QCA monitoring of 14-19 history

QCA is required to keep the national curriculum under review and advise the secretary of state on curriculum and assessment matters.

To do this effectively we have a programme of monitoring and evaluation that makes sure our advice is soundly based and development work is informed by practical experiences

QCA's annual reports in each subject provide a summary of the findings from monitoring and evaluating the curriculum. The history annual report on curriculum and assessment 2004/5 can be downloaded from this page

QCA/OCR GCSE history pilot

OCR has been awarded the contract for QCA's GCSE history pilot. The aim is to develop a new qualification for history and the pilot offers the chance to trial new approaches to content and assessment as well as exploring effective ways of making links between history and related vocational areas. The qualification will build on existing good practice and will eventually offer schools an exciting alternative to the existing specifications.

A steering group, which included representatives from the subject associations, worked on the draft framework for the pilot and OCR will now take on the work of developing this into a full GCSE qualification. Up to 70 schools and colleges are being recruited for the pilot with first teaching starting in September 2006. A detailed evaluation will take place before this qualification is made available to all schools.

For the latest information on the pilot please go to the OCR website at www.ocr.org.uk

Pupil perceptions of history at key stage 3

A focused study on pupils' own perceptions of the history curriculum across key stage 3 was commissioned by QCA with a view to expanding this research into other key stages in the future.

The research for this focused study was carried out by Terry Haydn, a teacher educator, researcher and author at the University of East Anglia (UEA). It included a desk-based longitudinal study of any ongoing and previous research into pupils' perceptions of history, and a field-based study using questionnaires and follow-up interviews with small groups of pupils to find out about pupils' current perceptions of the history curriculum across key stage 3. The findings from this research, along with an evaluation of the methodologies employed and overall conclusions, are included in a final report to QCA.

You can download the full report from this page.