Your assessment route for IGCSE History 0470 is set by your exam year, your entry and what your school or centre has confirmed. This page does not state paper numbers, durations or weightings, because those belong in the Cambridge document for your year. It tells you what to check and who can answer.
Work through the checklist below and write each answer in your notes with the source and date.
What should I check, and with whom?
| What to confirm | Who can answer | Where to read the rules |
|---|---|---|
| Exam year and series | Your exam centre | Your entry confirmation |
| Syllabus code 0470 | Your exam centre | Cambridge 0470 page |
| Core option you follow | Your History teacher | Syllabus content section |
| Depth study you follow | Your History teacher | Syllabus content section |
| Components you are entered for | Your exam centre | Syllabus assessment section |
| Coursework or independent work, if any | Your History teacher and centre | Syllabus and centre guidance |
| Access arrangements | Your exam centre | Cambridge and your centre |
| Calculator, equipment or materials rules | Your exam centre | Syllabus and exam-day instructions |
If any row is unclear, ask in writing and keep the reply. A screenshot of a message is enough.
How do I read the syllabus for my year?
Open the Cambridge History 0470 page and choose the syllabus for your exam year. One example is the syllabus for examinations 2027 to 2028, whose content overview on page 8 shows how the content is organised. Use the document for your own year, not this example, if you sit a different series.
Read three parts in this order. The content overview shows the options and depth studies. The assessment overview describes the components. The assessment objectives describe the skills, and these are the real guide to what earns marks.
The syllabus and exam-year navigator helps keep your year and document together, and the syllabus-version comparison viewer helps when you have notes from an older year.
Worked example: turning a syllabus statement into practice
Take an invented statement, written in the style of an assessment objective: “Use sources to support a point and judge how far they support it.” This is not quoted from Cambridge. It is an example of how to convert any such statement into practice.
Step 1, underline the verbs. “Use”, “support” and “judge”. Three separate actions.
Step 2, turn each verb into a check. Did I use a detail from the source? Did I say which claim it supports? Did I say how far, and why it is limited?
Step 3, write a practice task. Give yourself one source and one claim, such as “the harbour tax was the main reason traders left”. Write four sentences: what the source says, how it supports the claim, what it cannot show, and your conclusion.
Step 4, mark the four sentences against the three checks. A sentence that only repeats the source fails the first check. A sentence with no limit fails the third.
The same conversion works for every skill statement in your own syllabus, which is why the assessment objectives matter more than the topic list.
What about coursework or independent work?
Some routes include independent work, and some do not. Only your school or centre can tell you which applies to you. If it does, the work must stay yours: choose your own question, find and use your own evidence, and write in your own words.
A teacher can explain what a good plan looks like and how to reference evidence. A teacher should not write or rewrite your submission. The assessment route and independent work module covers permissible preparation.
What should I avoid assuming?
That a friend’s papers are yours. Components can differ by route.
That old paper formats still apply. Use the document for your own year.
That all topics on the website are examined for you. Only your option and depth study are. Use the study route guide to narrow them.
Where does tuition fit?
Tuition cannot change your entry or your route. It can help you practise the skills your route tests, once you have confirmed it. Read about our online one-to-one History tuition, including the paid one-hour trial starting from RM80 at the assigned teacher’s confirmed rate.
Try the original practice page for non-assessed exercises with explained answers.