History

The History programme of the IB provides a course of study which will allow students to acquire an in-depth understanding of some major Modern World History events, as well as a broad perspective of events and issues which shape the world we live in today.

The IB History course is focussed on European and World History during the twentieth century.   The course develops the skills of evaluating and interpreting sources, as well as the ability to explain, argue, analyse and develop opinions on important historical questions.

Some of the most important events of the twentieth century will be studied, including Hitler’s Germany, Stalin’s rule in Russia, and the First and Second World Wars.   In addition to these topics, which tend to be common to many A level syllabuses, the IB course allows a great deal of flexibility to study other world leaders such as Fidel Castro, Mao Zedong of China, as well as world events such as the Arab-Israeli wars, the Vietnam War, and the twentieth century conflicts.

ASSESSMENT

Paper 1 – Standard level (25%)   Higher Level (20%)

This paper is a document based paper lasting 1 hour, in which you will answer four questions on one topic.   The topic for this paper is Stalin’s rule in Russia.

Paper 2 – Standard level (50%)   Higher level (20%)

This paper is an essay paper lasting 1½ hours.   You will have to write two essays for this exam.   The first essay is on “Single Party states”.   This topic is about several leaders who have established single party governments, for example Hitler’s Germany, Castro’s Cuba,  and Mao Zedong’s rule in China.    You will have a choice of questions on single party states.   The second essay on this exam paper is on the topic of  “The causes, practices and effects of war”.   You will undertake a study of various wars probably including the First and Second World Wars, and civil wars such as those in Spain and China.

Paper 3 – Higher level only (35%)

This paper is an essay paper lasting 2½ hours.   You will have to answer three essay questions on European history during the twentieth century.   You will have a choice of questions.  You will study a broad sweep of twentieth century European History in preparation for this topic including the First World War, Mussolini, Hitler .   Several of the areas examined in this paper are also covered elsewhere, so there is a large degree of overlap.

Internal Assessment – Standard level (25%)    Higher level (25%)

Both higher and standard level pupils undertake this piece of coursework.   You will have to write an in-depth investigation on a topic of your choice.   This will be assessed  by your teachers and moderated externally.