• Did you know that the Egyptians believed that a good cure for blindness was to crush a pig’s eye, mix it with honey and pour it into the patient’s ear?

• Did you know that about 100 years ago, the average age at death of Manchester working class men was 17 years?

• Did you know that some Europeans resorted to cannibalism in the nineteenth century in America?

Year 11 historians do! But History isn’t only interesting. You don’t have to do it for fun or for the fieldwork. There are many reasons why you might do History in Years 10 and 11.

For Work
History develops important skills for work. Any employers would value the clear, accurate writing, the comprehension and the problem-solving skills which History develops.

For Citizenship
History can help develop better citizens who can play their proper part in a democracy. It teaches us how the world’s problems came about; it teaches us to understand other peoples’ beliefs and thus to become more tolerant; it teaches us to know fact from opinion; it helps us put our own lives in proper perspective.

For Contrast
No educated person can ignore these skills. The properly rounded mathematician, scientist, computer expert - in fact anyone - needs a broad education.The course includes aspects of a Local Study (Carisbrooke Castle), a Study in Development (Medicine Through Time) which looks at the changes in medicine over 10,000 years and a Depth Study (The American West) a detailed look at forty years of American History. Skills taught and assessed include: the critical use of Historical Sources; the study of representations and interpretations of the past; the critical use of knowledge including an understanding of causation, motivation, the role of the individual and historical empathy.

Pattern of Assessment
There are two examinations. Both last for 1 hour and 45 minutes and account, in total, for 75% of the final award. A controlled assessment accounts for 25%, for which questions are issued in advance and written in exam conditions.