AQA GCSE History Paper 1b Section B/e 2025 Mark Scheme

Download the official AQA GCSE History Paper 1 Section B/E mark scheme for the June 2025 exam series (8145/1B/E) — the final v1.0 examiner-approved document used during live GCSE assessment. This downloadable PDF contains authentic examiner guidance, level-of-response descriptors, SPaG criteria, indicative content, source-analysis guidance, and detailed marking structures used by AQA examiners during the 2025 examination series.

The mark scheme covers Conflict and Tension in the Gulf and Afghanistan, 1990–2009, including questions on Osama bin Laden, the War on Terror, Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, the Gulf War, Saddam Hussein, the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and international responses to terrorism after 9/11. Students can analyse exactly how AQA awards marks for source analysis, source utility evaluation, narrative accounts, causation explanations, and extended 16-mark judgement essays.

The document includes detailed level descriptors for AO1, AO2, and AO3 assessment skills, alongside examiner guidance for constructing sustained judgements, evaluating historical sources, and developing balanced historical arguments. The mark scheme also explains how SPaG marks are awarded in extended GCSE History essays and demonstrates the differences between Level 1, Level 2, Level 3, and Level 4 responses.

Students and teachers can study examiner-approved historical content including al-Qaeda terrorism, the Twin Towers attacks, President George W Bush’s War on Terror, Operation Desert Storm, UN sanctions against Iraq, sectarian violence after 2003, insurgency in Iraq, refugee crises, oil supply concerns, and the long-term consequences of Saddam Hussein’s downfall. Ideal for GCSE History revision, mock exam marking, intervention sessions, examiner-standard self-assessment, and preparation for the 2026 GCSE History exams.

This document is designed for Year 10 and Year 11 students studying GCSE History Conflict and Tension in the Gulf and Afghanistan, 1990–2009 under the AQA 8145 specification, including students preparing for the 2026 exams, retake candidates, private candidates, and home-schooled learners aiming for grades 7–9.

It is also highly valuable for history teachers, tutors, intervention coordinators, revision centres, and parents who require authentic examiner guidance for source analysis, narrative account questions, causation essays, SPaG assessment, and structured GCSE History feedback using official June 2025 marking criteria.