The Knowledge and Skills overviews show the specific historical content students will learn in each unit of study throughout the year. These documents outline both the substantive knowledge (historical events, periods, and concepts) and the disciplinary skills (source analysis, causal reasoning, and historical interpretation) that students will develop. Each unit is broken down to clearly identify what students need to know and what they should be able to do upon completion. Through the systematic development of both knowledge and skills, students build historical awareness, analytical capabilities, and a deeper understanding of the past and its relevance to the present.
Select a unit to find out more...
Why did Protestantism come to England?
Unit Progress Criteria
Substantive Knowledge
Disciplinary Knowledge
Martin Luther’s disagreement with the Catholic Church
Henry VIII’s desire for a divorce
Creation of Church of England
Dissolution of monasteries
Thomas More and Thomas Cromwell
Mary, Elizabeth and Edward
Luther’s reasons for disagreement with Catholic Church
Reasons for annulment of marriage to Catherine of Aragon
Why Henry created Church of England
Reasons for dissolution of monasteries
Significance of English Bible
Extent of Henry’s Protestant beliefs
What informed Ken Hughes' interpretation of Oliver Cromwell?
Unit Progress Criteria
Substantive Knowledge
Disciplinary Knowledge
Steps that led to Civil War
Equipment, tactics and use of soldiers in the Civil War
Organisation, motivation, etc of the New Model Army
Overview of tactical decisions at Naseby
Outline of the trial of Charles I
The Levellers’ demands and Cromwell’s response
Events at Drogheda
Aspects of Cromwell’s rule over England, e.g. ‘banning Christmas’
Choices that went into Hughes’ interpretation of the trial scene.
Historical accuracy of the scene based on own knowledge
Suggested reasons for Hughes’ lack of emphasis on the scene
The diverse factors that motivated Ken Hughes to make a movie about Cromwell – from profit to historical interest.
Using substantive knowledge to make judgements about the historical accuracy of the movie
The choices made in the content and emphasis of the movies’ scenes – and what was not included in the movie
Why others might agree or disagree with Hughes’ choices
How did Liverpool profit from the transatlantic slave trade?
Unit Progress Criteria
Substantive Knowledge
Disciplinary Knowledge
Preparations for a voyage of a slave ship
Trade with West African rulers; trade goods
Conditions on board ships on middle passage
Work done on a sugar plantation
Conditions on a Caribbean plantation
Return to Liverpool from the Americas
The Essex as an example of all of the above
Merchants outfitting slave voyages
Mitgating risk through shared investment
How trade in West Africa brought profits
Reasons for conditions on the middle passage
Profits to be made in the Americas
Profits to be made on the return journey
Risks for the crew and the owners
Discussion of various groups benefitted from the trade – used to evaluate George Cook’s claim about Liverpool
How did Liverpool profit from the transatlantic slave trade?
Unit Progress Criteria
Substantive Knowledge
Disciplinary Knowledge
Preparations for a voyage of a slave ship
Trade with West African rulers; trade goods
Conditions on board ships on middle passage
Work done on a sugar plantation
Conditions on a Caribbean plantation
Return to Liverpool from the Americas
The Essex as an example of all of the above
Merchants outfitting slave voyages
Mitgating risk through shared investment
How trade in West Africa brought profits
Reasons for conditions on the middle passage
Profits to be made in the Americas
Profits to be made on the return journey
Risks for the crew and the owners
Discussion of various groups benefitted from the trade – used to evaluate George Cook’s claim about Liverpool
Were the events of 1857 a 'mutiny' or an 'uprising'?
Unit Progress Criteria
Substantive Knowledge
Disciplinary Knowledge
Foundation of company – origins of the spice trade
Conflict with the Holland; change in focus to India
Reasons for the collapse of the Mughal Empire
Conflict between EIC and Mughals
Siraj ud Daulah and the EIC
Battle of Plassey
Consequences of Plassey for India and the EIC
Initial focus on trade
Unsuccessful military ventures due to Mughal might
Use of Sepoys against Mughals and French
Reasons for victory at Plassey
Discussion of the ‘accidental empire’ theory
Did the abolition of the slave trade change anything on Jamaica?
Unit Progress Criteria
Substantive Knowledge
Disciplinary Knowledge
Causes and events of Tacky’s Revolt
Factors in the abolition of the slave trade
Causes and events of the Baptist War
Abolition of Slavery and apprenticeship on Jamaica
Morant Bay revolt
Hochschild’s acknowledgement the 1807 act changed nothing for those already enslaved
Eric Williams’ claim (“the black man … remains today the slave of sugar”)
Change and continuity on Jamaica between 1760 and 1865
How did cotton build "a world unlike any other"?
Unit Progress Criteria
Substantive Knowledge
Disciplinary Knowledge
How cotton was manufactured by hand prior to the industrial revolution
Arkwright’s water frame and origins of mills
Invention and spread of the steam engine
Living conditions in Manchester
Peter Sanderson’s migration to Manchester
US Civil War and blockade of southern ports
Lancashire Cotton Famine
Impact of US Civil War on cotton industry worldwide – Beckert’s ‘Empire of Cotton’
Transformation of manufacturing through water-powered machines
Impact of the steam engine on cotton manufacturing
Impact of steam locomotive on Britain
Growth of industrial cities
Migration to Manchester - push and pull factors
Explanation of 19th century globalisation using examples of impact of US Civil War
How democratic was Britain by 1900?
Unit Progress Criteria
Substantive Knowledge
Disciplinary Knowledge
Voting and democracy pre-1832 – rotten boroughs, public ballot, etc
Peterloo and the Chartists
1832 Reform Act
Subsequent reform acts and the improvements they made
Inherent problems with British democracy pre-1832
Improvements made by reform acts
Judgement about how much had been fixed and how many problems remained by 1900
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