AQA GCSE History specification
The specification (8145) is AQA's own description of the History course: what you can be examined on, how the exams are set out and how they are marked. The link below opens the board's PDF on filestore.aqa.org.uk, so you always get its current version.
Open the 8145 specification (PDF) (opens filestore.aqa.org.uk in a new tab)Everything for AQA GCSE History, with the past papers, grade boundaries and the notes and flashcards people have shared.
How AQA GCSE History is examined
From AQA's grade boundaries for June 2026. Some boards list every optional paper or time-zone variant, so you sit only the ones for your route; the specification says which.
- History Paper 1A Option A40 marks
- History Paper 1A Option B40 marks
- History Paper 1A Option C40 marks
- History Paper 1A Option D40 marks
- History Paper 1B Option A44 marks
- History Paper 1B Option B44 marks
- History Paper 1B Option C44 marks
- History Paper 1B Option D44 marks
- History Paper 1B Option E44 marks
- History Paper 2A Option A44 marks
- History Paper 2A Option B44 marks
- History Paper 2A Option C44 marks
- History Paper 2B Option A40 marks
- History Paper 2B Option B40 marks
- History Paper 2B Option C40 marks
- History Paper 2B Option D40 marks
Turn a mark into a grade · AQA GCSE exam dates · Extra time and access arrangements
Revising from the History specification
Work through the specification's content list and mark what you are unsure of, then practise those parts with AQA's past papers and read your marks against the same year’s grade boundaries.
Common questions
Where can I find the AQA GCSE History specification?
The link on this page opens AQA's own copy of the History specification (8145), a PDF on its website, so you always get the current version. We link to it rather than keep a copy.
What is in the History specification?
A specification is the board's own description of the course: the content you can be examined on, how the exams are set out and how they are marked. It is the most useful single document to revise from, because every exam question has to come from it.
Can I make practice questions from the specification?
Yes. cookie can make exam-style questions from a specification and mark your answers, so you can practise the parts you are least sure of once you run out of past papers.
More specifications: every GCSE specification we link.
cookie is independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed by any exam board. Every paper here is a link to the board's own copy on its own website, and the papers belong to the boards that set them. If a link has stopped working, the board's own past paper page is linked on each course.