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  • Cambridge International AS & A Level History (9489)

Cambridge International AS & A Level History (9489)

Syllabus overview

Cambridge International AS and A Level History is a flexible and wide-ranging syllabus covering modern history in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The syllabus builds upon skills gained at Cambridge IGCSE or Cambridge O Level and develops lifelong skills including understanding issues and themes within a historical period.

The emphasis is again on both historical knowledge and on the skills required for historical research. Learners develop an understanding of cause and effect, continuity and change, similarity and difference, and use historical evidence as part of their studies. Both at AS and A Level learners can select from topics on European, American or International history.

Teachers choose which periods to focus on, allowing them to build a course that reflects their learners' interests and staff specialisms, or which is relevant to the local or regional context.

This syllabus replaces Cambridge International AS & A Level History (9389) from 2021 onwards. The last series of AS & A Level History (9389) will be November 2021.

Syllabuses

The syllabus year refers to the year in which the examination will be taken.

  • 2021 - 2023 Syllabus (PDF, 351KB)
    • 2021 - 2023 Syllabus update (PDF, 114KB)
    • 2021 Legacy Notice (PDF, 102KB)
  • 2024 - 2025 Syllabus (PDF, 774KB)

Syllabus support

  • Support for History (PDF, 1MB)

Syllabus updates

  • Summary of the changes
    • We have reviewed Cambridge International AS & A Level History as part of our rolling review programme to make sure it reflects the latest trends in this subject and developments in education. We have made some changes to meet the needs of students, teachers and higher education institutions around the world. The following changes are for assessment in 2021, 2022 and 2023.

      How has the syllabus changed?

      • We have refreshed the content and reviewed the amount of optionality within question papers to make sure candidates continue to benefit from having a range of options to choose from.
      • For the first time, we have included a list of key concepts to deepen students' understanding. These are essential ideas, theories, principles or mental tools that help learners to develop a deep understanding and to make links and connections across the subject:
        • cause & consequence
        • change & continuity
        • similarity & difference
        • significance
        • interpretations.
      • We have added a list of command words and their meanings to help learners know what’s expected of them in the exam.
      • The syllabus code will change to 9489.

      How has the assessment changed?

      • Papers 1 and 2 will share the same content and learners will continue to study one of three options: European, American or International.
      • Each option will consist of 4 topics, which will rotate year-on-year. The topic which is the focus of Paper 1 in June and November of any given year is not used to set the questions for Paper 2. There will be a table in the syllabus clarifying when each topic will be used for which papers.
      • Paper 3 Topic 1 The Causes and Impact of British Imperialism will be replaced by The Origins of the First World War.
      • Paper 4: Depth study 4: African History, 1945–91, and Depth study 5:
        Southeast Asian History, 1945–90s (available in November only) have been removed.

      When do these changes take place?

      The updated syllabus is for examination in June and November 2021, 2022 and 2023. Please see the 2021-2023 syllabus above for full details.

  • Teaching and learning resources
    • Coming soon

      We are developing a wide range of support to help you plan and teach the 2021-2023 syllabus.

      Support

      Look out for a range of support including a Scheme of work, Example candidate responses, Teacher and Learner guides. These materials will be available before first teaching from April 2019 onwards through our School Support Hub.

      Endorsed resources

      View the latest resources that are being developed for the Cambridge International AS & A Level History syllabus (9489).

      AS History International 1840-1945Cambridge International AS Level History (Cambridge University Press)

      Increased depth of coverage and closely mapped to the new Cambridge syllabus, this series provides a wide range of source material and language support. Builds confidence in the skills of language, essay writing and evaluation.

      Read more on the Cambridge University Press website

      AS & AS Level HistoryAccess to History for Cambridge International AS Level (Hodder)

      Develop knowledge and analytical skills with engaging and comprehensive coverage of the Cambridge International AS Level History syllabuses for examination from 2021.

      Read more on the Hodder website

Subscribe to syllabus updates

Important notices

  • Withdrawal of Cambridge International AS & A Level History (9489)
    • We are withdrawing Cambridge International AS & A Level History (9489) from the March exam series. The last March series for this syllabus will be March 2025. 

      From 2026, we will only offer this syllabus in the June and November exam series.

      We communicated this change to schools in September 2022.

  • Grade descriptions
    • For some subjects, the syllabus states that Grade Descriptions will be made available after first assessment in 2020, 2021 or 2022.

      Publication of grade descriptions was paused in response to the Covid-19 pandemic and the temporary changes to the grading standard that have been in place for 2020, 2021 and 2022. We are currently working on producing these grade descriptions. This work will make sure that grade descriptions reflect examination outcomes appropriately and are based on the more stable grading standard that we expect to have in place for June 2023 onwards.

  • Front covers
    • From 2020, we have made some changes to the wording and layout of the front covers of our question papers to reflect the new Cambridge International branding and to make instructions clearer for candidates - learn more.

School Support Hub

We provide a wide range of support so that teachers can give their learners the best possible preparation for Cambridge programmes and qualifications. For teachers at registered Cambridge schools, support materials for specific syllabuses are available from the School Support Hub (username and password required).

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