An overview of the GCSE History exam boards covering Edexcel, AQA, OCR and WJEC. I have put key details in tables that show you how each is assessed, the weighting of marks and topics. Each exam board overview is printable and easily comparable so departments can select the best choice for your school. I have also included a link to each spec for each exam board.

Use this with your History, Geography and RE classes to help them remember key spelling, punctuation and grammar areas to look for in their work. Easy to remember in time for the exam or get them practicing in KS3 in readiness. Print them off and laminate them. Distribute after any extended writing task and give them just five minutes to use it to check their work. By the time the exam arrives they should remember some of the key areas to watch out for when they read through their answers.

I have used this simple activity for the past few years as an introduction to History in year 7. Though it can be adapted for other subjects. Give pupils 10 minutes to walk around and find people who they a share a hobby etc with. Put a cap on naming the same person twice to avoid friendships. Then go through each question and get their views. This is where you can discuss social History and tell them about topics they are going to learn about.

A nice activity in which pupils colour in the areas dedicated to 1st, 2nd and 3rd class. Afterwards they can write about how parts of the ship were dedicated to the passengers and why so many 3rd class voyagers died.

A double lesson will full resources that explores what Humanities means. - Activities promote discussions - Worksheets to help identify how geography, history and religious studies is relevant today - Group activity gets pupils to talk about their lives and how they are connected. Teachers can use this activity to explore the world around us.

A great starting point for AS revision. Print off on an A3 sheet. - Get pupils in pairs to describe the main events of the period in chronological order -Split class into teams add further details to the timeline in terms of themes of study, e.g. communist governments or industrial and agricultural changes. Works well if teams use different highlighters and colours representing the themes. Good for peer teaching and setting the scene.

A suggested structure of the lesson: Starter Display picture of fun in the Middle Ages. Pupils have to identify as many forms of entertainment as they can. Next, pupils study an image of the Feudal System and are asked to calculate the differences in classes according to the diagram. They are also asked what they can learn from this source. Main activities Think, Pair, Share – Pupils read and then shade in details about Medieval fun that looks dangerous and other activities that don’t. Emerging/Secure/Mastery choice activities – Pupils complete 2 activities (one literacy and one visual/creative) to help consolidate and show their understanding of medieval entertainment. Plenary Display the picture of fun in the Middle Ages used in the starter. Pupils have to identify as many forms of entertainment as they can. Have they discovered anymore? What activities are missing?

A fully resourced lesson on the Ancient Greeks which includes: - Gap fill activities as a starter - Outcomes and progress towards it - Fun activity whereby students assess how dangerous the events where in the Olympics

I developed these resources for a down syndrome pupil to help with inclusion in History lessons. - Activities matched the theme/topic everyone studied in History during yr8 - Easily adaptable for own school curriculum - Overview can be adapted for any pupil

A history themed set of activities that can completed with classes over the festive period. Includes: - A quiz about the traditions of Christmas - An answer sheet for teachers - A timeline task for pupils to complete in the classroom and in the computer suite I have extended this activity by: - With KS2 groups I would advise using computers to research more facts and then get groups of pupils to present a short news broadcast about different time periods, e.g. Christmas in Medieval times , Christmas in Tudor times and Christmas in Victorian times. You can then have discussions about similarities and differences between the periods. - With older KS3 groups I am getting the pupils to place lots of facts about Christmas on the timeline and then getting them to put them in groups, e.g. facts about traditions, facts about rulers and highlighting these. Then we are looking for any turning points or times of continuity through history.

A mixed ability lesson with the main activity resource suitable for SEN children. The presentation has a clear objective an,d with the use of a textbook, has a creative task whereby pupils create a farm in the 1890s which shows some the changes made in agriculture since the 1750s. A really good way of getting the point across is get them to complete a similar farm design in 1750 using a textbook and then this 1890 one. Use a lesson and group work to pull out the main changes and then set up a debate around which change was the most significant.

A selection of revision activities (from the old spec), exercises and lessons to help you in the final build up to the exam. Easily adaptable for the new Edexcel spec. Includes: - An exploration of the exam paper questions - Group and individual revision topics - A pre-exam quiz to test knowledge

A two page homework task that gets pupils to attempt a series of inference questions based on posters from WWI and WWII. This is good as an introductory homework which can then be followed up the next lesson with some self and peer marking.

Though this is designed for History, it is adaptable for any KS4 and 5 subject. I found parents were really positive to have an A5 sheet to take away with key dates of the exams, links to revision websites/text and other information such as the specification.

A source based activity on the Jamaican Maroons. There is a differentiated sheet for lower ability pupils. Its a simple print off and do activity with all of the sources and worksheet on the file.

Two starter activities that think about control and the Medieval Norman Conquest of Britain: - One activity gets pupils to guess the method of control William used. This can be followed up with a discussion about how useful each of them were. - The second activity is an SEN task based on the P level system.

A detailed Thematic/Developmental SOW that includes: - Lesson Objectives and outcomes - Key questions to use for lessons - Coherent sequence of lessons that build up to an assessment - Suggested activities to use in every lesson

An excellent way for pupils to capture how well they have done each time they try a source question. This has been made for the Impact of War on Britain GCSE History unit but I have left it adaptable so teachers can use it with any topic or any subject KS4 or 5. - Stick it on the inside of a pupils book at the beginning of the unit - Each time they do an exam question get them to write their mark and the date they did it on the grid - Excellent way to either show progress or spot were pupils are having difficulties with certain types of exam questions so you can focus their revision

A revision presentation and test for KS4 pupils. Includes: - Full test with allocated marks on an easy to photocopy sheet - Tests general knowledge and source skills - Fun revision activity where pupils create a poster using notes and pictures

A simple marking assessment sheet that attaches to pupils work with criteria based on life after levels - emerging, secure and mastery. Easily adaptable to suit each schools criteria. Also has: - areas for peer and self assessment - suggested next steps for the pupil