KS3 HISTORY

Students will be encouraged to develop a chronological framework of British and world history that will enable them to make sense of the new knowledge they acquire. This will also allow them to understand the process of change, to see how we arrived ‘here’ and help them to make sense of the present.

At Key Stage 3 our aim is to build on the students’ knowledge and understanding of the big ideas and processes of history:

• To understand historical concepts such as continuity and change, cause and consequence, similarity, difference and significance and use them to make connections, frame historically valid questions and create their own structured accounts. History’s unique concepts help students to construct arguments and support them to become analytical citizens who can question human motivation and society with skill and confidence. We want young people to gain an increasingly mature and informed historical perspective on their world.

• To understand the methods of historical enquiry, including how evidence is used rigorously to make historical claims, and discern how and why contrasting arguments and interpretations of the past have been constructed. Students will be able to use historical evidence, identify, explain and understand differing historical interpretations. This would develop their skills in historical explanations in Key Stage 3 which they will be able to continue to master in their Key Stage 4 and 5 studies.

KS3 topics by year

At Key Stage 3 (Years 7, 8 and 9), students study one thousand years of history, spanning from the Norman invasion in 1066 to the development of the Cold War. A broad and balanced programme of study is offered and connections between past events and the modern world are made wherever possible. 

Topics include: 

• the Norman Invasion in 1066, the importance of castles for keeping control, the role of the Church in Medieval Britain 

• the religious and political conflicts during the Tudor and Stuart dynasties 

• how the industrial revolution affected Britain 

• a study of peoples’ rights and freedoms, focusing on the Slave Trade 

• Britain and the wider world in the twentieth century, including World War I, World War II and the Holocaust. 

Summary 

Year 7 – What is History? – Medieval England – The Tudors. 
Year 8 – The Tudors-The Spanish Armada – The English Civil War – Empire- Black Peoples of the Americas – Industrial Britain. 
Year 9 – World War One –Votes for Women-Life in Nazi Germany- World War Two – The Cold War. 

Year 8

Key Contact

If you would like any more information about this subject, please contact:

Head of Department: jordanna.riches@thebicesterschool.org.uk