GCSE History
The one compulsory digital demand is Unit 2, a 3 hour historical enquiry completed on screen through the WJEC e-assessment platform, where learners read the question, timeline and sources on screen and plan, write and refine an extended answer. Evaluating sources and interpretations runs through every unit, and accessing sources digitally is encouraged but not assessed. The biggest thing KS3 should build is fluent on-screen reading and typing of structured, source-based extended answers under time.
- Awarding body
- WJEC
- Level
- Level 1 and Level 2
- First taught
- September 2026
- Amount of digital work
- Medium
- Specification
- Open the specification
How this qualification is assessed
- Unit 1: An in-depth study on Welsh history: Written examination 1 hour, 30%
- Unit 2: An in-depth study on European and/or World history: On-screen non-examination assessment 3 hours, 20%, marked by WJEC
- Unit 3: A study of a period in world history: Written examination 1 hour, 30%
- Unit 4: A changing society: Non-examination assessment 4 hours 15 minutes, 20%, marked by the centre and moderated by WJEC
Skills that use Digital rights, licensing and ownership
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Analysing media representation, propaganda and edited images
Depending on the options a centre chooses, learners study media representation after 9/11, Nazi propaganda and censorship, or the role of film and television in shaping attitudes. This is option dependent, not universal.
DCF: Health and well-being, Digital rights, licensing and ownership
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils analyse a Second World War propaganda poster, then design their own in PowerPoint and label the persuasive techniques they used.
- Year 8
- Pupils compare an original and an edited version of a historical photograph, such as Soviet images with figures removed, and explain why it was changed.
- Year 9
- Pupils examine how news websites and TV news presented a recent event, identifying stereotypes and how they could shape public attitudes.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit 2, Option 2.6.5, page 39; Option 2.5, page 36; Unit 3, Option 3.6.5, page 52
“media representation and the impact on racial perceptions in the US”
Progression step 3
I can identify marketing elements designed to draw my attention.
I can understand that images can be edited digitally and can discuss rights and permissions associated with this.
Progression step 4
I can identify stereotypes and their impact in a range of media.
Progression step 5
I can think critically about the different purposes and contexts of digital image editing, e.g. explore the benefits and negative points of photograph manipulation, evaluate digitally edited images in terms of context and purpose.
Good to know
- Unit 1 and Unit 3 are each a "Written examination: 1 hour" (Summary of assessment, pages 5 and 6), with no on-screen element.
- Only Unit 2 is described as "On-screen non-examination assessment: 3 hours" (page 5). Unit 4 is listed as "Non-examination assessment: 4 hours 15 minutes" (page 6) and the specification does not state whether it is completed on screen or on paper.
- Accessing sources digitally and visits "in person or digitally" are learning experiences where "the experiences will not be directly assessed" (page 55).
- The Unit 2 question is only released "within WJEC’s e-assessment platform from the start of the assessment window" (page 57), so learners first meet it on screen.
- Appendix A ticks the Digital Competence strands of Citizenship, Interacting and Collaborating, and Producing for Units 2 and 4 only, and Data and Computational Thinking for no unit (page 63).
Links with other qualifications
Evaluating the reliability of online sources overlaps with Geography Unit 4 research, and on-screen extended writing overlaps with other subjects using WJEC e-assessment.
Source: WJEC GCSE History specification, Teaching from 2026, For award from 2028, Version 6, June 2026.