OxfordAQA International GCSE History: Preparing for a New Specification's Depth and Change Papers

OxfordAQA International GCSE History (9245) is a brand-new specification: OxfordAQA states first teaching from 2026, with first examinations from May/June 2028. It is linear and assessed with no coursework by two equally weighted written papers. Paper 1 (International Relations Depth Studies: Conflict and Peace in the 20th Century) and Paper 2 (Studies in Change) each run 1 hour 45 minutes, carry 60 marks and are worth 50%. Each paper offers a choice of optional depth or thematic studies within it, and some sections use pre-released sources issued before the exam. OxfordAQA does not offer History at AS or A-level. These notes complement the site’s guides to International Relations Depth Studies and Studies in Change, and should be read alongside your centre’s own scheme of work, since this is a new specification.

Confirm exactly which depth and thematic studies your centre is teaching

Because both papers offer a choice of options, revising the wrong one – or trying to cover options your centre has not taught – wastes time that the taught options need. Exam-preparation priority: write down precisely which options are being taught for Paper 1 and Paper 2 at the very start of revision planning, and confirm this with your teacher rather than assuming from general reading around the subject.

Pre-released sources reward preparation before the exam, not during it

Where a paper uses pre-released sources, a candidate meeting that material for the first time in the exam room has lost the advantage the format is designed to offer. Exam-preparation priority: once pre-released material is issued, work with it thoroughly – know its provenance, its content, and the questions it is likely to support – well before the exam date.

Depth and change require different kinds of revision

Paper 1’s depth studies reward detailed, specific knowledge of a defined period or conflict; Paper 2’s studies in change reward the ability to trace a longer arc and identify what changed and what stayed the same across it. Exam-preparation priority: build two different kinds of notes – dense chronological detail for depth studies, and a longer timeline with turning points marked for change studies – rather than revising both in the same format.

Source-based answers are built on provenance, not just content

Where a question is source-based, marks depend on considering who produced the source, when, and why, as well as what it says. Exam-preparation priority: practise reading the attribution of a source before its content, and asking what the provenance explains about the emphasis or omissions in what follows.

Change questions need both change and continuity, weighed against each other

A question asking how far something changed is also, implicitly, a question about what stayed the same. Exam-preparation priority: for each period of change studied, be able to state at least one specific example of continuity as well as change, and be ready to weigh which mattered more and for whom.

Worked routine: evaluating a source’s provenance

The routine below is an original model written for this resource, not a reproduction of any official past paper, pre-released source or mark scheme (none of which existed for this new specification at the time of writing).

Step 1 - read the attribution before the content:
Who produced it, when, for whom, and for what purpose?

Step 2 - state what the source says, in your own words:
One or two sentences. If this step is hard, the source has not
yet been properly understood.

Step 3 - connect provenance to content:
Does the author's position, date or purpose explain the emphasis,
omission or tone visible in what the source says?

Step 4 - state what the source is good evidence FOR:
Not just "biased, therefore unreliable" -- say precisely what the
source reliably demonstrates given who produced it and why.

Step 5 - link back to the specific question asked:
A closing sentence connecting the evaluation to the exact demand
of the question.

Step 4 is where marks concentrate: a source’s provenance is information that sharpens what it can be used to show, not simply a reason to dismiss it.

Before/during exam checklist

• Before the exams: confirm exactly which options your centre is teaching for each paper; once pre-released sources are issued, study them thoroughly in advance; build chronological detail notes for depth studies and turning-point timelines for change studies; for each change topic, prepare at least one specific example of continuity as well as change.
• During either paper: read all the attribution details of any source before its content.
• On source-based questions: state what the source says, connect provenance to content, and state what it is good evidence for.
• Given the new specification: check with your teacher for updated guidance and any published specimen materials as they become available.

Self-test

1. Why must the specific options taught by your centre be confirmed before revision planning?
2. What should be done with pre-released sources once they are issued?
3. How should depth-study revision differ from change-study revision?
4. Why is “this source is biased” an incomplete evaluation?

Answers: 1. Because both papers offer a choice of options within them, and revising an untaught or wrong option wastes time that the actually-taught content needs. 2. Studied thoroughly well before the exam – provenance, content and the kinds of questions they are likely to support – so the exam is not the first encounter with the material. 3. Depth studies need dense, specific chronological detail on a defined period; change studies need a longer timeline with turning points and examples of both change and continuity. 4. Because it treats provenance as a reason to dismiss the source rather than as information that sharpens what it reliably demonstrates – the stronger answer states what the source is good evidence for, given who produced it and why.

Written against the assessment section of OxfordAQA’s own new International GCSE History (9245) qualification page (official OxfordAQA page, verified 2026-08-28), which states first teaching from 2026 and first exams from May/June 2028. The provenance routine above is an original model written for this resource, since no official past paper or pre-released source material yet exists for this specification. Always check the current specification and any published specimen assessment materials at oxfordaqa.com.