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GCSE · Last updated November 2026

GCSE History (9-1) Exam: free practice test

GCSE History covers British and world history across at least three eras, testing your knowledge, your explanations of cause, change and significance, and your use of sources and historians' interpretations. With AQA it is assessed by two 2-hour papers, Understanding the modern world and Shaping the nation, each with a choice of options made by your school. Exams are in the May/June series only.

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About the GCSE History exam

GCSE History covers British and world history across at least three eras, testing your knowledge, your explanations of cause, change and significance, and your use of sources and historians' interpretations. With AQA it is assessed by two 2-hour papers, Understanding the modern world and Shaping the nation, each with a choice of options made by your school. Exams are in the May/June series only.

What's on the exam

GCSE History
Historical Skills: Sources and Interpretations
8 key facts
Germany 1890-1945: Democracy and Dictatorship
8 key facts
Conflict and Tension 1918-1939
8 key facts
Health and Medicine in Britain
8 key facts
Norman England c1066-c1100
8 key facts
Elizabethan England c1568-1603
8 key facts
Exam Technique and Question Types
8 key facts

Each branch is a topic in the official outline. Members see every key fact on the full mind map. Read the free study guide →

How to pass the GCSE History exam

  • Options vary by school. Before revising, find out exactly which four AQA options (or three Edexcel papers) you are sitting, and ignore the rest.
  • AQA papers are 2 hours for 84 marks, so about 1 minute 20 seconds per mark. Do not spend 20 minutes on a 4-mark 'describe' question and rush the 16-mark essay.
  • For source utility questions, judge content, provenance (nature, origin, purpose) and your own contextual knowledge. A biased source can still be very useful.
  • Essay questions want a judgement. Explain both sides, then say which matters more and why, and keep that line of argument through to your conclusion.
  • The 4 SPaG marks on each AQA paper are on specific essay questions. Use specialist terms (appeasement, reparations, feudalism) and spell them correctly.

Save your results and get your Readiness Score

Create a free account after the test: your score by topic, a mistakes bank, the complete study notes for the first topic, flashcards and the GCSE Maths Formula Sheet.

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What's in the premium GCSE History prep

Premium GCSE History prep is studied one topic at a time. Each step starts with that topic's key notes and flashcard deck, then its own question sets of 25, so you master one topic before you move to the next. When every topic is strong, the 6 full mock exams show you're ready.

3,000practice questions, every answer explained
6full-length mock exams, 50 questions each, timed
800flashcards with spaced repetition, sorted by topic
60comprehensive key notes across 7 topics

Your step-by-step study path

  1. 1
    Historical Skills: Sources and Interpretations9 key notes, 115 flashcards, then 450 practice questions in 18 sets of 25
    Notes free with an account
  2. 2
    Germany 1890-1945: Democracy and Dictatorship9 key notes, 115 flashcards, then 425 practice questions in 17 sets of 25
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  3. 3
    Conflict and Tension 1918-19399 key notes, 115 flashcards, then 425 practice questions in 17 sets of 25
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  4. 4
    Health and Medicine in Britain9 key notes, 115 flashcards, then 425 practice questions in 17 sets of 25
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  5. 5
    Norman England c1066-c11008 key notes, 115 flashcards, then 425 practice questions in 17 sets of 25
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  6. 6
    Elizabethan England c1568-16038 key notes, 115 flashcards, then 425 practice questions in 17 sets of 25
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  7. 7
    Exam Technique and Question Types8 key notes, 110 flashcards, then 425 practice questions in 17 sets of 25
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  8. Final step: 6 full mock exams50 questions each, timed like exam day. Hit your target on them before your first paper.
    Premium
Free with an account

Read the complete GCSE History study notes for “Historical Skills: Sources and Interpretations”

Our first full set of comprehensive notes, about 15 minutes of reading: Sources and interpretations are not the same thing · Judging usefulness: content, provenance, context · Bias and reliability · Reading cartoons and visual sources · Why interpretations differ · AQA question patterns · Edexcel and OCR, a worked exam example, the traps examiners use and a one-minute recap. Create a free account to read it and see how premium notes work before you decide.

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Study tools included

3,000 practice questions

3,000 exam-style questions per exam, organised topic by topic in sets of 25. Every answer explained, with the rule it comes from.

6 full mock exams

6 full-length timed mock exams per exam, with real question counts and time limits, so test day feels like practice day.

Exam Readiness Score

One 0 to 100 number that tells you when you're ready for exam day. Reach 80 and you're covered by our Pass Guarantee.

800 flashcards + spaced repetition

800 flashcards per exam, in a deck for each topic, that come back right before you'd forget them. Five minutes a day keeps every number fresh.

60 comprehensive key notes

60 key notes per exam, split across its topics and each explained in full: the concepts, worked exam examples, the traps examiners use and a quick recap. Your first set is free with an account.

Mind maps

See the whole exam on one screen: every topic and the facts under it.

Sample questions with answers

These are the questions in the free test above, with answers. Try the test first. You'll learn more by getting some wrong.

1. When judging how useful a source is, which three aspects of its provenance should you consider?
Answer: Nature, origin and purpose. Provenance means where a source comes from: its nature (what kind of source), origin (who made it and when) and purpose (why it was made). You combine this with its content and your own knowledge.
2. Two historians give different interpretations of the same event. Which is the best explanation of why interpretations can differ?
Answer: The historians may have different purposes, audiences or evidence, or focus on different aspects of the event. Interpretations differ because of their provenance: who wrote them, when, for whom, why, and what evidence they used or chose to emphasise. Neither needs to be 'lying' for both to be valid.
3. A 1934 Nazi poster shows a happy, well-fed family with the slogan 'Hitler builds, help him'. Why is it useful to a historian studying Nazi Germany?
Answer: It shows the image of family life the Nazi regime wanted Germans to believe. Propaganda is unreliable as evidence of real conditions, but it is very useful as evidence of what the regime wanted people to think and the values it promoted.
4. In 1923, French and Belgian troops occupied Germany's main industrial area after Germany fell behind with reparations payments. What was this event?
Answer: The occupation of the Ruhr. The occupation of the Ruhr began in January 1923. The government backed passive resistance and printed money to pay striking workers, which worsened hyperinflation.
5. What did Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution allow?
Answer: The President to rule by emergency decree without the Reichstag's consent. Article 48 gave the President emergency powers. Hindenburg used it heavily from 1930 to 1932, weakening parliamentary democracy before Hitler came to power. The 100,000 army limit came from the Treaty of Versailles.
6. Which of these events happened first?
Answer: The Reichstag Fire. The Reichstag Fire was on 27 February 1933, the Enabling Act passed on 23 March 1933, the Night of the Long Knives was on 30 June 1934, and Hitler became Führer after Hindenburg died in August 1934.
7. What was Article 231 of the Treaty of Versailles?
Answer: The war guilt clause, making Germany accept responsibility for the war. Article 231 is the war guilt clause. It provided the justification for reparations and was one of the terms Germans resented most, calling the treaty a Diktat.
8. Why did the League of Nations fail to stop Italy's invasion of Abyssinia in 1935-36?
Answer: Sanctions did not include oil, and Britain and France kept the Suez Canal open to Italian ships. The League imposed limited sanctions but not on oil, and Britain and France did not close the Suez Canal, partly to keep Mussolini as an ally against Hitler. Abyssinia was a League member, and Japan had already left in 1933.
9. Who published germ theory in 1861, showing that microbes in the air cause decay?
Answer: Louis Pasteur. Pasteur's germ theory (1861) disproved spontaneous generation. Koch then identified the specific bacteria that cause diseases such as tuberculosis (1882) and cholera (1883).
10. Why was the 1875 Public Health Act more effective than the 1848 Public Health Act?
Answer: It made local councils provide clean water, drainage and sewage removal, rather than leaving it optional. The 1848 Act was permissive: towns could choose to set up boards of health. The 1875 Act was compulsory, helped by germ theory, the vote for working men in towns (1867) and evidence such as John Snow's work on cholera.
11. At which battle did Harold Godwinson defeat Harald Hardrada and Tostig in September 1066?
Answer: Battle of Stamford Bridge. Harold won at Stamford Bridge on 25 September 1066. Fulford Gate (20 September) was Hardrada's victory over Earls Edwin and Morcar, and Hastings (14 October) was Harold's defeat by William.
12. What was the main purpose of the Domesday Book (1086)?
Answer: To record who held land and what it was worth, so William knew what tax and service he was owed. The Domesday survey recorded landholders, resources and values across most of England. It strengthened royal control over taxation and showed how far Norman lords had replaced Anglo-Saxon ones.
13. Which plot, uncovered by Walsingham in 1586, led directly to the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots?
Answer: The Babington Plot. Walsingham intercepted letters in which Mary approved the Babington Plot to kill Elizabeth. Mary was tried and executed in February 1587. The Gunpowder Plot was in 1605, under James I.
14. What was the main aim of the 1601 Poor Law?
Answer: To make each parish responsible for its poor, paid for by a compulsory poor rate. The 1601 Act made parishes look after the 'deserving' poor through a compulsory local poor rate, while able-bodied people who refused to work could still be punished.
15. In AQA Paper 2 Section A (for example Health and the people), what does the final 16-mark essay question ask you to do?
Answer: Evaluate one stated factor against other factors across the whole period. The thematic essay names one factor, such as war or the role of the individual, and asks whether it was the main factor. You weigh it against others across the whole period. It carries 16 marks plus 4 for SPaG.

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Exam guide

GCSE History exam guide (2027): GCSE History is one of the most popular optional GCSEs, but no two schools teach quite the same course. Every board offers a menu of options, and your school picks the units you sit. This guide explains how AQA 8145 papers are built, the most widely studied options, how Edexcel and OCR differ, the 2027 exam dates, how grading works and how to plan your revision.

GCSE History exam FAQ

How many questions are on the GCSE History exam?

AQA: 2 written papers of 84 marks each, including 4 marks for spelling, punctuation and grammar (168 marks in total), with a time limit of 4 hours in total (aqa: 2 × 2 hours). edexcel uses 3 papers totalling 4 hours 40 minutes. Format: written exam, no tiers. topic options vary by school: your school chooses which period, depth and thematic studies you sit, so check the exact options on your papers.

What is the passing score for GCSE History?

Grade 4 is a standard pass and grade 5 a strong pass. Boundaries are set after every exam series, so aim for 70% in practice.

How much does the GCSE History exam cost?

No fee for school and college students (the school pays). Private candidates pay the exam centre; fees vary by centre. School and college students don't pay exam fees themselves. Private candidates pay the exam centre, and fees vary by centre and board.

Which languages is the GCSE History exam offered in?

English.

Where do I take the GCSE History exam?

At your school or college, or as a private candidate at an exam centre that accepts them.

Is this GCSE History practice test free?

Yes. The 15-question practice test on this page is free, with an explanation for every answer and no signup. A free account also unlocks the complete study notes for the first topic. The full GCSE History prep is Premium at £29 a month for this exam.

What's in the premium GCSE History prep?

3,000 practice questions organised topic by topic (Historical Skills: Sources and Interpretations: 450; Germany 1890-1945: Democracy and Dictatorship: 425; Conflict and Tension 1918-1939: 425; Health and Medicine in Britain: 425; Norman England c1066-c1100: 425; Elizabethan England c1568-1603: 425; Exam Technique and Question Types: 425), 6 full-length timed mock exams of 50 questions, 800 flashcards and 60 comprehensive key notes split across all 7 topics, plus a mistakes bank and the Readiness Score.

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Exam details are summarised from the exam boards' published specifications available in November 2026. the exam boards changes formats and fees, so confirm with AQA (8145), Pearson Edexcel (1HI0) and OCR (J410 and J411) before you book. Kennington College is not affiliated with any exam board or with Ofqual.

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