The department aims to make the learning experience as stimulating as possible by using a wide variety of teaching methods within the classroom. This approach is supplemented by a programme of study visits which has included excursions to Rochester Castle and Cathedral, Hampton Court Palace, the Imperial War Museum, and the Museum of London as well as GCSE and A Level revision workshops.

The GCSE course consists of a detailed study of modern European and world history which focuses on the Russian Revolution, 1910-24, the Soviet Union, 1928-91, Nazi Germany, 1930-39, and the United States, 1941-80 together with a coursework component that explores the developing role of women in Britain between 1900 and 1928.

AS topics include the reign of Henry VII, 1485-1509, Henry VIII and the English Reformation, 1529-47, and Civil Rights in the USA, 1945-68; those at A2 include a survey of the Tudor state, 1485-1603, the ‘mid-Tudor crisis’, 1547-58, and an individual assignment.

There is a popular History society which holds regular, well-attended events.

Mrs Susan Scriven and Dr Sophie Murray (Joint Acting Heads of Department)