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OCR GCSE History B (Schools History Project)

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Upload your handwritten or typed OCR History response and get detailed, specification-aligned feedback. See exactly how your thematic analysis, source evaluation, and historical argument score against every OCR Assessment Objective.

OCR GCSE History B — the Schools History Project (SHP) — is one of the most distinctive history qualifications at GCSE. Rather than organising content around discrete periods, SHP asks students to think thematically across long stretches of time, make sense of local and national history through the History Around Us unit, and engage analytically with a focused world period study. The qualification develops historical thinking skills — causation, change over time, significance, and enquiry — as explicit and examinable competencies. OCR History A (Explaining the Modern World) offers a different structure. ReMarkAble AI provides instant feedback aligned to OCR History B's Assessment Objectives and question formats, helping students develop the analytical depth and historical argument skills that SHP demands.

Assessment Objectives

AO1: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding

Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the key features and characteristics of the periods, topics, and themes studied, including the use of historical terms and concepts.

Weighting: ~35%
AO2: Explain and analyse using second-order concepts

Explain and analyse historical events and periods studied using second-order historical concepts: causation, consequence, change and continuity, similarity and difference, significance, and historical interpretations.

Weighting: ~35%
AO3: Analyse, evaluate and use sources

Analyse, evaluate and use sources (contemporary to the period) to make substantiated judgements in the context of historical events studied, considering provenance, content, and context.

Weighting: ~15%
AO4: Analyse and evaluate historical interpretations

Analyse, evaluate and make substantiated judgements about interpretations, including how and why historians may interpret events differently, considering the evidence base and the questions historians ask.

Weighting: ~15%

What We Assess

Thematic study responses — tracing change and continuity across extended time periods (Paper 1)
British depth study essays — focused analysis of a single period in British history (Paper 1)
History Around Us responses — analysis of a historic site and its historical significance (Paper 2)
World period study questions — causation, consequence, and narrative across an international topic (Paper 2)
Source evaluation questions — assessing provenance, content, and utility (Paper 1 and Paper 2)
Extended analytical writing requiring sustained historical argument and judgement

Tips for History

1. Think across time in the thematic study

OCR's thematic study is assessed differently from a period study. The best answers identify and explain patterns of change and continuity across centuries — not just across decades. When asked about change, always specify: what changed, when it changed, how significantly it changed, and what stayed the same despite apparent change. This demonstrates AO2 at the highest level.

2. Treat the History Around Us unit as an analytical exercise

The History Around Us unit asks you to explain what a historic site tells us about the past and why it has historical significance. This is not a descriptive writing exercise — it demands the application of second-order concepts (significance, change over time) to a physical location. Draw on your knowledge of the period alongside the site itself.

3. Construct layered causal arguments

In extended writing questions on causation (AO2), avoid listing causes in equal weight. The strongest answers group causes, explore how they interact, and make a judgement about which factor was most significant. The phrase "the crucial turning point was..." followed by substantiated argument is the mark of a top-band response.

4. Evaluate interpretations, do not just describe them

OCR's AO4 requires you to explain why historians disagree, not just note that they do. Consider: what evidence does each historian prioritise? What questions are they asking? What is their academic context? Showing you understand that interpretations are shaped by evidence and perspective elevates your response beyond mere summary.

5. Use provenance to unlock source questions

OCR source questions reward provenance-driven analysis. Always address nature, origin, and purpose (NOP) and connect these to what the source can and cannot tell us. A newspaper editorial from 1939 is useful for understanding public anxiety — but its purpose to influence opinion means its content reflects desired narratives as much as factual events.

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