IB History

King Ethelbert School

Canterbury Road, Birchington, Kent, CT7 9BL

International Baccalaureate Diploma

Level 3

Available start dates

Tuesday, 01 September 2026

King Ethelbert School

2 Year(s)

Full time

Daytime/working hours

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Application Instructions

Applications Open: - 3rd November 2025

Applications Close: - 30th June 2026

Entry Requirements: - 5 x grade 4-9 including Maths & English at G5

How to Apply: - Please apply via KentChoices

Course Summary

IBCP students will take a minimum of three courses of study. All of these will be Level 3 courses (A/AS Level equivalent). The courses will be a combination of vocational BTEC qualification (equivalent to up to 3 A Levels, approximately 10 hours of study per week) and 2 IB subjects (approx. AS level each and studied for 5 hours a fortnight). If you select this subject you must also select one BTEC in your application and one other IB subject.

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 aims to provide students with a broad knowledge and understanding of events of the 20th century.

Students will have a fascinating opportunity to study very recent History that is, in many ways, still being written. We intend, by the end of the course, to have furnished students with a clear understanding of the origins and complexities of contemporary world politics within a wider framework. 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.

There is no need to have studied GCSE History, although this will obviously be of benefit. The most important quality you can bring to lessons is an open, enquiring mind.

Course Details

You will consider questions like:

• Is knowledge of the past ever certain?

• Can history help in understanding the present or predicting the future?

• To what extent does emotion play a role in an historian’s analysis?

• Why do accounts of the same historical event differ?

• Can history be considered in any sense “scientific”?

How will it be delivered and assessed?

Paper One- Move to Global War- Assessed via a 1 hour exam

Students study two case studies: Japanese Expansion from 1932-1942 and Italian and German expansion from 1933-1939.

The exam ask students a series of source comprehension and evaluation questions.

Paper Two- Authoritarian States and Causes, Practices and Effects of Warfare. Assessed via a 1 hour 30 minute exam

Students study: Hitler's Germany, Mao's China and Mussolini's Italy for Authoritarian States.

This includes examining how each leader rises to power, how each leader consolidates their power as well as their domestic and foreign policies.

In the Causes, Practices and Effects of Warfare unit, pupils study the First World War and Second World War as cross regional examples. Students also study two civil war case studies including: the Spanish Civil War and the Chinese Civil War. The exam ask students to answer two essay questions out of a possible four for the two units.

Internal Assessment (Coursework) assessed by a 2,000 word essay.

The topic for the coursework is selected by the student who is mentored by the teacher. Previous Internal Assessment topics have included:

How accurate is 'Saving Private Ryan's portrayal of the D-Day invasion?

Who was responsible for the outbreak of the Second World War?

Higher Level Higher level is an additional 2 hour 30 minute exam which is made up of three additional units: Imperial Russia, revolution and establishment of the Soviet Union. Europe and the First World War Inter-war domestic developments: (1919-1939) Germany, Italy, Spain and Britain. The decision to do Higher Level History is made with the subject teacher during Year 12. How bloody was Bloody Mary? How significant was James I in the development of witchcraft as a crime?

Higher level is an additional 2 hour 30 minute exam which is made up of three additional units:

Imperial Russia, revolution and establishment of the Soviet Union.

Europe and the First World War

Inter-war domestic developments: (1919-1939) Germany, Italy, Spain and Britain.

The decision to do Higher Level History is made with the subject teacher during Year 12.

Entry requirements

For entry into King Ethelbert School Sixth Form all students must attain 5 grades between Grade 9 and Grade 4 (or equivalent) with a Grade 5 in both English Language and Mathematics. History at KS4 is preferable to progression into the History IB course.

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