HistoryBritain, Europe and the wider world, 1901–present40 min★★★ difficulty

Lesson 6: 1945 and a changing Britain

Welfare reform, decolonisation and migration reshaped citizenship and everyday life.

Part of your national curriculum

Challenges 1901 to the present: Understand social, cultural and technological change in post-war British society
Challenges 1901 to the present: Understand the changing nature of the United Kingdom's relationships with the rest of Europe and the wider world in the twentieth century
Historical enquiry: Gain historical perspective by placing their growing knowledge into different contexts, understanding the connections between local, regional, national and international history

Lesson overview

What you'll learn in this lesson

Understand social, cultural and technological change in post-war British society

Key learning points

• Welfare state
• Migration and belonging

This lesson at a glance

40 minutes
23 parts to scroll through
3 quick checks
Marked quiz at the end
Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses

Words to know

socialculturaltechnologicalchangepost-war

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Part 1 of 23 · Discover4%

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Part 1 of 23

Lesson 6: 1945 and a changing Britain illustration

Archive-led lesson

Historical enquiry

Lesson 6: 1945 and a changing Britain

Welfare reform, decolonisation and migration reshaped citizenship and everyday life.

In a nutshell

Understand social, cultural and technological change in post-war British society

What you already know

Part 2 of 23

Before we start

What you already know

You should already know that the Second World War ended in 1945 and left Britain with severe shortages and rebuilding to do.

Recap: Lesson 5: Britain and the Second World War

Key words

Part 3 of 23

Key words

Words you'll need today

Welfare state: Government systems providing healthcare, pensions and support.
NHS: The National Health Service, opened in 1948, free at the point of use.
Windrush: The 1948 ship whose arrival came to symbolise post-war Caribbean migration.
Oral history: Evidence gathered by recording people's spoken memories.

Reset break

Part 4 of 23

Pause

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Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.

Stop here for now

Your lesson plan

Part 5 of 23

Lesson brief

Who built post-war Britain?

By the end, you will be able to

• Build an accurate twentieth-century chronology
• Connect British, European and global developments
• Use official records and testimony ethically and critically

Resources

• Empire Windrush passenger list (1948)
• Lesson notes and marked knowledge check

4 minRecall the chronology and frame the enquiry

16 minRead the textbook explanation and build the argument

12 minInterrogate the archive evidence in context

8 minAnswer the checks and write a supported conclusion

Learning cycle

Part 6 of 23

Learning cycle 1 of 2

Building the welfare state

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

Explore the idea

Part 7 of 23

Learn

Welfare state

The NHS opened in 1948 amid wider efforts to tackle poverty, disease and insecurity.

Reset break

Part 8 of 23

Pause

That's sitting 2 of 6 done

Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.

Stop here for now

Quick check

Part 9 of 23

Quick check

The NHS opened in…

Give me a hint

Quick check

Part 10 of 23

Quick check

Windrush passengers were…

Give me a hint

Learning cycle

Part 11 of 23

Learning cycle 2 of 2

Migration and belonging

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

Reset break

Part 12 of 23

Pause

That's sitting 3 of 6 done

Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.

Stop here for now

Explore the idea

Part 13 of 23

Learn

Migration and belonging

People from the Caribbean and elsewhere in the Commonwealth arrived as British citizens and helped staff transport, health and industry, while facing racism.

Quick check

Part 14 of 23

Quick check

Why add oral history?

Give me a hint

Investigate evidence

Part 15 of 23

Evidence 1 of 1

primary

Empire Windrush passenger list

British shipping and immigration authorities, 1948

The passenger list records names, occupations and intended addresses of people arriving from the Caribbean.

An administrative record establishes who travelled and stated plans. Oral histories are needed to understand hopes, treatment and later lives.

Think like a historian

What can a passenger list tell us—and what can it never capture alone?

Source: The National Archives, Windrush stories

View the archive record ↗

Reset break

Part 16 of 23

Pause

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Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.

Stop here for now

Common mix-ups

Part 17 of 23

Common mix-ups

Things people often get wrong

People often think Windrush passengers were foreign migrants. They arrived as British citizens with the legal right to come.
People often think post-war reform was universally welcomed. It was contested politically at every stage.

Challenge round

Part 18 of 23

Game · Sort it

Which of these are true?

Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.

True

Not true

Challenge round

Part 19 of 23

Game · Recall cards

The NHS opened in…

Card 1 of 4

Reset break

Part 20 of 23

Pause

That's sitting 5 of 6 done

Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.

Stop here for now

Exit quiz

Part 21 of 23

Exit quiz

Show what you've learned

6 questions, marked together at the end. Nothing is timed.

1. The NHS opened in…
2. Windrush passengers were…
3. The welfare state aimed to tackle…
4. New arrivals helped staff…
5. Why add oral history to official records?
6. Post-war Britain is best described as…

Mastery quiz

Part 22 of 23

Marked quiz

End of lesson quiz: Lesson 6: 1945 and a changing Britain

4 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.

1. The NHS opened in…
2. Windrush passengers were…
3. Why add oral history?
4. Suez showed…

Lesson round-up

Part 23 of 23

Lesson round-up

Ready when you are

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Understand social, cultural and technological change in post-war British society
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Understand the changing nature of the United Kingdom's relationships with the rest of Europe and the wider world in the twentieth century
Not looked at yet
Gain historical perspective by placing their growing knowledge into different contexts, understanding the connections between local, regional, national and international history