Edexcel A Level History Tutors Online

Edexcel A Level History is code 9HI0, and its full title is the Pearson Edexcel Level 3 Advanced GCE in History. First teaching was September 2015 and first certification was 2017. This page works from Issue 4.

The qualification consists of three externally examined papers and coursework, and students must complete all assessment in May and June in any single year.

Paper 1 is the Breadth study with interpretations, with codes from 9HI0/1A to 9HI0/1H. It is externally assessed, available in May and June, first assessed in 2017, and worth 30% of the total qualification. The examination lasts 2 hours 15 minutes and is marked out of 60. Students answer three questions, one from Section A, one from Section B and one from Section C.

The sections are built differently. Section A comprises a choice of two essay questions assessing breadth and targeting content in the Themes, and questions will normally cover periods of at least 10 years. Section B also comprises a choice of two essay questions assessing breadth, but questions there will normally cover periods equivalent to at least a third of the timespan of the Themes. Section C comprises one compulsory question assessing the ability to analyse and evaluate interpretations, based on two extracts from historical interpretations totalling approximately 350 words.

Paper 2 is the Depth study, with codes from 9HI0/2A to 9HI0/2H. It is externally assessed, available in May and June, first assessed in 2017, and worth 20% of the total qualification. The examination lasts 1 hour 30 minutes and is marked out of 40. Students answer two questions, one from Section A and one from Section B.

Paper 2 Section A is one compulsory question assessing the ability to analyse and evaluate source material that is primary or contemporary to the period, based on two sources that together total approximately 400 words. Section B is a choice of two essay questions assessing depth, and questions may cross the Key topics.

Paper 3 is Themes in breadth with aspects in depth, with codes from 9HI0/30 to 9HI0/39. It is externally assessed, available in May and June, first assessed in 2017, and worth 30% of the total qualification. The examination lasts 2 hours 15 minutes and is marked out of 60. Students answer three questions, one from each section.

Paper 3 differs from Paper 2 in how sources are used. Section A is one compulsory question assessing source analysis and evaluation, based on a source that is approximately 350 words long, and students are required to analyse and evaluate it in relation to two related enquiries. Section B is a choice of two essays assessing depth. Section C is a choice of two essays assessing breadth, and these target change over periods of at least 100 years, focusing on the process of change, the extent of change, the impact of change, or patterns of change such as turning points.

The stimulus material is not the same on each paper, and the differences matter. Paper 1 Section C uses two interpretation extracts totalling approximately 350 words. Paper 2 Section A uses two sources totalling approximately 400 words. Paper 3 Section A uses a single source of approximately 350 words, examined through two enquiries.

The coursework is code 9HI0/04, worth 20%. It is internally assessed and externally moderated, with first moderation in 2017, and the assignment is marked out of 40. Students carry out an independently researched enquiry requiring them to analyse and evaluate historical interpretations and to organise and communicate the findings, and the assignment is set by the centre on a question, problem or issue that has generated disagreement among historians. The choice of coursework task does not determine the entry code.

The papers are held together by routes, and this is the rule that catches people out. Papers 1 and 2 are grouped into eight routes in which options are linked by a common theme. Each route comprises a mandatory Paper 1 option and a choice of two options for Paper 2, of which students take only one. Centres are not permitted to mix Paper 1 and Paper 2 options from different routes.

The Paper 1 choice reaches further than Paper 2. The specification states that the choice of the option for Paper 1 will determine the options that may be taken for Papers 2 and 3, and that for each Paper 1 and Paper 2 route there are a variety of Paper 3 options available. Each route lists its Paper 3 options against a set of entry codes, running from the route letter and a digit.

Some Paper 3 options are not available with certain routes, and the specification gives three reasons for that. They are to avoid content overlap with options in Paper 1 or 2, to ensure that students take a minimum of 20 per cent British history as required in the GCE Subject Level Conditions and Requirements for History, and to ensure that students cover topics from a chronological range of at least 200 years, also as required in those conditions.

The assessment objectives are three, and they are printed as single figures. AO1, demonstrate, organise and communicate knowledge and understanding to analyse and evaluate the key features related to the periods studied, making substantiated judgements and exploring concepts of cause, consequence, change, continuity, similarity, difference and significance, is 55%. AO2, analyse and evaluate appropriate source material, primary or contemporary to the period, within its historical context, is 20%. AO3, analyse and evaluate, in relation to the historical context, different ways in which aspects of the past have been interpreted, is 25%.

Knowledge and understanding carries 55%, which is more than the two evaluation skills together. The essays are where most of the marks are, and the source and interpretation questions are where the top grades are decided.

The breakdown shows each evaluation skill sits on particular components. Paper 1 is 20% AO1, nothing for AO2 and 10% AO3, totalling 30%. Paper 2 is 10% AO1, 10% AO2 and nothing for AO3, totalling 20%. Paper 3 is 20% AO1, 10% AO2 and nothing for AO3, totalling 30%. The coursework is 5% AO1, nothing for AO2 and 15% AO3, totalling 20%. The column totals are 55% AO1, 20% AO2 and 25% AO3.

Two patterns follow. AO2, sources, is assessed only on Papers 2 and 3, at 10% each, and not on Paper 1 or the coursework. AO3, interpretations, is assessed only on Paper 1 at 10% and in the coursework at 15%, and not on Papers 2 or 3. So the coursework carries more interpretation marks than the paper dedicated to interpretations, which is worth knowing when a student decides where to put their effort.

The qualification is graded and certificated on a six grade scale from A* to E using the total subject mark, and individual papers are not graded. The first certification opportunity was 2017, and students whose level of achievement is below the minimum judged by Pearson to be of sufficient standard receive an unclassified U result.

On codes: the qualification number is 601/4677/1 and the subject code is Advanced GCE 9HI0. Paper 1 codes run from 1A to 1H, Paper 2 codes from 2A to 2H, Paper 3 codes from 30 to 39, and the coursework is 04. No discount code number is printed in this specification. Appendix 3 states only that discount codes are published by the Department for Education and points to the GOV.UK website.