Developing pupils' chronological understanding: The view from Ofsted

In its latest triennial history survey report, History for all, Ofsted concluded that, ‘history teaching was good or better in most primary schools' and, ‘most pupils reached the  end of Key Stage 2 with detailed knowledge derived from well-taught studies of individual topics'. The report went on to note, though, ‘some pupils found it difficult to place the historical episodes they had studied within any coherent, long-term narrative. They knew about particular events, characters and periods but did not have an overview. Their chronological understanding was often underdeveloped and so they found it difficult to link developments together'.

The report outlined this concern in greater depth and noted that:

"by the end of Key Stage 2, pupils' ... chronological understanding, and in particular their understanding that the intervals between the periods they had studied...