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NSW Curriculum
NSW Education Standards Authority

7–10History Elective 7–10 Syllabus (2025)

Implementation from 2028
Expand for detailed implementation advice

Content

Stage 4

School-developed option

Across a 100-hour course or a 200-hour Stage 5 course, students may study only ONE school-developed option.

The content selected for the school-developed option must not duplicate content studied in other NESA 7–12 HSIE syllabuses.

Content in Thinking and working historically outlines how historical concepts and skills are to be integrated with all other content in this focus area as part of the process of historical inquiry.

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Investigation

Select one depth study option for investigation. Choose from either a Focus on historical approaches or a Focus on historical narratives, or a combination of both. Students study content from the content groups Thinking and working historically and The nature of history.

Thinking and working historically
  • Evaluate and use relevant historical concepts and skills

  • Engage in historical inquiry, analysing and integrating information from a range of sources as evidence

  • Examine the different approaches, methods and tools used to investigate history OR how historical narratives can be used to represent a historical context related to a school-developed option

  • Explain the different interpretations of selected written sources, oral sources or material culture

  • Create written texts to analyse historical concepts related to the selected school-developed option

Nature of history – Historical approaches
  • Features of the selected option

  • Changing practices in investigating the past

  • Importance of preserving historical and archaeological materials

  • Significance of the selected option in understanding the past

  • Ethical considerations related to the investigation of the selected option

Nature of history – Historical narratives
  • Background and historical context of the selected option

  • Key developments in the selected option

  • Experiences of groups or individuals in the selected option

  • Significance of the selected option in understanding the past

  • Impact and legacy of the selected option

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