HistoryQ&A by dot point

The new crimes of the early modern period (vagabondage, witchcraft, smuggling and heresy), the continuing reliance on amateur law enforcement, the harsher and more public punishments, and the influence of religion and economic change, c.1500 to 1700.

Crime and punishment in the industrial period c.1700 to 1900: the Bloody Code and its decline, the end of public execution and the rise of the prison (Pentonville and reformers such as Elizabeth Fry), transportation to Australia, and the creation of the first professional police force, the Metropolitan Police of 1829.

Crime and punishment in the modern period c.1900 to present: new crimes (cybercrime, terrorism, hate crime, driving offences), the abolition of the death penalty in 1965, the move towards rehabilitation and alternatives to prison, and the modernisation of policing with science and technology.

The long-term change and continuity in law enforcement (from amateur constables and the watch, to the 1829 Metropolitan Police, to modern scientific policing) and in the purpose of punishment (from deterrence and retribution, through prison, to rehabilitation), and the factors that drove change.

The Welsh perspective on crime and punishment: the Rebecca Riots of the 1840s as a Welsh protest crime, the Merthyr Rising of 1831 and Dic Penderyn, the impact of poverty and industry on crime in Wales, and how the Welsh context illustrates the wider themes of change and continuity.

How to answer the WJEC describe questions (AO1, identify and develop features with precise support) and the explain questions (AO1 and AO2, developed analysis of causes or consequences linked to the outcome), and how to bring in the Welsh dimension where the question demands it.

How to answer the WJEC interpretation questions (AO4): explaining why two interpretations of the past differ (evidence, emphasis, purpose and viewpoint), and judging which interpretation is more convincing or how far you agree, using own knowledge to argue both sides and reach a supported judgement.

How to answer the WJEC source questions (AO3): the comprehension question, the 'how useful is the source' utility question and the 'how far does a source support a view' question, using content and provenance (nature, origin and purpose) plus own knowledge to reach a judgement, without simply calling a source biased.

How to answer the WJEC thematic-study questions (AO2): analysing change and continuity across a long period, judging the significance of developments and turning points, and writing the extended essay with a balanced argument, a supported judgement and the Welsh perspective, on which the SPaG marks fall.

The four-unit structure of WJEC GCSE History for Wales (two depth studies, a thematic study and the Working as an Historian NEA), their weightings and timings, and the four assessment objectives AO1 to AO4, including the compulsory Welsh dimension and where the SPaG marks fall.

How to complete the WJEC Unit 4 Working as an Historian non-examined assessment: the source-based narrative task (using and evaluating a range of sources to build a supported account) and the interpretations task (analysing and evaluating why historians differ), under controlled conditions and worth 20 percent.

Hitler's consolidation of power 1933 to 1934: the Reichstag Fire and the Enabling Act, the banning of other parties and trade unions (Gleichschaltung), the Night of the Long Knives, and Hitler becoming Fuhrer on the death of Hindenburg in August 1934.

The Nazi police state, propaganda and persecution 1933 to 1939: control through the SS, Gestapo and concentration camps, Goebbels' propaganda and censorship, the control of young people and women, and the persecution of the Jews leading to the Nuremberg Laws and Kristallnacht.

The rise of the Nazis to power 1929 to 1933: the impact of the Wall Street Crash and the Depression, the appeal of Nazi propaganda and the SA, the weaknesses of Weimar democracy, and how Hitler became chancellor in January 1933 through political scheming.

The Stresemann era of recovery 1924 to 1929: ending hyperinflation with the Rentenmark, the Dawes and Young Plans and American loans, the Locarno Pact and League of Nations membership, the cultural flourishing of the Weimar years, and the underlying weaknesses of the recovery.

The founding of the Weimar Republic and the problems it faced from 1919 to 1923: the Treaty of Versailles and the 'stab in the back', political extremism from left and right (the Spartacist uprising, the Kapp Putsch), the 1923 crisis of the Ruhr occupation and hyperinflation.

Daily life in Elizabethan society: the social hierarchy, rich and poor, the problem of poverty and the Poor Laws, the golden age of theatre (Shakespeare, the Globe and opposition to it), and the age of exploration (Drake's circumnavigation, Raleigh and early colonisation), including the Welsh context.

Elizabeth's court, government and image: the role of the court and the Privy Council (William Cecil), parliament and patronage, the problems she faced as a new and female monarch, and the government of Wales through the Council in the Marches and the rise of the Welsh gentry.

The threat posed by Mary Queen of Scots and the Catholic plots against Elizabeth (the Revolt of the Northern Earls, the Ridolfi, Throckmorton and Babington plots), Walsingham's spy network, and the reasons for and consequences of Mary's execution in 1587.

The Elizabethan Religious Settlement of 1559 (the Acts of Supremacy and Uniformity, the middle way) and the challenges to it from Catholics (recusants, missionary priests) and Puritans, including the impact and reception of the Settlement in Wales.

The causes of the conflict with Spain, the campaign of the Spanish Armada of 1588 (Philip II's aims, the English fireships at Calais, the Battle of Gravelines and the storms), the reasons for the English victory, and its consequences for Elizabeth and England.

How to describe the nominated WJEC Unit 3 historic site for the AO1 questions: its key physical features and layout, its function within the theme, why it was built or located where it was, and the wider context of the time, used as precise evidence rather than vague description.

How to judge the significance of the nominated WJEC Unit 3 historic site using clear criteria: whether it was representative or unique, how far its influence spread, how long its impact lasted, its scale and duration, and how it is remembered, then how to turn that judgement into a supported answer that links the site to change over time.

The compulsory historic site study built into every WJEC Unit 3 thematic study: a nominated historic site that runs for the lifetime of the specification, studied for its features, function and above all its significance, and examined within the compulsory Unit 3 questions through knowledge, second-order concepts and source or interpretation work.