GCSE Social Studies - Teaching from 2026

The GCSE Social Studies qualification will support the Curriculum for Wales by: 

• Supporting the statements of what matters by giving learners the opportunity to: 
  
  • gain a deeper understanding of the concepts underpinning humanities, and their application in local, national and global contexts 
  • explore concepts, including questioning, evidence, evaluation, ethics and judgements 
  • form their own informed viewpoints and recognise those of others 
  • gather, justify, present, analyse, and evaluate a range of evidence 
  • explore how and why interpretations may differ and by critical understanding of a range of interpretations and representations derived from a variety of evidence 
  • understand and appreciate how and why places in their locality and elsewhere in Wales, as well as in the wider world, are changing 
  • develop their own identity and an awareness of how they, as individuals, can shape the communities in which they live 
  • develop an appreciation of identity, heritage and cynefin, helping build their sense of self and of belonging 
  • appreciate how the evolution of places, communities and societies is driven by the interplay between a range of factors, including environmental, economic, social, political and cultural processes and human actions 
  • develop a critical understanding of how societies are and have been organised, structured and led, in the learners’ own locality and in Wales, as well as in the wider world 
  • be active, informed, and responsible citizens and consumers, who can identify with and contribute to their communities, and who can engage with the past, contemporary and anticipated challenges and opportunities facing them, their communities and Wales, as well as the wider world 
  • develop as self-aware, informed, ethical global citizens, who critically reflect on their own and others’ beliefs, values and attitudes.
• Supporting the principles of progression by encouraging learners to: 
  
  • ask increasingly sophisticated enquiry questions 
  • demonstrate greater independence in finding suitable information, making informed predictions and hypotheses, and making judgements 
  • become more able to effectively work with others, especially, but not limited to, taking part in social action 
  • increase their breadth and depth of knowledge and underlying concepts 
  • develop an understanding of themselves in the world 
  • demonstrate an ability to work with an increasing number and sophistication of sources of information, and a growing understanding of how to resolve contradictory or conflicting accounts 
  • continually refine and develop a growing sophistication of key disciplinary skills, including those relating to enquiry such as framing questions and using evidence to construct and support an answer, and relating that to representation and interpretation of enquiry results 
  • demonstrate a growing ability to transfer existing skills and knowledge into new, and increasingly unfamiliar contexts 
  • demonstrate a greater ability to influence events by exercising informed and responsible citizenship. 
• Supporting the subject specific considerations for Social Studies by: 
  
  • developing an understanding of the discipline and its value 
  • encouraging conceptual understanding of the world by learning about people and their values, in different times, places and circumstances 
  • providing rich contexts to explore social issues, identity, rights and responsibilities, and social organisation 
  • encouraging active participation and engagement with social issues through social enquiry, discussions and social action 
  • developing an understanding of how systems of government in Wales operate and affect people’s lives, and how they compare with other systems 
  • exploring the concepts of governance, rights, equality, inequality, ethnicity, gender and poverty.