Initial analysis of characters listed in History GCSE and A level specifications for AQA, Edexcel and OCR

The specifications for GCSE and A level across the three UK exam boards AQA, Edexcel and OCR were catalogued in order to quantify the number of male characters and number of female characters that are currently present - this comprised of 206 different modules. In addition, a sample of 28 textbooks from 2010-2022 currently used in classrooms for a range of courses from Medieval to Modern historical periods were analysed to identify how publishers such as Pearson and Hodder are interpreting the specifications and whether this allowed for more or less representation of women.

The initial analysis of the data collected showed that across all 206 specifications, the total number of named male characters was 1863 whilst named female characters was just 135. This represents just under 6.8%. Overall 67% of all A level and GCSE specifications currently studied have not even one named female character to study. Women are therefore all but invisible throughout every specification and textbook - even doubling, tripling, quadrupling the current numbers would be nowhere near an equitable 50% coverage. 

These stark statistics clearly show that the History curricula offered by the three exam boards for KS4 and KS5 in the UK undoubtedly need to increase the number of named female characters and change must be intiated by Ofqual and the exam boards. 

Data collected and overview submitted in the call for evidence for the Department for Education's Curriculum and Assessment Review November 2024.

Many thanks to all who contributed data on the sample of textbooks and to Verity Glen for invaluable help and guidance in designing the Excel sheet and managing the pivot tables.