Year 8 pathway
Year 8 history, stage by stage
Five stages covering every Year 8 history objective: religion and royal power, crown against Parliament, industrial Britain, empire and abolition, and thinking like a historian.
Year 8
Your progress
0 of 10 lessons finished · 0 of 10 Year 8 objectives secure
Two lessons a stage, so it sits happily beside the money pathway. Each one has prior knowledge, key words, two learning parts, common mix-ups, marked checks and an exit quiz.
Stage 1
Crown, Church and country, 1509–1745
1509-1745: why Henry VIII broke with Rome, and how much power a Tudor or Stuart monarch really held.
- Why Henry VIII broke with RomeUnderstand the development of Church, state and society in Britain 1509-1745, including the English Reformation and its impactFilm4 marked checks30 min
- How much power did a Tudor or Stuart monarch really have?Understand the development of the Church, state and society in Britain 1509-1745, including the theory and practice of monarchy and the origins and progress of the English ReformationFilm4 marked checks30 min
Investigation for this stage
What did the Reformation do to your nearest old church?Can you find evidence of the break with Rome in a building near you?Enquiry45 minQuiz
Stage 1 quiz: Crown, Church and country, 1509–1745
4 questions from the lessons in this stage. No timer, and you can try again as many times as you like.
Stage 2
Crown against Parliament
Why the Civil Wars broke out, and how Parliament ended up in charge by 1745.
- Why did the English Civil Wars break out?Understand the changing role of the monarchy and the causes and consequences of the English Civil WarsFilm4 marked checks30 min
- How Parliament ended up in chargeUnderstand how the emergence and growth of Parliament shaped political power in BritainFilm4 marked checks30 min
Investigation for this stage
Who held power in 1625, 1650 and 1700?Can you show the shift from crown to Parliament as a measurable line?Enquiry40 minQuiz
Stage 2 quiz: Crown against Parliament
4 questions from the lessons in this stage. No timer, and you can try again as many times as you like.
Stage 3
Industrial Britain, 1745–1901
Industrial Britain 1745-1901, plus how historians read factory reports and disagree about it.
- Steam, factories and the fastest change in British historyUnderstand ideas, political power, industry and empire in Britain 1745-1901, including the Industrial Revolution and its impact on societyFilm4 marked checks30 min
- Factory reports, photographs and why historians disagreeUnderstand how our knowledge of the past is constructed from a range of sources, and how and why historians have interpreted the past in different waysFilm4 marked checks30 min
Investigation for this stage
Who lived on one street in 1851?What does a single census page tell you about industrial Britain?Enquiry50 minQuiz
Stage 3 quiz: Industrial Britain, 1745–1901
4 questions from the lessons in this stage. No timer, and you can try again as many times as you like.
Stage 4
Empire, enslavement and abolition
Britain's transatlantic slave trade, resistance, and how abolition actually happened.
- Britain's transatlantic slave tradeUnderstand Britain's transatlantic slave trade, its effects and its eventual abolitionFilm4 marked checks30 min
- How abolition happened, and what empire had to do with itUnderstand Britain's transatlantic slave trade, its effects and its eventual abolition, in the context of empireFilm4 marked checks30 min
Investigation for this stage
What does your town choose to remember?Whose story gets a statue, a street name or a plaque - and whose does not?Enquiry45 minQuiz
Stage 4 quiz: Empire, enslavement and abolition
4 questions from the lessons in this stage. No timer, and you can try again as many times as you like.
Stage 5
Thinking like a historian
Run your own enquiry, then trace one theme - who holds power - from 1066 to 1901.
- Running your own historical enquiryUnderstand the methods of historical enquiry, including how evidence is used rigorously to make historical claimsFilm4 marked checks30 min
- One theme across the centuries: who holds power?Understand a study of an aspect or theme in British history that consolidates and extends pupils' chronological knowledge beyond 1066Film4 marked checks30 min
Investigation for this stage
Two accounts, one event: where do they disagree?Why do two reliable accounts of the same event say different things?Enquiry40 minQuiz
Stage 5 quiz: Thinking like a historian
4 questions from the lessons in this stage. No timer, and you can try again as many times as you like.
Where this leads
Beyond Year 8
Every lesson reports into the same history objective grid, so Year 9 and the GCSE-style source and interpretation work pick up exactly where this leaves off.