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SavannahYear 8

Year 8

History

Britain and the wider world

History · DfEHistory GCSE · Pearson Edexcel 1HI0

History pathway

1066 to the present, then the GCSE question types

Nine stages of chronological history, finishing with source utility, interpretations and thematic study.

Open the full History pathwayGCSE specifications

Project Studio

6 History projects to make and write

The Victorian Toy LabThe Royal Group ChatThe Romanov MysteryThe Message OfficeTudor Costume StudioThe Pharaoh's Game Room
Open Project Studio

Unit 1 of 16

Industrial Britain, 1745–1901

A seven-chapter textbook study of causes, factories, cities, evidence, reform and historical judgement.

7 lessons

0 of 7 done

What this unit covers
  • Explain why industrialisation began in Britain
  • Investigate factories through historical evidence
  • Trace urban growth, disease and public-health reform
  • Assess consequences for different groups over time
  1. 1Chapter 1: Britain before the factoriesFilmWorked example3 checksExit quiz30 min · ★Start →
  2. 2Chapter 2: Why did industrialisation begin in Britain?FilmWorked example3 checksExit quiz32 min · ★★Start →
  3. 3Chapter 3: Steam, cotton and the factory systemFilmWorked example3 checksExit quiz32 min · ★★Start →
  4. 4Chapter 4: The new industrial cityFilmWorked example3 checksExit quiz32 min · ★★Start →
  5. 5Chapter 5: Workers, children and factory evidenceFilmWorked example3 checksExit quiz35 min · ★★★Start →
  6. 6Chapter 6: Disease, evidence and public healthFilmWorked example3 checksExit quiz35 min · ★★★Start →
  7. 7Chapter 7: Reform and the industrial balance sheetFilmWorked example3 checksExit quiz38 min · ★★★Start →

Unit 2 of 16

The English Reformation, 1509–1603

Seven source-led lessons asking why England broke with Rome and how far ordinary life changed.

7 lessons

0 of 7 done

What this unit covers
  • Understand the development of Church, state and society in Britain 1509-1745, including the English Reformation and its impact
  • Understand the theory and practice of monarchy and the origins and progress of the English Reformation
  • Use historical evidence rigorously and test interpretations
  1. 1Lesson 1: England on the eve of ReformationFilm3 checksExit quiz38 min · ★★Start →
  2. 2Lesson 2: The King's Great MatterFilm3 checksExit quiz38 min · ★★Start →
  3. 3Lesson 3: Breaking with RomeFilm3 checksExit quiz38 min · ★★Start →
  4. 4Lesson 4: Dissolving the monasteriesFilm3 checksExit quiz38 min · ★★Start →
  5. 5Lesson 5: Reformation from above and belowFilm3 checksExit quiz38 min · ★★Start →
  6. 6Lesson 6: Edward, Mary and ElizabethFilm3 checksExit quiz38 min · ★★Start →
  7. 7Lesson 7: Reformation balance sheetFilm3 checksExit quiz38 min · ★★★Start →

Unit 3 of 16

The Norman Conquest, 1066–1087

Seven source-led lessons from the succession crisis to Domesday, resistance and lasting change.

7 lessons

0 of 7 done

What this unit covers
  • Understand the impact through time of the Norman Conquest on society and the establishment of feudal government
  • Understand the development of Church, state and society in Medieval Britain 1066-1509
  • Use chronicles, objects, maps and records as historical evidence
  1. 1Lesson 1: A kingdom without an heirFilm3 checksExit quiz38 min · ★★Start →
  2. 2Lesson 2: The battles of 1066Film3 checksExit quiz38 min · ★★Start →
  3. 3Lesson 3: Conquest by castleFilm3 checksExit quiz38 min · ★★Start →
  4. 4Lesson 4: Resistance and the HarryingFilm3 checksExit quiz38 min · ★★Start →
  5. 5Lesson 5: Land, lordship and governmentFilm3 checksExit quiz38 min · ★★★Start →
  6. 6Lesson 6: Church and cultureFilm3 checksExit quiz38 min · ★★★Start →
  7. 7Lesson 7: Domesday verdictFilm3 checksExit quiz38 min · ★★★Start →

Unit 4 of 16

Britain, Europe and the wider world, 1901–present

Seven evidence-led lessons, including a carefully structured specialist Holocaust section centred on Jewish life, persecution, genocide, testimony and memory.

7 lessons

0 of 7 done

What this unit covers
  • Understand challenges for Britain, Europe and the wider world 1901 to the present day, including the First and Second World Wars and the Holocaust
  • Understand social, cultural and technological change in post-war British society
  • Interpret the twentieth century through varied evidence and testimony
  1. 1Lesson 1: Europe goes to warFilm3 checksExit quiz40 min · ★★★Start →
  2. 2Lesson 2: War, society and memoryFilm3 checksExit quiz40 min · ★★★Start →
  3. 3Lesson 3: Democracy under pressureFilm3 checksExit quiz40 min · ★★★Start →
  4. 4Lesson 4: The Holocaust: persecution to genocideFilm3 checksExit quiz40 min · ★★★Start →
  5. 5Lesson 5: Britain and the Second World WarFilm3 checksExit quiz40 min · ★★★Start →
  6. 6Lesson 6: 1945 and a changing BritainFilm3 checksExit quiz40 min · ★★★Start →
  7. 7Lesson 7: Britain and the world after empireFilm3 checksExit quiz40 min · ★★★Start →

Unit 5 of 16

Empire, trade and abolition

Britain's role in global trade, slavery and its abolition.

4 lessons

0 of 4 done

What this unit covers
  • Describe Britain's role in transatlantic slavery
  • Explain the causes of abolition
  • Evaluate different historical interpretations
  1. 1Britain, trade and transatlantic slaveryFilm3 checksExit quiz30 min · ★★★Start →
  2. 2Why did abolition happen?Film3 checksExit quiz30 min · ★★★Start →
  3. 3Abolition: who ended the slave trade?Film3 checksExit quiz30 min · ★★★Start →
  4. 4Why historians disagree about empireFilm3 checksExit quiz28 min · ★★★Start →

Unit 6 of 16

Britain in a wider world

Thematic studies and world societies that connect British history to global developments.

4 lessons

0 of 4 done

What this unit covers
  • Understand a study of an aspect or theme in British history that consolidates and extends pupils' chronological knowledge beyond 1066
  • Understand a significant society or issue in world history and its interconnections with other world developments
  • Understand at least one study of a significant society or issue in world history and its interconnections with other world developments
  • Understand a study of a non-European society that provides historical contrasts with British history
  1. 1Tracing a theme through British historyFilm3 checksExit quiz24 min · ★★Start →
  2. 2A significant world society: ancient BeninFilm3 checksExit quiz26 min · ★★Start →
  3. 3A world issue: the transatlantic slave tradeFilm3 checksExit quiz28 min · ★★★Start →
  4. 4A non-European contrast: Mughal IndiaFilm3 checksExit quiz26 min · ★★Start →

Unit 7 of 16

Thinking like a historian

Placing events in context and joining up local, national and international history.

1 lessons

0 of 1 done

What this unit covers
  • Gain historical perspective by placing their growing knowledge into different contexts, understanding the connections between local, regional, national and international history
  1. 1Joining up local, national and world historyFilm3 checksExit quiz22 min · ★★Start →

Unit 8 of 16

Church, state and society: 1066 to 1745

Medieval Britain, the Reformation, the growth of Parliament and the Civil Wars, taught as a connected story of who held power.

5 lessons

0 of 5 done

What this unit covers
  • Understand the development of Church, state and society in Medieval Britain 1066-1509
  • Understand the development of Church, state and society in Britain 1509-1745, including the English Reformation and its impact
  • Understand the changing role of the monarchy and the causes and consequences of the English Civil Wars
  • 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 Reformation
  • Understand how the emergence and growth of Parliament shaped political power in Britain
  1. 1Church, state and society in medieval Britain, 1066-1509Film4 checksExit quiz30 min · ★★★Start →
  2. 2The English Reformation and its impactFilm4 checksExit quiz30 min · ★★★Start →
  3. 3Monarchy and the English Civil WarsFilm4 checksExit quiz30 min · ★★★Start →
  4. 4Theory and practice of monarchy, 1509-1745Film4 checksExit quiz30 min · ★★★Start →
  5. 5The emergence and growth of ParliamentFilm4 checksExit quiz30 min · ★★★Start →

Unit 9 of 16

Industry, empire and the slave trade

Industrial change in Britain, the transatlantic slave trade in the context of empire, and their long consequences.

2 lessons

0 of 2 done

What this unit covers
  • Understand ideas, political power, industry and empire in Britain 1745-1901, including the Industrial Revolution and its impact on society
  • Understand Britain's transatlantic slave trade, its effects and its eventual abolition, in the context of empire
  1. 1Industry, empire and political power, 1745-1901Film4 checksExit quiz30 min · ★★★Start →
  2. 2The transatlantic slave trade in the context of empireFilm4 checksExit quiz30 min · ★★★Start →

Unit 10 of 16

Thinking like a historian

Second-order concepts, the rules of historical enquiry, how knowledge is constructed from sources, and the Holocaust and ideology in interpretation.

4 lessons

0 of 4 done

What this unit covers
  • Understand historical concepts such as continuity and change, cause and consequence, similarity, difference and significance
  • Understand the methods of historical enquiry, including how evidence is used rigorously to make historical claims
  • Understand how our knowledge of the past is constructed from a range of sources, and how and why historians have interpreted the past in different ways
  • Understand the challenges for Britain, Europe and the wider world, including the Holocaust and the role of ideology, and how these are represented and interpreted
  1. 1Change, cause and significance: thinking historicallyFilm4 checksExit quiz30 min · ★★★Start →
  2. 2Enquiry, evidence and interpretationsFilm4 checksExit quiz30 min · ★★★Start →
  3. 3How our knowledge of the past is constructedFilm4 checksExit quiz30 min · ★★★Start →
  4. 4The Holocaust, ideology and interpretationFilm4 checksExit quiz30 min · ★★★Start →

Unit 11 of 16

GCSE-style history: sources, interpretations and change over time

The three question types that decide GCSE history grades, taught properly at KS3.

3 lessons

0 of 3 done

What this unit covers
  • Understand the methods of historical enquiry, including how evidence is used rigorously to make historical claims
  • Discern how and why contrasting arguments and interpretations of the past have been constructed
  • Understand a study of an aspect or theme in British history that consolidates and extends pupils' chronological knowledge beyond 1066
  1. 1How useful is this source? Answering it properlyFilm4 checksExit quiz30 min · ★★★Start →
  2. 2Why historians disagree: analysing interpretationsFilm4 checksExit quiz30 min · ★★★Start →
  3. 3Thematic study: change and continuity across centuriesFilm4 checksExit quiz30 min · ★★★Start →

Unit 12 of 16

Crown, Church and country, 1509–1745

How the Tudors and Stuarts changed religion and the reach of royal power.

2 lessons

0 of 2 done

What this unit covers
  • Understand the development of Church, state and society in Britain 1509-1745, including the English Reformation and its impact
  • 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 Reformation
  1. 1Why Henry VIII broke with RomeFilm4 checksExit quiz30 min · ★★★Start →
  2. 2How much power did a Tudor or Stuart monarch really have?Film4 checksExit quiz30 min · ★★★Start →

Unit 13 of 16

Crown against Parliament

Why the English Civil Wars happened and how Parliament ended up on top.

2 lessons

0 of 2 done

What this unit covers
  • Understand the changing role of the monarchy and the causes and consequences of the English Civil Wars
  • Understand how the emergence and growth of Parliament shaped political power in Britain
  1. 1Why did the English Civil Wars break out?Film4 checksExit quiz30 min · ★★★Start →
  2. 2How Parliament ended up in chargeFilm4 checksExit quiz30 min · ★★★Start →

Unit 14 of 16

Industrial Britain, 1745–1901

Steam, cities, factory work and the fight for public health and the vote.

2 lessons

0 of 2 done

What this unit covers
  • Understand ideas, political power, industry and empire in Britain 1745-1901, including the Industrial Revolution and its impact on society
  • Understand how our knowledge of the past is constructed from a range of sources, and how and why historians have interpreted the past in different ways
  1. 1Steam, factories and the fastest change in British historyFilm4 checksExit quiz30 min · ★★★Start →
  2. 2Factory reports, photographs and why historians disagreeFilm4 checksExit quiz30 min · ★★★Start →

Unit 15 of 16

Empire, enslavement and abolition

Britain's transatlantic slave trade, the resistance against it and how it ended.

2 lessons

0 of 2 done

What this unit covers
  • Understand Britain's transatlantic slave trade, its effects and its eventual abolition
  • Understand Britain's transatlantic slave trade, its effects and its eventual abolition, in the context of empire
  1. 1Britain's transatlantic slave tradeFilm4 checksExit quiz30 min · ★★★Start →
  2. 2How abolition happened, and what empire had to do with itFilm4 checksExit quiz30 min · ★★★Start →

Unit 16 of 16

Thinking like a historian

Running your own enquiry and tracing one theme right across the centuries.

2 lessons

0 of 2 done

What this unit covers
  • Understand the methods of historical enquiry, including how evidence is used rigorously to make historical claims
  • Understand a study of an aspect or theme in British history that consolidates and extends pupils' chronological knowledge beyond 1066
  1. 1Running your own historical enquiryFilm4 checksExit quiz30 min · ★★★Start →
  2. 2One theme across the centuries: who holds power?Film4 checksExit quiz30 min · ★★★Start →
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