During years 7, 8 and 9, you will be assessed on the three main historical skills – knowledge, explanation and critical thinking. After each assessment, you will be given a level based on our SEA level criteria and given the opportunity to make improvements to your work during MAD (making a difference) time, giving you a clear idea of how you could improve on your next assessment. In addition, in each year, you will sit an end of year exam which will be marked as a percentage and be used to help decide on your set for the following year.
Year 7:
Why did William the Conqueror win the Battle of Hastings? - Explanation assessment
Norman Castles - Factual assessment
Was the Black Death the “most terrible of all terrors”? - Explanation assessment
Which source is most useful in telling us about the murder of Thomas Becket? - Critical thinking assessment
Henry VIII - Factual assessment
How much did life in Britain change between the Roman and Tudor period? - Research project / speaking and listening assessment.
End of year exam
Year 8:
Was Queen Elizabeth I strong and successful? - Explanation assessment
Charles I and the Civil War - Factual assessment
Should Britain be proud of having had an empire? - Explanation assessment
Which source is the most useful for telling us about life on a slave planation? - Critical thinking assessment
American Civil War - Factual assessment
How was the treatment of the poorest in society different in Tudor England and 1950s America? - Thematic speaking and listening assessment
End of year exam
Year 9:
Assassination of Franz Ferdinand - Factual assessment
Trenches and the First World War - Factual assessment
Was it right to execute soldiers as a punishment during the First World War? - Explanation assessment
Which source is the most useful in telling us about the German reaction to the Treaty of Versailles? - Critical thinking assessment
Was life in Nazi Germany a positive or negative experience? - Explanation assessment
How should we remember the Holocaust? - Speaking and listening assessment
Which source is the most useful in telling us about the evacuation of the British army from Dunkirk in May 1940? - Critical thinking assessment
End of year exam
Assessment at Key Stage 4
Year 10
In Years 10 and 11, you will be regularly assessed against the exam specification criteria to ensure that you are making good progress in the subject and to identify any aspects of your knowledge which may require further work.
Homework – Every 2 weeks you will be set an exam question (except during the ‘Warfare through time’ unit) which will be graded and returned to you with suggested improvements which you can consider during MAD time.
On none exam homework weeks you will be given a topic to revise and will sit a fact test in your lesson on the following week – you will receive a grade based on your teacher’s impression of the standard of your work.
Exams – You will sit two exams in Year 10. One on Weimar and Nazi Germany in January, and the other during your Year 10 Mock Exam Week in April on Anglo Saxon and Norman England.
The results of your exam homework tasks, fact test and mock exams are used to determine your level of progress and are reported to parents 4 times per year.
Year 11
Assessment in Year 11 is exactly the same as Year 10 in terms of the homework and fact test arrangement.
Again, you will sit two exams – your mock exam in November will be on ‘Warfare through Time’ and your trial exam in March will test your knowledge of the Cold War.
As with Year 10, the results or your homeworks, fact tests and mock exam are used to determine your progress and are regularly reported back to parents.
History – Formal GCSE examinations
At the end of Year 11 you will complete three formal examinations. The results of these exams will determine your final grade in the subject. The exams will be on the following topics:
Paper 1 – Thematic Study (Warfare through Time) and Historic Environment. This paper will be worth 30% of your final mark and lasts for 1hr and 15 minutes.
Section A: London and the Second World War
Section B: Changes in war and conflict over time. 1250 -2015.
Paper 2 – Period Study and British Depth Study. This paper will be worth 40% of your final mark and lasts for 1hr and 45 minutes.
Section A: Superpower relations and the Cold War, 1941 – 1991
Section B: Anglo – Saxon and Norman England, 1060 – 1088.
Paper 3 – Modern Depth Study. This paper will be worth 30% of your final mark and lasts for 1hr and 20 minutes.
Topic: Weimar and Nazi Germany, 1918 – 1939.
