Sixth Form

AS in 1 year or A Level in 2 years

Students study four units of the Edexcel History syllabus. Two are outline studies of extended periods of history (one in AS, one in A2). Students are expected to know what happened before, during and after the period. An in-depth study of a shorter period makes up unit 2 on Henry VIII. The remaining unit is coursework.

First Year: AS

Unit 1

Topic C2 : Relations with the American colonies and War of Independence, 1740-1789

Relations between the American colonies and the Mother Country, 1740-63: commerce, governance and Anglo-French rivalry. B
British policies towards the colonies and the growth of opposition, 1763-75.
The American Revolution: causes, course and reasons for colonies’ success in achieving independence.
The impact of independence on Britain and America, 1783-89.

AND

Topic C3: The Slave Trade, Slavery and the Anti-slavery Campaigns, c1760-1833

This unit investigates:

Reasons for, and growing extent of, British involvement in the slave trade.
The structure and operation of slavery in British colonies.
The anti-slavery campaigns: the role of the Evangelical movement; the roles of Thomas Clarkson and William Wilberforce; the nature of support for abolition.
Nature and extent of, and reasons for, opposition and resistance to the anti-slave trade and anti-slavery movements and reasons why this opposition failed; abolition of the slave trade in 1807 and abolition of slavery in the Empire in 1833.

Unit 2: Henry VIII Option A, Topic A1 - Henry VIII: Authority, Nation and Religion, 1509-1540

Source-based paper with two questions.

The course content will include:

Henry VIII and the quest for international influence: relations with France, Scotland and Spain.
The structure of government: the role of Wolsey to 1529 and his relations with King, nobility and Parliament.
Henry’s changing relations with the Catholic Church and the break with Rome; the role of Parliament in the early stages of the Reformation; the roles of Cranmer and Cromwell.
The Dissolution of the Monasteries: support for, and opposition to, religious change from 1529.

Second Year: A2

In Year 13 they completed a module on ‘Britain’s response to Fascism through Foreign policy’, which is exam based and contributed 30% of the total A level. Their coursework was on Germany between 1881 and 1991, focusing on the change and continuity of the German state, and contributed 20% towards their final mark.

AS units (50%)

Unit 3: Britains Response to Fascism (30%)

British foreign policy 1925-37: dealing with dictators by peaceful means; relations with Mussolini, 1925-37; relations with Hitler and Germany, 1933-37; the role of public opinion in influencing policy.
Defeat and survival, 1939-41: military setbacks; the Battle of Britain (1940); war in North Africa and the Atlantic.
Victory and the Grand Alliance 1942-45: the Mediterranean, 1942-44; the Battle of the Atlantic; the bomber offensive; D–Day and the liberation of Europe.
The Home Front: morale, war production, social change 1939-45.
Associated controversies
a) Was British foreign policy in the years 1937-39 a triumph or a disaster for Britain?
b) Was the social and economic impact of the war on Britain positive or negative in the years 1945-60?

Unit 4: Coursework (20%)

Focus: Germany’s changing relationships with her European neighbours over the period and the impact on Germany of two world wars and of the influence of the Soviet Union.
Germany’s involvement in the First World War and its consequences.
The rise and fall of Nazism in Germany.
The partition of Germany and the contrasting development and foreign relations in East and West Germany.
The reasons for the reuniting of Germany in 1991.
This programme may not be combined with:
Unit 1, Topic E5/F5: Germany Divided and Reunited, 1945-91
Unit 1, Topic F7: From Second Reich to Third Reich: Germany, 1918-45
Unit 3, Topic D1 From Kaiser to Führer: Germany, 1900-45.