United Kingdom · National Curriculum Attainment Targets
Year 12 History
Key Stage 5 A-Level History Year 12: a comprehensive study of the Tudor Dynasty (1485-1603) and the evolution of the British State, focusing on political authority, religious reformation, and social transformation.
Henry VII: The First Tudor
Securing the throne and establishing the foundations of Tudor governance after the Wars of the Roses.
Analysing the immediate steps Henry took to claim the throne and diminish Yorkist opposition.
Examining the challenges posed by Lovell, Simnel, and Warbeck to the fledgling dynasty.
The use of new administrative bodies to enforce royal authority and increase revenue.
The controversial methods used to ensure the loyalty of the nobility through debt.
The pursuit of international recognition through treaties and marriage diplomacy.
The state of the pre-reformation Church and its relationship with the Crown.
Henry VIII: The Early Years and Wolsey
The rise of Thomas Wolsey and the shift towards a more aggressive foreign policy.
Contrasting the new King's personality and goals with those of his father.
How a butcher's son from Ipswich became the second most powerful man in England.
The pursuit of military glory and the impact of the Battle of Flodden.
The peak of diplomatic pageantry and its limited practical outcomes.
Wolsey's attempts at legal and financial reform and the resistance they met.
The origins of the quest for an annulment from Catherine of Aragon.
The rapid collapse of Wolsey's power following his failure to secure the annulment.
The Break with Rome and Thomas Cromwell
The legislative revolution that created the Church of England and centralised power.
The emergence of a new type of minister and the use of Parliament to solve the Great Matter.
The legal framework that established the King as Head of the Church.
The economic and social impact of the closure of religious houses.
The largest domestic uprising of the Tudor period and its motivations.
The early attempts to define the doctrine of the new Church of England.
The Cleves marriage, factionalism, and the end of Cromwell's influence.
Henry VIII: The Final Years and Legacy
Factional politics, renewed warfare, and the transition to the reign of Edward VI.
The shift back towards Catholic orthodoxy and the Act of Six Articles.
Henry's attempt to secure the northern border and the marriage of Mary Queen of Scots.
The final military campaigns and the enormous financial cost of war.
The struggle for influence over the aging King and the future of the regency.
The arrangements for the minority reign of Edward VI and how they were subverted.
Edward VI: The Boy King and the Protestant Revolution
The radical religious changes under Somerset and Northumberland.
The "Good Duke's" approach to government, social problems, and war.
The dual threat of social unrest in Norfolk and religious resistance in the West.
The shift to a more efficient and politically ruthless style of government.
The systematic dismantling of Catholic ritual and the imposition of Zwinglian ideas.
The "Devise for the Succession" and the attempt to bypass Mary Tudor.
Mary I: The Catholic Restoration
The attempt to undo the Reformation and the challenges of the Spanish marriage.
The process of returning England to papal obedience and the repeal of Edwardian laws.
The political and social opposition to Mary's union with Philip II of Spain.
The burning of nearly 300 Protestants and the creation of the "Bloody Mary" myth.
England's involvement in the Habsburg-Valois conflict and its disastrous outcome.
Harvest failures, sweating sickness, and administrative reforms.
Elizabeth I: The Early Years and the Via Media
Establishing the Elizabethan Settlement and navigating the early threats to her rule.
The 1559 Acts of Supremacy and Uniformity and the creation of the "Middle Way".
The roles of William Cecil and Robert Dudley in the early Elizabethan court.
Mary's arrival in England in 1568 and the dilemma she posed for Elizabeth.
The last major feudal uprising and the first serious attempt to depose Elizabeth.
The Pope's Regnans in Excelsis and the shift towards a more defensive policy.
Intervention in the Scottish Reformation and the Treaty of Edinburgh.
Elizabethan Society, Economy, and the Golden Age
Exploring the cultural achievements and social challenges of the late 16th century.
The social and economic ascent of the landowning class below the nobility.
The distinction between the "deserving" and "undeserving" poor and the 1601 Act.
The voyages of Drake, Hawkins, and Raleigh and the birth of English maritime power.
The impact of Shakespeare, Marlowe, and the growth of London's playhouses.
The mission of Campion and Parsons and the government's repressive response.
The growth of Presbyterianism and the crackdown under Archbishop Whitgift.
The climax of the Anglo-Spanish conflict and its long-term consequences.
The factionalism of the 1590s, the Essex Rebellion, and the transition to James I.
An overview of the century's changes in monarchy, religion, and the state.