History GCSE

[morpurgoo]

At my DCs secondary schools they always do similar topics, no matter the exam board as it changes with each year/school.

But why do the Tudors/primarily Henry VIII and Elizabeth I always come up? DS would have loved to do the Cousins war/War of the roses or just the Plantagenets.

Aibu to ask if the GCSE courses are likely to change any time soon and why are they always so similar each year?

I don’t think the Wars of the Roses is on the syllabus for AQA. But it’s a phenomenally complex topic. Everyone is called Edward or Richard. The Tudors is just a better bet to secure a good GCSE grade than lots of other topics.

I’m not aware DS is doing the Tudors. I think it’s Germany over the wars, history of medicine, Norman Castles and Vietnam war. I’m a bit vague on that but it’s something along those lines.

There are sooooo many possible topics for GCSE history. Last year there were specs that no one in the country even sat!

My dcs' school does Germany, China, Normans and medicine, no tudors at all. Sorry I know that's not very helpful. But seriously, there is a massive range of choices. It's just that teachers will have resources and SoW for some topics.

@herculepoirot2 That’s true but shouldn’t history be about studying those complex issues, not just for the grades? Especially as a lot of people regard the Elizabethan Era as particularly important (rightfully so) and the War of the Roses and the whole Plantagenet dynasty led to her reign plus Shakespeare’s historical plays etc and the context around them

@clary What exam board was that if you don’t mind me asking

I think many historical periods provide intrinsically valuable opportunities for study. But I also think students choose GCSEs in the expectation of having the best chances to get good grades. If they are seriously interested in History they can take a degree in it and choose from hundreds of specialisms.

I teach Crime and Punishment, Normans, conflict in the Middle East, USA civil rights and the Vietnam war.

I think they are important topics but they’re not intrinsically more or less important than either the Tudors or the wars of the roses. That being said, I don’t think that the wars of the roses are an option for GCSE on any of the main boards, which is a shame.
But then they do have the whole history of the world to choose from. They can’t do everything.

My DS3 did Elizabeth 1, Medicine, Wild West and WW1 from the AQA syllabus. Lots of options, here.
www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/history/gcse/history-8145/specification-at-a-glance

I told my son he had to buck his ideas up re history, and that I found it quite easy when I was at school. He replied "I'm not surprised, there was less of it then!"

Chuffin' hell, I did the history of medicine and the American West when I studied history and that was 30+years ago.

Even more historical, now then, Leaking.

I did modern world history O level, 1918-1939, 1945-1975 including Walk Street Crash, FDR New Deal, Russian Revolution, Peace of Paris, Chinese Revolution, Korea, Vietnam, Israel, Weimar Republic, Rise of Hitler, Marshall Plan etc. Not much on Britain.

I loved it, all up for taking A level - then the A level syllabus was revealed to be Tudor England, architecture, costume etc. Nah, not for me!

Lifecraft , that is very funny !

It was AQA, sorry Vietnam War not China.

Exactly the same as my DS Clary.

Oh yeah! Is Yr ds in Yr 11 in Sept? Good luck to him 👍

He is indeed , thanks !

Leaking... That's exactly what I did in 2001, my son is going into yr10 and is doing history and you guessed it, that's what he's doing now, even using the exact textbooks I used, just waiting for him to find one with my name in!!!! 😂 😂 😂 😂

Apologies, slightly OT, but it's the same with English Literature. So many new texts added to the permitted list for GSCE (and some taken off that shouldn't have been - but that's another issue!) but I've yet to meet any colleague who's teaching any of them because schools have the resources for the 'old favourites' then whatever 'old favourites' are still on the permitted lists, then 'old favourites' are what are still studied.

It's not great as a teacher either to still be teaching the same texts, so I imagine teachers in other GCSE disciplines must be feeling the same (and their students too!).

There's a lot of variation.
Dd did hers this summer and studied History of Medicine, Normans, 20th century Germany and the Cold War.

I did American Civil rights, Vietnam and WW2. I would love to have learned more about The Holy Roman Empire and the 30 Year War

GCSE History 91 - 93, did the social, political and economic history of Europe 1750 - 1913.

Lots of Napoleonic Wars, French Revolution (eurgh) then the Chartists/Corn Laws/Industrial Revolution (yay) finishing with the build up to WW1.

My dc did Weimar & Nazi Germany, History of Medicine and Surgery, and The Troubles in Northern Ireland for their GCSE history.

but it's the same with English Literature. So many new texts added to the permitted list for GSCE (and some taken off that shouldn't have been - but that's another issue!) but I've yet to meet any colleague who's teaching any of them because schools have the resources for the 'old favourites'

Dds EnglIsh teacher wanted to teach Pride & Prejudice but couldn’t because they already has Christmas Carol & couldn’t afford a new set of books.

My ds is entering Y11 in September & topics he has on his syllabus include, history of medicine, WW2 & the cold war. I'm not sure which exam board he is with.

Dds EnglIsh teacher wanted to teach Pride & Prejudice but couldn’t because they already has Christmas Carol & couldn’t afford a new set of books.

It’s not just the books. It’s the widespread availability of the revision guide second hand on eBay. It’s the podcasts and Mr. Gruff guides on YouTube. It’s the homework support packs, the knowledge organisers, the prepared extracts and exam questions. It’s the likelihood that, if that teacher leaves or gets sick, the rest of the department won’t feel as qualified stepping in.

P&P is also about five times as long as ACC.

Sound, practical decision!