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Edexcel · GCSE · History

Free Edexcel GCSE History
Practice Paper

8 mixed-difficulty practice questions in the style of real Edexcel GCSE papers — answers, mark-scheme-style explanations, and the official exam structure all on one page.

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What the real Edexcel GCSE History paper looks like

Paper 1
Approximately 1 hour 30 minutes, ~70-100 marks. Covers Topics 1-4 of the specification.
Paper 2
Approximately 1 hour 30 minutes, ~70-100 marks. Covers Topics 5-8 of the specification.
Paper 3
Where applicable — e.g. Combined Science, Languages. Includes synoptic and applied questions.
Total exam time: ~3 hours across two or three papers.
Grading: Grades: 9 (highest) to 1 (lowest), with U (ungraded). A grade of 4 is a standard pass; 5 is a strong pass.

Mini practice paper: 8 questions

Mixed-difficulty questions from across the History syllabus. Tap "Show answer" after each to check yourself.

Q1 · Difficulty 1/3

What was trial by ordeal?

  1. A trial before a jury of twelve men
  2. A fine paid to the victim's family
  3. A test left to God, such as carrying hot iron
  4. A hearing before a royal judge
Show answer & explanation
✓ Answer: C — A test left to God, such as carrying hot iron
Award 1 mark. When a jury could not decide, the accused might carry hot iron or be thrown into water, with the result taken as God's judgement. The Church withdrew support in 1215. A jury, fines and royal judges were other parts of the system.
Q2 · Difficulty 1/3

What were backyard furnaces?

  1. Ovens used to bake bread in the communes
  2. Factories built by Soviet engineers in cities
  3. Small furnaces used to make steel during the Great Leap Forward
  4. Stoves given to peasants for winter heating
Show answer & explanation
✓ Answer: C — Small furnaces used to make steel during the Great Leap Forward
Award 1 mark. Peasants built hundreds of thousands of small furnaces and melted down pots and tools to meet steel targets, but most of the iron was useless. They were not bread ovens, Soviet-built factories or heating stoves.
Q3 · Difficulty 1/3

What did the Marriage Law of 1950 do?

  1. Made marriage compulsory at sixteen
  2. Banned arranged marriages and allowed divorce
  3. Allowed men to take several wives
  4. Banned marriage for Party members
Show answer & explanation
✓ Answer: B — Banned arranged marriages and allowed divorce
Award 1 mark. The 1950 law banned forced and child marriage and concubinage, and gave women the right to divorce, aiming to end feudal practices. It did not make marriage compulsory, permit several wives or ban Party members from marrying.
Q4 · Difficulty 1/3

Who set up the Bow Street Runners in 1749?

  1. Robert Peel, the home secretary
  2. William Cecil, Lord Burghley
  3. Jonathan Wild, the thief-taker
  4. Henry Fielding, followed by John Fielding
Show answer & explanation
✓ Answer: D — Henry Fielding, followed by John Fielding
Award 1 mark. Henry Fielding, a magistrate, organised paid men to catch criminals in London, and his half-brother John expanded the scheme. Peel created the Metropolitan Police in 1829, Cecil was Elizabeth's minister, and Jonathan Wild was a notorious "thief-taker" criminal.
Q5 · Difficulty 1/3

Which king encouraged Jewish people to settle in England after 1066?

  1. Edward I
  2. William the Conqueror
  3. Henry VIII
  4. Oliver Cromwell
Show answer & explanation
✓ Answer: B — William the Conqueror
Award 1 mark. William brought Jewish families from Rouen, whose moneylending was useful to the Crown. Edward I expelled the Jews in 1290, Henry VIII ruled after they had gone, and Cromwell allowed their return in 1656.
Q6 · Difficulty 1/3

Who allowed Jewish people to return to England in 1656?

  1. Charles I
  2. Elizabeth I
  3. William III
  4. Oliver Cromwell
Show answer & explanation
✓ Answer: D — Oliver Cromwell
Award 1 mark. After a request from Rabbi Menasseh ben Israel, Cromwell informally allowed Jews to settle and worship in England again. Charles I had been executed in 1649, Elizabeth died in 1603, and William III reigned from 1689.
Q7 · Difficulty 1/3

What did the British Nationality Act of 1948 do?

  1. Banned migration from the Commonwealth
  2. Created the National Health Service
  3. Ended British rule in India
  4. Gave Commonwealth citizens the right to live in Britain
Show answer & explanation
✓ Answer: D — Gave Commonwealth citizens the right to live in Britain
Award 1 mark. The Act created the status of "Citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies", so people across the Empire and Commonwealth could come to Britain freely. It did not ban migration, the NHS came from a different Act, and India became independent in 1947.
Q8 · Difficulty 1/3

What did William I's Forest Laws do?

  1. Banned building in the countryside
  2. Made hunting in royal forests a crime
  3. Gave peasants the right to collect wood
  4. Created the first police force
Show answer & explanation
✓ Answer: B — Made hunting in royal forests a crime
Award 1 mark. William declared large areas royal forest, where hunting deer or cutting wood without permission was punished harshly, creating the crime of poaching. The laws took rights away rather than giving them, and did not create a police force.
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Edexcel GCSE History FAQ

What does the Edexcel GCSE History exam look like?
The Edexcel GCSE History exam is structured across 3 components. Paper 1: Approximately 1 hour 30 minutes, ~70-100 marks. Covers Topics 1-4 of the specification. Paper 2: Approximately 1 hour 30 minutes, ~70-100 marks. Covers Topics 5-8 of the specification. Paper 3: Where applicable — e.g. Combined Science, Languages. Includes synoptic and applied questions. Total exam time: ~3 hours across two or three papers.
Can I download a free Edexcel GCSE History past paper?
Real Edexcel past papers are published directly by Edexcel on their official website. Kramizo doesn't redistribute copyrighted past papers, but we do generate free AI-written practice papers in the exact same style — same command words, same difficulty tier, same mark conventions. Use this practice paper as warm-up, then time yourself on official past papers before exam day.
How is Edexcel GCSE History graded?
Grades: 9 (highest) to 1 (lowest), with U (ungraded). A grade of 4 is a standard pass; 5 is a strong pass. Kramizo's practice questions are tagged with difficulty 1-3 mapping roughly to the lower, middle, and top grade boundaries you'll encounter in the real exam.