What's happening in History? Trends in GCSE and 'A'-level examinations

Article

By Chris Husbands, published 31st May 2001

Teaching History frequently celebrates and analyses the practice of those history departments that appear to buck trends. In keeping with the Historical Association’s Campaign for History and its popular ‘Choosing History at 14’ Pack, a number of articles and Triumphs Shows in recent editions of Teaching History have celebrated the practice of departments who have secured a very high proportion of Year 9 opting for history (e.g. Jenny Parsons (1998) in Issue 93), attracted more less able pupils to choose history (e.g. Luff (2000) in Issue 100), and secured outstanding results with the full ability range (e.g. Dawes and Towill (1999) in Issue 94, Hough (1999) in Issue 96). But what exactly is your department’s position in relation to the national picture? This article will help heads of department to benchmark their own performance against the national position. Chris Husbands draws on published examination statistics to assess the state of history in the 14-19 curriculum by exploring recent trends. On the data presented here, at GCSE, history is attracting fewer, but more able pupils; at Alevel it appears to be attracting fewer pupils but not the most able. Chris Husbands concludes by stating that it is vital for the history education community to continue and accelerate the work of disseminating successful practice and developing arguments that will prevent any decline of an entitlement to a proper and adequate historical education at secondary level.

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