Poverty & Vagabondage Causes - Elizabethan England - GCSE History Edexcel - Lesson 20

UPDATED FOR 2025/6 SPEC. This lesson covers the reasons why there was an increase in poverty and vagabondage in Elizabethan England. Students examine factors such as enclosure, the wool industry, falling wages, inflation and the dissolution of the monasteries.

The lesson resources include:

• 1 x A4 Workbook Style Fact Sheet (PDF & PPT)
• 1 x 24 slide Main Power Point Lesson
• 1 x Printable worksheet
• 1 x Causes of Elizabethan poverty handout

The main powerpoint lesson contains:

• Slide 1: Title slide
• Slide 2: Starter task discussion - what is poverty?
• Slide 3-4: Warm up Quiz - Elizabethan poverty questions with answers
• Slide 5-6: Starter Task 2 - Analysis of poverty graphs
• Slide 7-8: Backgrounf information about the features of Elizabethan poverty and vagabondage
• Slide 9: An outline of the main causes of poverty with discussion question
• Slide 10-11: Task 1 - Table fill instructions and printable worksheet
• Slide 12-17: Printable resources to help students with task 1
• Slide 18: Task 2 - Which factor was the most significant cause of poverty?
• Slide 19: Follow up challenge questions
• Slide 20-21: Learning Review Quiz with answers
• Slide 22-23: Example exam/assessment questions
• Slide 24: Lesson fact sheet

This lesson has been updated in line with the amended specification and exam questions ready for the 2025/6 examinations.

All images used in this lesson are in the public domain and are therefore copyright free. Images which require attribution have been attributed in the notes section of each slide where the image appears. If you feel any errors have been made, please contact me at raschoolresources@gmail.com in the first instance to resolve any issues. My lessons are completed using PowerPoint and designed on widescreen formatting. Thank you.

This resource is for personal use only and for copyright reasons should not be copied/amended for commercial use.