Reminder of changes to Edexcel GCSE History assessment for Summer 2025
This update is to remind teachers and students of the changes to Edexcel GCSE History assessment in Summer 2025 and beyond.
Assessment changes from Summer 2025
For GCSE History exams in Summer 2025 and beyond, we have made some minor amendments to the assessment model to improve the ramping on opening questions and to add a bit more time in exams for reading and planning responses.
Additional time in exams
Students will have a bit more time in exams for reading and planning their responses. The extra time in Paper 2 is intended to provide a better time split of 55 minutes per paper.
| Paper | Exam time up to 2024 | New exam time from 2025 | Time added |
| Paper 1 | 1 hr 15 minutes | 1 hr 20 minutes | + 5 minutes |
| Paper 2 | 1 hr 45 minutes | 1 hr 50 minutes | + 5 minutes |
| Paper 3 | 1 hr 20 minutes | 1 hr 30 minutes | + 10 minutes |
Changes to opening questions
The changes to assessment will help ensure opening questions on exam papers are as accessible as possible to a wide range of students; give students more opportunity to show their knowledge; and improve the overall balance of content assessed on each paper.
| Paper | Exams up to 2024 | Exams from 2025 |
| Paper 1 | Q1 two features of... (4 marks) | Q1a one feature of... (2 marks) Q1b one feature of... (2 marks) |
| Paper 2B | Q1 two features of... (4 marks) | Q1a one feature of... (2 marks) Q1b one feature of... (2 marks) |
| Paper 2P | Q1 two consequences of... (8 marks) | Q1a one consequence of... (4 marks) Q1b one consequence of... (4 marks) |
| Paper 3 | Q2 explain why... (12 marks) | Q2a or Q2b explain why... (12 marks) |
Paper 2B simplified question numbering
The change to the question structure of Paper 2B (British depth study) provided an opportunity to apply more consistent question numbering on this paper.
| Paper 2B exams up to 2024 | Paper 2B exams from 2025 |
| Q1a - describe two key features (4 marks) | Q1a and Q1b - describe one key feature (2 x 2 marks) |
| Q1b - explain why (12 marks) | Q2 - explain why (12 marks) |
| Q1ci/cii - judgment essay (16 marks) | Q3/4 - judgment essay (16 marks) |
Updated sample assessment materials to reflect 2025 changes
Specification language changes
We are also updating some of the language used in our specification to replace terms which are now considered outdated. The most significant changes concern the terms ‘slaves’ and ‘Plains Indians’, which appear in Period study options P1, P2 and P3.
The term Indigenous peoples will be glossed in live exam series from 2025:
Example from P3 The American West, c1835-c1895
Q2: Write a narrative account analysing the destruction of the traditional ways of Indigenous peoples of the Plains (Plains Indians) in the years 1876-c1895.
You may use the following in your answer:
- Battle of Little Big Horn (1876)
- Dawes Act (1887)
You must also use information of your own.
In any exam series, students are credited for any relevant and appropriate terms that they use.
Find out more about the assessment and language changes for Summer 2025 and beyond
Subject advisor
Mark Battye
History
