History
Changes to Edexcel GCSE History for first assessment Summer 2025
We are pleased to announce that Ofqual have approved our proposed amendments to the Edexcel GCSE History assessment model, for first examination in Summer 2025. This update is to inform you of the changes we are making and to outline the guidance that is available to support you.
Improving the exam experience for students in Summer 2025 and beyond
Following the feedback we received from teachers about the summer 2023 series, we undertook a comprehensive review of our assessment model, spoke to lots of teachers, and identified ways to improve the student experience.
In order to implement these improvements as soon as possible, we decided not to make significant amendments to the structure of question papers. Our intention is to minimise any potential disruption to teachers and to avoid any significant 'knock-on' issues arising with the published resources that schools have invested in. We are, however, confident the following minor changes should make a big difference to students.
The following changes to assessment have been approved by Ofqual and are being introduced for first assessment Summer 2025.
Paper / Question | Exams up to 2024 | Exams from 2025 |
---|---|---|
Paper 1 timing | 1 hr 15 mins | 1 hr 20 mins (+ 5 mins) |
Paper 2 timing | 1 hr 45 mins | 1 hr 50 mins (+ 5 mins) |
Paper 3 timing | 1 hr 20 mins | 1 hr 30 mins (+ 10 mins) |
Paper 1 Q1 | Q1 Describe two features of... (4) | Q1a Describe one feature of... (2) Q1b Describe one feature of... (2) |
Paper 1 Q5/6 | Covering at least 200 years | Covering either a complete period or at least 200 years |
Paper 2B Q1 | Q1 Describe two features of... (4) | Q1a Describe one feature of... (2) Q1b Describe one feature of... (2) |
Paper 2B numbering | Q1a, Q1b, Q1c(i) or (ii) | Q1a, Q1b, Q2, Q3 or Q4 |
Paper 2P Q1 | Q1 Explain two consequences of... (8) | Q1a Explain one consequence of... (4) Q1b Explain one consequence of... (4) |
Paper 3 Q2 | Q2 Explain why... | Q2a or Q2b Explain why... |
The changes we are making for 2025 and beyond are designed to provide the following:
- More time in exams: students will have a bit more time in exams for reading and planning their responses.
- More accessible opening questions in Paper 1 and 2: we are splitting both the key features and consequences questions into two separate parts. This will improve the ramping on these papers, making the initial questions more accessible and providing students with more opportunities to show their knowledge.
- More consistent question numbering in Paper 2 British Depth Study.
- More choice in Paper 3: students will have a choice of ‘explain why’ questions in Paper 3 to give them more opportunity to show their knowledge and improve the overall balance of content assessed on this paper.
- A more logical approach to modern essay questions in Paper 1: from 2025 judgement essay questions in Paper 1 will cover either at least 200 years or a complete period; it will now therefore be possible to ask questions about the modern period only (1900–present).
- Specification language amendments: as announced last year, we are also updating some of the language used in our specification. These changes only affect certain terms which are now considered outdated and there are no changes to the specification content.
- Our approach to question setting: the changes from 2025 provide an opportunity to remind teachers that – over time – questions may assess similar content, using either similar or identical wording depending on the question style. Examiners can set questions across all of the content that is available each exam series.
A more detailed explanation for these changes can be found below.
Student surveys have raised this as an issue to address and a recent teacher survey had over 900 responses. Having reviewed this feedback, we have decided to add a small amount of time to each question paper. The new paper timings will apply to exams in Summer 2025 and beyond, and are shown in the table below:
Question paper | Exam time up to 2024 |
Exam time from 2025 |
Amount of time added |
---|---|---|---|
Paper 1: Thematic study & Historic environment | 1 hr 15 mins | 1 hr 20 mins | + 5 mins |
Paper 2: British depth study & Period study | 1 hr 45 mins | 1 hr 50 mins | + 5 mins |
Paper 3: Modern depth study | 1 hr 20 mins | 1 hr 30 mins | + 10 mins |
The 5 minutes extra time in Paper 1 is intended to give students more reading time for the source question and/or for students to spend more time thinking/planning their extended writing responses. A similar rationale applies for Paper 3, which has been given slightly more time (+ 10 mins) because there is more material to read. In Paper 2, the extra 5 minutes is intended to provide a better split – 55 minutes per paper.
When making these changes we were mindful of the assessment burden on students in what is a very full exam timetable, and these changes reflect the majority of teacher views in our feedback. By adding in this extra time, we do not expect students to write longer responses than they currently do, and answer spaces for questions are unchanged.
The key features question appears first on both the Paper 1 Historic environment and Paper 2 British depth study. At present students are asked to provide two key features of an aspect of specification content for 4 marks.
Teacher feedback and performance data suggest these opening questions have not been consistently accessible to a wide range of students and this is something we are keen to address to improve the ‘ramping’ and accessibility of our papers.
For this reason, from 2025, instead of being asked to describe two features of one aspect of content, students will be asked to describe one feature each of two separate aspects of content. Students will have more opportunities to show their knowledge.
This change is shown in the table below:
Paper / Question | Exams up to 2024 | Exams from 2025 onwards |
---|---|---|
Paper 1 Q1 | Q1 describe two features of… (4) | Q1a describe one feature of… (2) Q1b describe one feature of… (2) |
Paper 2B Q1 | Q1 describe two features of… (4) | Q1a describe one feature of… (2) Q1b describe one feature of… (2) |
Examples of new-style questions will be made available in early March in a GCSE changes guidance document.
We are aware that the Paper 2 assessment can be particularly daunting for some students, so we are also improving the ramping and accessibility of the Period study paper.
From 2025, instead of being asked to explain two consequences of an event or development, students will be asked to explain one consequence each of two separate events or developments. As with key features, students will have more opportunities to show their knowledge.
This change is shown in the table below:
Paper / Question | Exams up to 2024 | Exams from 2025 onwards |
---|---|---|
Paper 2P Q1 | Q1 explain two consequences of… (8) | Q1a explain one consequence of… (4) Q1b explain one consequence of… (4) |
Examples of new-style questions will be made available in early March in a GCSE changes guidance document.
In addition to separating out the consequences into two separate questions, we are exploring – where it will be of help to students – the addition of some extra supporting text to help students recognise the focus of the question. This will not always be used – for some consequences questions it won’t be necessary. A draft example is provided below, and we will provide you with further examples in due course should it be helpful to introduce it.
Q1a. The first Fort Laramie Treaty was signed in 1851 by the US government and a council of Indigenous peoples (Plains Indians).
Explain one consequence of the first Fort Laramie Treaty (1851).
(4 marks)
We will be able to confirm the use of extra supporting text on certain consequences questions when we publish the updated sample assessment materials in the summer.
The change to the question structure of Paper 2B provided an opportunity to have more consistent question numbering on this paper, and this change is shown in the table below:
Paper | Exams up to 2024 | Exams from 2025 onwards |
---|---|---|
Paper 2B numbering | Q1a – describe two features of… Q1b – explain why… Q1c(i) or (ii) – judgement essay… |
Q1a – describe one feature… Q1b – describe one feature… Q2 – explain why… Q3 or 4 – judgement essay… |
Examples of new-style question numbering will be made available in early March in a GCSE changes guidance document.
On Paper 3 many students feel they are required to learn and revise a lot of content that is not assessed, due to the skills-based enquiry focus of the assessment. To improve the overall balance of content assessed on this paper we are adding a choice to the ‘explain why’ question.
From 2025, students will now be given a choice of two ‘explain why’ questions to answer.
This change is shown in the table below:
Paper / Question | Exams up to 2024 | Exams from 2025 onwards |
---|---|---|
Paper 3 Q2 | Q2 explain why… (12) | Q2a explain why… (12) OR Q2b explain why… (12) |
Examples of new-style questions will be made available in early March in a GCSE changes guidance document.
Paper 1 judgement essays Q5/6 must currently cover at least 200 years, which means any question covering more recent events must start at or before c1800. This can sometimes make questions on the modern period more challenging compared to other periods.
From 2025 we will be requiring judgement essay questions in Paper 1 to cover either at least 200 years or a complete period: it will now therefore be possible to ask questions about the modern period only (1900–present). This change will enable examiners to set a broader range of accessible Paper 1 judgement questions.
The first three periods are all at least 200 years long, and so are unaffected by this change, which affects only the modern period. Questions on the modern period could, however, still include earlier periods depending on the focus of the question. Questions in general can still cross periods or cover two whole periods.
This change is shown in the table below:
Paper / Question | Exams up to 2024 | Exams from 2025 onwards |
---|---|---|
Paper 1 Q5/6 | Covering at least 200 years | Either a complete period or at least 200 years |
Examples of new questions will be made available in early March in a GCSE changes guidance document.
As announced last year, we are also updating some of the language used in our specification for first assessment Summer 2025. These changes only affect certain terms which are now considered outdated and there are no changes to the specification content.
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 brackets in live exam series from 2025, and an example from the Sample Assessment Materials can be seen via the link below. In any exam series, students are credited for any relevant and appropriate terms that they use.
This change was first announced in July 2023.
The changes to our assessment model from 2025 – coupled with the extended length of the current specification lifecycle – provide an opportunity to remind teachers of important elements of how questions are set.
Over the lifetime of the specification, our examiners aim to assess different parts of the specification content to ensure fair and even coverage.
However, we want to remind teachers that examiners can set questions across all of the content that is available each exam series. They do not set questions only on parts of the content that have not been assessed before. If examiners were to set questions only on material that had not previously been assessed, there would be an element of predictability about which topics might be covered in exam questions, a predictability that would only grow over time. This would undermine the fairness of assessments.
Questions in future exam series may therefore assess similar content. Depending on the question style, either similar or identical wording may be used. It is also possible that an individual source or interpretation may be used more than once over the lifetime of the specification.
Timeline of changes to GCSE History
These amendments are part of a series of changes we are making to our GCSE History specification and assessments over the next few years, as we move closer to a future GCSE qualification reform. We will continue to communicate with you about these changes over the coming months, and you can find a summary of our plans below:
Summer 2024 | Summer 2025 | Summer 2026/2027 | Next reform |
---|---|---|---|
Additional review of all 17 papers:
Removal of Level 2. stimulus cap |
Improvements to the assessment model:
Language amendments. |
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Training and support
We are running a free training event this March to discuss these changes in further detail and answer any questions you may have. Details of this event can be found below:
- Pearson Edexcel GCSE History: improving the assessment model, 14 March 2024, 16:00–17:00 GMT
In addition, we are working on a range of support materials for teachers and students to provide further guidance:
- Teacher guidance document on GCSE History changes (including exemplars) – March 2024
- FAQs – March 24
- updated Getting Started Guide to reflect changes – April 2024
- updated Topic Booklets and Paper Guides – April 2024
- updated Sample Assessment Materials – Summer 2024
- Student guidance on new question paper structure including command words – Summer 2024.
We’d love to get your feedback on these changes
Please fill in this quick survey to give us some feedback on these GCSE History changes and to suggest any further guidance and training you feel we could provide to support you.
We hope you found this update useful, however please email us at teachinghistory@pearson.com if you have any questions.
Subject advisor
Mark Battye
History
Subject updates
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November 2024 History subject update
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