Pearson Edexcel GCSE History Past Papers & Mark Schemes

Pearson Edexcel GCSE History (specification code 1HI0) is assessed through three papers, each targeting a different type of historical study. The Edexcel specification is distinctive in that it provides a wide choice of options within each paper, allowing schools to select the historical periods and topics that best suit their curriculum. This option-based structure means different schools study completely different content, so when using past papers, always check which options your school has studied. Paper 1 — Thematic Study and Historic Environment — covers a thematic topic studied across a long historical period alongside a study of a specific historic environment. The thematic studies include Crime and Punishment in Britain (c1000-present), Medicine Through Time (c1250-present), Warfare and British Society (c1250-present), and Migrants in Britain (c1250-present). The Historic Environment component focuses on a specific site with a new site announced annually — typically a castle, battlefield, or area of historic significance. Paper 2 — Period Study and British Depth Study — combines a period of world or British history with a shorter, more detailed study of a British topic. Period studies include options on Cold War America, Superpower relations, Weimar and Nazi Germany, and Cold War conflicts. British depth studies examine topics such as Anglo-Saxon and Norman England, the reign of Richard I and King John, and Elizabethan England. Paper 3 — Modern Depth Study — focuses on one major topic in twentieth-century history in considerable depth. Options include Weimar and Nazi Germany (1918-1939), Mao's China (1945-1976), and The USA: Civil Rights, 1945-74. All papers are untiered — all students sit the same papers regardless of target grade, meaning questions must accommodate a full range of abilities within a single paper.