Modern History - GCSE
The Edexcel GCSE in Modern History is designed to stimulate your fascination for modern history. The course provides you with an introduction to key historical ideas and modern historical contexts. It is a useful qualification for higher level study and allows entry to A level History.
Entry Requirements
Four GCSEs at least grade D or above, one of which must be English Language. You will need to complete a written diagnostic at interview.
An enthusiasm for understanding people and events of the 20th Century and a keen desire to find, analyse and evaluate historical evidence.
Course Content
Unit 1: Peace and War: International Relations 1900-1991 (5HA01): The Cold War 1943-199
- How did the Cold War develop? 1943–56
- Three Cold War crises: Berlin, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, 1957-69)
- Why did the Cold War end? 1979-1991
Unit 2: Modern World Depth Study (5HA02): The USA 1919-41
In this unit you study a historical period in depth.
- US economy 1919-29
- US society 1919-29
- USA in Depression 1929-33
- Roosevelt and the New Deal 1934-41
Unit 3: Modern World Source Enquiry (5HA03): A divided union? The USA 1945-70
This unit allows you to conduct a source based enquiry based on four topic areas
- McCarthyism and the Red Scare
- The civil rights movement 1945-62
- Changes in the civil rights movement 1963-70
- Other protest movements
Unit 4: Representations of History (5HA04): Change in British Society 1955-75
This unit gives you the opportunity to analyse and evaluate representations of people and historical events. You will study
- Immigration
- Sex discrimination and the changing role of women
- The development of a more liberal society and the “Swinging sixties”
- Youth culture
Method of Assessment
For Units 1-3 you take three written exams each 1 hour 15 minutes long.
For Unit 4 you produce a written piece under exam conditions with access to your research notes. You will carry out research on a question set by Edexcel in which you compare three representations of an event or an individual.