History Standard Level International Baccalaureate group 3 subject

Applications Open - 3 November 2025

Applications Close - 23 January 2026 (This is the official deadline, when planning for the new timetable will begin; however, applications will still be accepted after this date.)

Entry Requirements

IBCP: 3 x Grade 6 & 2 x Grade 5 (inc English & Maths)

IBDP: 6 x Grade 6 & 2 x Grade 5 (inc English & Maths)

IB course option: 6 x Grade 6 & 2 x Grade 5 (inc English & Maths)

How to Apply - Please apply via KentChoices

We live in an increasingly globalised world and events in a completely different region will impact upon our lives significantly. As world citizens we need to be informed and unprejudiced. History at Dane Court aims to provide students with a broad knowledge and understanding of what happened in the 20th century. Studying events in some or all of the following countries: South Africa, the USA, Russia, China and Germany. Students will be encouraged to think in a global context, rather than seeing history from a solely Euro-centric viewpoint. They will be challenged to examine a variety of attitudes and perspectives to understand how cultural and geopolitical factors impact upon historical enquiry. Study of GCSE history is not absolutely essential, but will be of great benefit to students who take this course. The most important quality you can bring to lessons is an open, enquiring mind.

Paper 1: Rights and protest (Higher level and Standard level):

Case study 1 — The civil rights movement in the USA 1954-65 (Ku Klux Klan; Martin Luther King; Malcolm X; Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act).

Case study 2 — Apartheid South Africa 1948-64 (Apartheid; protests; Nelson Mandela and Albert Luthuli).

Paper 2: World history topics (Higher level and Standard level):

Topic 10 — Authoritarian states (20th Century)

Topics will include Hitler and Lenin/Stalin in Europe, Mao in China.

Topic 12 — The Cold war

This will examine the origins, developments and end of the Cold war, including crises such as the Cuban missile crisis and leaders such as Reagan and Gorbachev.

Historical investigation (Higher level and Standard level)

An essay (max 2,200 words) on a topic of the student's choice. This is a great opportunity for students to explore an area that they find interesting, usually from within the syllabus.

Paper 3: Aspects of the history of Europe (HIgher level only)

Topic 12 — Imperial Russia, revolutions and the emergence of the Soviet state 1855-1924

This will allow students to understand the context within which a communist revolution altered the course of Russian history, and will afford one half of the study of an area across over a century.

Topic 9 - The USSR and post-Soviet Russia 1924-2000

This will complete the picture for Russian history and will also complement the work done for paper 2.

All students do Papers 1 and 2 and the historical investigation. To achieve the higher level, students will also take Paper 3:

Paper 1— Source analysis — Four short-answer/ structured questions. 1 hr.

Paper 2 - Two essays from a choice. 1 hr 30 mins.

Historical Investigation — on the student's choice, internally assessed and externally moderated.

Paper 3 — Three essays from a choice. 2 hrs 30 mins.

General entry requirements:

International Baccalaureate Diploma: 6 x grade 6 and 2 x grade 5 at GCSE or equivalent.

International Baccalaureate Career-Related Programme: 3 x grade 6 and 2 x grade 5 at GCSE or equivalent.