History at King Richard III College covers all the requirements of the British education system in an international school setting. Courses are established for Key Stages 3, 4 and 5.
History is taught with the philosophy that we should always look to the past if we are to understand the present.
Key Stage 3
At Key Stage 3, pupils in Year 7 learn about medieval history including the roles of kings and major events such as the Norman invasion of England and the beginning of feudalism, the Crusades, the Magna Carta as well as the Black Death and others. In Year 8 they look at modern history, comprised between the discovering of America in 1492 and the French Revolution, studying topics related to the decline of Feudalism, Renaissance, Reformation, the Tudors, etc. In Year 9, students learn about the French Revolution, the Industrial Revolution, the rise and fall of the slave trade as well as how the World Wars began, Communism versus Capitalism and Civil Rights movements.
IGCSE
Pupils who select the option of IGCSE History follow course 0470 set by the University of Cambridge International Examinations board. This course is a study of 20th century history from 1918 to 1980. Pupils study Germany 1918 to 1945, the Treaty of Versailles, the League of Nations, the Cold War, events in Eastern Europe 1945 to 1980, Cuban Missile crisis, Vietnam War and the United Nations. They are assessed finally in 3 examination papers.
A Level
At Key Stage 5 pupils can select syllabus 9489 University of Cambridge International AS and A2 Level History.
At Key Stage 5 pupils select syllabus 9489: University of Cambridge International AS and A2 History. This course studies the International option and it covers from 1870 to 1945. It looks at topics such as ‘Empire and the emergence of world powers, 1870–1919’, ‘The League of Nations and international relations in the 1920s’, ‘The League of Nations and international relations in the 1930s’ and ‘China and Japan, 1912–45’. Final assessment is by 2 written examinations.
For A2, pupils study 2 topics. The first is European history in the interwar years, 1919–41:
Theme 1: Mussolini’s Italy, 1919–41
Theme 2: Stalin’s Russia, 1924–41
Theme 3: Hitler’s Germany, 1929–41
Theme 4: Britain, 1919–39.
The second topic is ‘The Origins and development of the Cold War between 1941 and 1950’.
Final assessment is by 2 written examinations.
As an academic subject, it is very highly rated by universities in their assessment of potential students, useful in Law, Politics, and International Relations.