Citizenship Studies at The Rosewood School for years 10 and 11 is intended to empower pupils to become active citizens and take pride in their communities while they learn more about the society and world in which they live.
Pupils follow an adapted version of the Edexcel GCSE scheme of work, leading not only to a GCSE qualification, but also to a deeper understanding of how they can change the world for the better.
The course covers all five themes of the Edexcel Citizenship Studies GCSE:
- • Theme A: Living together in the UK
- • Theme B: Democracy at work in the UK
- • Theme C: Law and Justice
- • Theme D: Power and Influence
- • Theme E: Taking Citizenship Action
Qualification aims and objectives
The aims and objectives of this qualification are to enable pupils to:
- know and understand what democracy is, how parliamentary democracy operates within the constituent parts of the UK, how government works and how democratic and non-democratic systems of government are different beyond the UK
- know and understand the relationship between the state and citizens, the rights, responsibilities and duties of citizens living and working in the UK and how people participate in democracy
- know and understand the role of the law in society, how laws are shaped and enforced and how the justice system works in England and Wales
- know and understand how taxes are raised and spent by governments, and how national economic and financial policies and decisions relate to individuals
- use and apply knowledge and understanding of key citizenship ideas and concepts, including democracy, government, justice, equality, rights, responsibilities, participation, community, identity and diversity, to think deeply and critically about a wide range of political, social, economic and ethical issues and questions facing society in local to global contexts
- use and apply knowledge and understanding as they formulate citizenship enquiries, explore and research citizenship issues and actions, analyse and evaluate information and interpret sources of evidence
- use and apply citizenship knowledge and understanding to contribute to debates, show understanding of different viewpoints, make persuasive and reasoned arguments, and justify and substantiate their conclusions
- use and apply citizenship knowledge, understanding and skills in order to participate in responsible actions to address citizenship issues aimed at improving society and positively contributing to democracy and public life, as individuals and in collaboration with others
Organisation of the course
Detailed Google Classroom assignments provide lesson activities, resources, links, videos and more to support pupils in developing their knowledge and understanding of Citizenship concepts and ideas.
These assignments form the framework for lessons in school, but are also accessible from home. This supports pupils to cover as much content as possible from this two year course in just one year or less. The Google Classroom assignments are also supported by weekly homework using Seneca.
Despite this time constraint, pupils consistently perform well in the Citizenship Studies GCSE, and those pupils who are prepared to put in the time and effort often go on to achieve the higher grades in this subject.
Improving literacy and extended writing skills are an important part of the course, but teamwork, debating, group work and the consideration of opposing points of view are also equally important.
Perhaps most importantly, Citizenship at KS4 provides pupils with the opportunity to identify an issue they feel strongly about, undertake detailed research about it, and ultimately to plan, carry out and evaluate the effectiveness of their own Citizenship Action in the community.
Please see the overview document above for a more detailed description of how the five themes are covered through Year 10 and Year 11.
Citizenship skills, processes and methods
This qualification require pupils to demonstrate the ability to:
- form their own hypotheses, create sustained and reasoned arguments and reach substantiated conclusions when appropriate
- understand the range of methods and approaches that can be used by governments, organisations, groups and individuals to address citizenship issues in society, including practical citizenship actions
- formulate citizenship enquiries, identifying and sequencing research questions to analyse citizenship ideas, issues and debates
- select and organise their knowledge and understanding in responses and analysis, when creating and communicating their own arguments, explaining hypotheses, ideas and different viewpoints and perspectives, countering viewpoints they do not support, giving reasons and justifying conclusions drawn
- present their own and other viewpoints and represent the views of others, in relation to citizenship issues, causes, situations and concepts
- plan practical citizenship actions aimed at delivering a benefit or change for others in society
- critically evaluate the effectiveness of citizenship actions to assess progress towards the intended aims and impact for the individuals, groups and communities affected
- show knowledge and understanding of the relationships between the different citizenship aspects studied, using the concepts to make connections, identify and compare similarities and differences in a range of situations from local to global.
Qualification at a glance
Content and assessment overview
The Pearson Edexcel Level 1/Level 2 GCSE (9–1) in Citizenship Studies consists of two externally examined papers. Pupils must complete all assessment in May/June in any single year.
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Paper 1 (*Paper code: 1CS0/01) |
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Written examination: 1 hour and 45 minutes 50% of the qualification 80 marks |
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Assessment overview Section A Questions are focused on specification Theme A: Living together in the UK. Section B Questions are focused on specification Theme B: Democracy at work in the UK. Section C Questions are focused on specification Theme C: Law and justice. Section D Extended-response questions related to two or more of specification Themes A–C. |
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Paper 2 (*Paper code: 1CS0/02) |
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Written examination: 1 hour and 45 minutes 50% of the qualification 80 marks |
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Assessment overview Section A Questions relate to the pupils’ own citizenship action, as specified in specification Theme E: Taking citizenship action. Section B Questions require pupils to comment on others’ actions and relate to specification Theme D: Power and influence. Section C Questions are focused on specification Theme D: Power and influence. One question will also link to content in one of Themes A–C.
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