History (Senior - Academic Curriculum)

History is thriving at St Benedict's. The Key Stage 3 course for Years 7 - 9 is now rationalised and updated. The department bases its schemes of work on the National Curriculum, but includes other topics to suit the interests of the pupils. An increasing number of pupils choose history as a GCSE option and last year 65% of candidates attained A*/A grades. In the Sixth Form, nearly half of the students opt for either the early modern or modern history courses. Such is the demand that there will be eight history sets studying AS and A2 courses next year. Last year, 29 out of 37 students achieved A or B grades. Several candidates each year apply to Oxford to read history. Two have been given offers for 2009 and, since 2000, seventeen students have successfully gained entry to Oxford to read history. The History Society flourishes with pupils from Year 7 to the Upper Sixth delivering talks on a variety of historical topics. History outings to Warwick Castle, the Somme battlefields, Bayeux, the Imperial War Museum and Berlin have been organized over the last few years.