises: Berlin, Cuba and Czechoslovakia, 1958 to 1968AQA 1BC Part two, AQA 1BC Part three, Edexcel P4 Key topic 2
    • Explain the Berlin problem, the U2 crisis and the building of the Berlin Wall
    • Explain the Cuban Missile Crisis: causes, the thirteen days and the results
    • Explain the Prague Spring, the Soviet invasion of 1968 and the Brezhnev Doctrine
    LessonPractice
  • Détente and the end of the Cold War, 1969 to 1991AQA 1BC Part three, Edexcel P4 Key topic 3
    • Explain the reasons for détente, SALT 1 and the Helsinki Agreements
    • Explain the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Reagan and the 'Second Cold War'
    • Explain Gorbachev's new thinking, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union
    LessonPractice

America and the American West, 1835 to 1895

AQA 1AA, Paper 1, Section A · Edexcel P3, Paper 2, Booklet P

  • The Plains peoples and migration west, c1835 to c1862AQA 1AA Part one, Edexcel P3 Key topic 1
    • Describe the ways of life of the Plains peoples and their relationship with the buffalo
    • Explain why settlers went west: Manifest Destiny, the Oregon Trail, the Mormons and gold
    • Explain early government policy: the Permanent Indian Frontier and the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851
    LessonPractice
  • Conflict and tension on the Plains, 1851 to 1868AQA 1AA Part two, Edexcel P3 Key topic 1, Edexcel P3 Key topic 2
    • Explain why the policy of concentration failed and war broke out
    • Explain Sand Creek, Red Cloud's War, Fetterman's Trap and the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868
    • Explain the problems of law and order in early settlements and mining towns
    LessonPractice
  • Railroads, ranching and homesteading, 1862 to 1895AQA 1AA Part three, Edexcel P3 Key topic 2, Edexcel P3 Key topic 3
    • Explain the Homestead Act, the Pacific Railroad Act and the transcontinental railroad
    • Explain farming problems on the Plains and the solutions that made them pay
    • Explain the cattle industry, cowboys and the open range, and conflict over land and law
    LessonPractice
  • The end of the Plains peoples' way of life, 1865 to 1895AQA 1AA Part three, Edexcel P3 Key topic 3
    • Explain the small reservations policy and the destruction of the buffalo
    • Explain the Battle of the Little Bighorn and its consequences
    • Explain the Dawes Act, Wounded Knee and the closing of the frontier in 1890
    LessonPractice
  • The American Civil War and Reconstruction, 1850 to 1877AQA 1AA Part two, AQA 1AA Part three
    • Explain the differences between North and South and how westward expansion widened them
    • Explain the roles of John Brown, Lincoln and Jefferson Davis and the war's effects on civilians
    • Explain the 13th Amendment, the Civil Rights Act and Reconstruction to 1877
    LessonPractice

Conflict and tension: the inter-war years, 1918 to 1939

AQA 1BB, Paper 1, Section B

  • Peacemaking, 1918 to 1923AQA 1BB Part one
    • Explain the aims of Wilson, Clemenceau and Lloyd George and how far they achieved them
    • Describe the terms of the Treaty of Versailles: land, armed forces, war guilt and reparations
    • Explain German objections and the strengths and weaknesses of the settlement
    LessonPractice
  • The League of Nations and international peace, 1920 to 1936AQA 1BB Part two
    • Describe the League's covenant, organisation, membership and powers
    • Explain the League's successes and failures in the 1920s and the agencies' work
    • Explain why the Depression, Manchuria and Abyssinia destroyed the League
    LessonPractice
  • The origins and outbreak of the Second World War, 1933 to 1939AQA 1BB Part three
    • Explain Hitler's aims and the steps from rearmament to the Anschluss
    • Explain the arguments for and against appeasement and the Munich Agreement
    • Explain the Nazi-Soviet Pact and responsibility for the outbreak of war in 1939
    LessonPractice

Anglo-Saxon and Norman England, c1060 to c1100

AQA 2BA, Paper 2, Section B · Edexcel B1, Paper 2, Booklet B

  • Anglo-Saxon England and the conquest of 1066AQA 2BA Part one, Edexcel B1 Key topic 1
    • Describe Anglo-Saxon society, the power of the king and the earls
    • Explain the claims of Harold Godwinson, William of Normandy, Harald Hardrada and Edgar Aethling
    • Explain the battles of Gate Fulford, Stamford Bridge and Hastings and why William won
    LessonPractice
  • William I in power: securing the kingdom, 1066 to 1087AQA 2BA Part one, Edexcel B1 Key topic 2
    • Explain the submission of the earls, castle building and the redistribution of land
    • Explain the rebellions of 1068 to 1071 and the Harrying of the North
    • Explain the revolt of the earls in 1075 and why it failed
    LessonPractice
  • Norman government, feudalism and societyAQA 2BA Part two, Edexcel B1 Key topic 3
    • Explain the feudal hierarchy, tenants-in-chief, knight service and the forest
    • Explain the Domesday Book, sheriffs and continuity in Anglo-Saxon government
    • Explain the reign and death of William I, the succession and the role of Odo
    LessonPractice
  • The Norman Church and monasticismAQA 2BA Part three, Edexcel B1 Key topic 3
    • Explain Lanfranc's reforms and the reorganisation of the English Church
    • Explain the growth of monasticism and the effects of the Norman abbots
    • Explain how far the Church changed English life and the role of the Church in government
    LessonPractice

Elizabethan England, 1558 to 1603

AQA 2BC, Paper 2, Section B · Edexcel B4, Paper 2, Booklet B

  • Elizabeth, her court and governmentAQA 2BC Part one, Edexcel B4 Key topic 1
    • Describe England in 1558: society, government and the problems facing Elizabeth
    • Explain the roles of the Privy Council, Parliament, Cecil and Walsingham
    • Explain marriage, succession and the Essex rebellion of 1601
    LessonPractice
  • Religion, Mary, Queen of Scots and the plotsAQA 2BC Part three, Edexcel B4 Key topic 1, Edexcel B4 Key topic 2
    • Explain the religious settlement of 1559 and the Puritan and Catholic challenges
    • Explain the threat from Mary, Queen of Scots, the Revolt of the Northern Earls and the plots
    • Explain why Mary was executed in 1587
    LessonPractice
  • Conflict with Spain and the ArmadaAQA 2BC Part three, Edexcel B4 Key topic 2
    • Explain political, religious and commercial rivalry with Spain and the role of Drake
    • Explain English involvement in the Netherlands from 1585
    • Explain the events of 1588 and why the Armada failed
    LessonPractice
  • Elizabethan society, poverty and explorationAQA 2BC Part two, Edexcel B4 Key topic 3
    • Describe education, leisure and the theatre in Elizabethan England
    • Explain the rise in poverty and vagabondage and the Poor Laws, including 1601
    • Explain exploration: Drake's circumnavigation, Raleigh and the attempted colony in Virginia
    LessonPractice

Independent practice for AQA GCSE History (8145) and Pearson Edexcel GCSE History (1HI0). Not affiliated with or endorsed by AQA or Pearson.

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