Welcome to the HA GCSE specification Comparison Tool This short guidance is designed to help you compare the 9-1 GCSE specifications. The first examinations of these new linear GCSEs will be in the summer of 2018.

This guidance is divided into the following sections: Some things you need to consider when considering which specification to choose or swap to. Some things that will impact upon your decision about which specification to choose. A comparison of the different parts of the draft specifications that are on offer.

Some things to consider… If you are a new subject leader or you are making a change to your GCSE provision for other reasons, here are some questions to consider. Do you want to stick with what you know, or consider something new? That is, do you want to continue to teach the topic areas you are familiar with, or do you want a complete change.* This decision will depend on the time you have for planning, the skills of staff who will be teaching, the resources you have available. You need to have conversations among your team of History GCSE teachers and with your SLT. What will your students learn in history in their whole school career? That is, what do they learn in History in the other key stages? You need to put together a programme of study that is coherent, relevant and engaging for students across all the key stages. Do you want your students to sit 2 or 3 exam papers? In their specifications AQA and Eduqas are proposing 2 papers and the others 3 papers.

Some more things to consider… What sort of historic environment topic do you want and how much choice do you want on the topic? The historic environment aspect of the specification has been interpreted differently by the exam boards. There is: a separate exam paper (OCR B), the topic tied to the thematic study (Edexcel and Eduqas), tied to the British depth study (AQA), tied to the thematic and British depth study (OCR A). Only OCR B is offering the centre a completely free choice of site. What plan does your department need to put in place now to make sure everyone is ready and able to teach a different specifications? In what order are you going to teach the specification you choose?

Things that will impact upon your decisions: Support of your SLT. Interests and aptitudes of the students you teach. Resources available. Length of KS4 in your school. Corporate decisions between academy chains, networks etc. Previous experience of exam boards and the support they offer.

What follows looks quite complex! However, what it tries to do is to compare the different elements of the various specifications: Thematic studies Period studies British depth studies Wider world depth studies Historic environment

Comparison of thematic studies that can be chosen: AQA OCR A (EMW) OCR B (SHP) Edexcel Eduqas The People’s Health c.1250- present Crime and Punishment c.1250- present Migrants to Britain c.1250- present Part of paper 1 20% Britain: health and the people c.1000-present Britain: power and the people c.1170-present Britain and the world: migration, empires and the people c.790- present Half of paper 2 – 25% of whole GCSE War and British Society c.790 to c.2010 Power: monarchy and democracy 1066-2007 Migration All of paper 2 25% Medicine in Britain, c1000– present Crime and punishment in Britain, c1000– present Warfare and British Society, c1250–present Paper 1 – linked to a specific historic environment also, totalling 30% of whole GCSE Changes to Crime and Punishment c.500-present The Development of Warfare in Britain c.500-present Changes in Entertainment and Leisure c.500- present Part of paper 2 (50%)worth c.30% of total

Comparison of period studies that can be chosen: AQA OCR B (SHP) Edexcel OCR A (EMW) Eduqas USA 1840-1895: expansion and consolidation Germany 1890- 1945: democracy and dictatorship Russia 1894- 1945: Tsardom and communism America 1920- 1973: opportunity and inequality Part of paper 1 which total 50%. All elements equally weighted so worth 25% International Relations 1918-2001 Part of paper 1 25% Viking Expansion c.750-1050 Mughal Empire 1526-1707 Making of America 1789- 1900 Part of paper 3 20% Spain and the ‘New World’, c1490– c1555 British America, 1713–83: empire and revolution The American West, c1835–c1895 Superpower Relations and the Cold War, 1941–91 Conflict in the Middle East, c1945– 95 Paper 2 – half of paper - 20% of GCSE The Development of the USA 1929- 2000 The Development of Germany 1919- 91 The Development of the USSR 1924- 91 The Development of the United Kingdom 1919-90 Part of paper 2 (50%) worth c.18-20% of total

Comparison of British depth studies that can be chosen: AQA OCR A (EMW) OCR B (SHP) Edexcel Eduqas Norman England 1066-1100 Medieval England – the reign of Edward I 1272- 1307 Elizabethan England 1568- 1603(note the different starting point) Restoration England 1660- 1685 Half of paper 2 worth 25% of the 50% total for paper 2 and includes the historic environment nested. Impact of empire on Britain c.1688- 1730 The English Reformation 1520-1550 Personal Rule to Restoration 1629-1660 Must match thematic study - part of paper 3 worth 25% The Norman Conquest 1065-1087 The Elizabethans 1580-1603 Britain in Peace and War 1900-1918 Part of paper 1 20% Anglo-Saxon and Norman England, c1060– 88 The reigns of King Richard I and King John, 1189–1216 Henry VIII and his ministers, 1509–40 Early Elizabethan England, 1558– 88 Paper 2 – half of paper - 20% of GCSE Conflict and Upheaval: Britain 1337-81 The Elizabethan Age 1558-1603 Empire, War and Reform 1890-1918 Austerity, Affluence and Discontent 1951- 79 Part of paper 1 (50%) worth 25% of total

Comparison of wider-world depth studies that can be chosen: AQA OCR A (EMW) OCR B (SHP) Edexcel Eduqas Conflict and tension: 1894-1918 Conflict and tension: 1918-1939 Conflict and tension between east and west: 1945-72 Conflict and tension in Asia: 1950-75 Conflict and tension: 1990-2009 Half of paper 1 worth 50% so worth 25% of total The First Crusade c.1070-1100 The Aztec Empire and the Spanish Conquest 1519-35 Living under Nazi Rule 1933-1945 Part of paper 3 – choice must be from different era than British depth study. 20% Russia and the Soviet Union, 1924–41 Weimar and Nazi Germany, 1918–39 Mao’s China, 1945–76 The USA, 1954–75: conflict at home and abroad Paper 3 – 30% of GCSE China 1950-1981 Germany 1925- 1955 Poland 1956-1990 Russia 1928-1964 South Africa 1960- 1994 The USA 1919- 1948 The USA 1945- 1974 Part of paper 1 (50%) worth 25% of total The Crusades 1095-1149 The Voyages of Discovery and Conquest of the Americas 1492- 1522 Germany in transition 1919- 39 America in contrast 1910-29 Part of paper 1 (50%) worth 25% of total

Comparison of the historic environment element: AQA OCR A (EMW) OCR B (SHP) Edexcel Eduqas Incorporated into the British depth studies as a part of Paper 2. Different sites announced each year and you choose the site to go with your chosen depth study. A separate section of paper 3 worth 10%, but linked to the themes and British depth studies. For Migration = Urban Environments: Patterns of Migration For both Power, Monarchy and democracy and War & British Society = Castles: Form and Function c.1000–1750 Two sites will be studied, one chosen by the board and the other by the centre. The board’s sites will change each year. Paper 2 is entirely devoted to the historic environment and is 20% of the GCSE. Centres choose their own topic – subject to the criteria given as guidance. Part of the British thematic study: Medicine = The British sector of the Western Front, 1914–18: surgery and treatment Crime and punishment = Whitechapel c.1870–c1900: crime and policing Warfare = London and the Second World War, 1939–45 Part of paper 1 nested in Thematic study. Paper 1 totals 30% Part of the thematic study and sites nominated change every 2 years. Crime and Punishment = London’s East End in the 19th century for 2018/19 and Botany bay for 2020/21 Health and Medicine = The village of Eyam in the Great Plague for 2018/19 and the British sector of the Western Front for 2020/21 Warfare = London in World War II for 2018/19 and Kenilworth Castle 1125-1660 for 2020/21 Part of paper 2 (50%)