A study route for IGCSE History is the list of things you are actually assessed on: your core option, your depth study and the way your school enters you. Build the route first, then the revision plan. A plan built on the wrong topics wastes the weeks you have.
This page shows how to confirm your route, turn it into an order of work, and handle the traps that appear when classmates follow different options.
What makes up a History route?
Four facts define your route. Write them first on a page and keep it in your folder.
- Your exam year. Syllabus content and assessment details can change between exam years, so the year decides which document applies.
- Your core option. The syllabus describes selectable core options. Your school or centre has chosen which one you follow.
- Your depth study. This is a bounded period or country studied in more detail, again chosen by the school or centre.
- Your assessment route. This includes whether your entry involves coursework or other independent work. The assessment route guide shows what to check.
Your school or exam centre confirms these. Entry decisions are not ours to make.
How do I confirm it?
Ask your teacher for the four facts in writing, then open the Cambridge History 0470 page and download the syllabus for your exam year. Find the page that lists your option and depth study. The syllabus and exam-year navigator helps you keep the year and document together.
Link each named unit to a module on this site. The topic map in the subject guide lists them all, and the modules for options and depth studies say clearly when they apply.
Worked example: turning a route into an order of work
Imagine a student, Aina, told by her school that she follows one core option and one depth study, with a fixed entry route. She has about twenty weeks before her exams and four study hours a week. She builds her route like this.
Step 1, list the units. She copies the unit names from the syllabus into a table with three columns: unit, how confident she feels (1 to 5), and a link to the relevant page.
Step 2, place the skills first. She spends weeks 1 to 3 on chronology, evidence and causation, about twelve hours in all. This is 12 of her 80 total hours, or 15 per cent.
Step 3, reserve time to write. She keeps the last 16 hours for timed answers, which leaves 80 − 12 − 16 = 52 hours for content.
Step 4, allocate content by confidence. Her table shows two units rated 2 and three rated 4. She gives each weaker unit 14 hours and each stronger unit 8 hours, so 2 × 14 + 3 × 8 = 28 + 24 = 52.
The exact numbers are hers. What matters is the shape: skills first, content by need, writing throughout, and a final block for timed answers. Test each number against your own calendar, because a plan you cannot keep helps nobody.
What mistakes do students make?
Copying a friend’s notes. The friend may follow another option. The notes can be excellent and still cover the wrong unit. Always check the unit name before you start.
Studying the period that interests you. Interest is a fine reason to read, and a poor reason to allocate exam time. Put your own route first.
Treating the syllabus as a textbook. It says what is assessed, not how to learn it. Use it as the checklist, and use lessons and your class notes to learn.
Skipping the skills. A student can know a period well and still lose marks by repeating what a source says. The skills modules fix that.
When might one-to-one help?
Self-study can work well when your route is clear and you have a steady routine. A teacher helps in three cases. You cannot tell which topics are yours, or your notes are thorough but your answers drift from the question.
Or you want someone to read your writing and say where the support stops.
Read about our online one-to-one History tuition for how enquiry, assignment and the paid trial work. Once your route is clear, the revision guide shows how to plan from the gaps your answers reveal.