Free GCSE history practice for Year 11, nine months out from the May/June 2027 exams. Every question below comes from GradeNinja's own bank - 1,838 History questions across 40 topics.
History marks come from specific evidence deployed to answer the actual question, not from narrative. Dates and names matter, but only as ammunition for an argument.
Revise in chronological chunks, then test yourself by writing a two-line answer to a past question from memory. If you can only retell the story, you are not ready yet.
Our History questions follow the Edexcel specification. If your school uses a different board most of the content still overlaps, but check your own spec.
Answer before you open the explanation. The moment of not-quite-knowing is the part that does the work, and skipping to the answer skips the learning.
Anything you get wrong, come back to tomorrow rather than immediately. Getting it right straight after seeing the answer proves nothing.
Real questions from GradeNinja's own bank, with the answer and the explanation the app gives. Tap to reveal.
Disputes over the rights of Christian minorities in the Ottoman Empire and Russian expansion towards Constantinople
The Crimean War arose primarily from Russian attempts to expand influence over declining Ottoman territories and the rights of Orthodox Christians in Ottoman lands. Britain and France intervened to prevent Russia gaining control of the straits to the Mediterranean. The war highlighted the need for military reform and was the setting for Florence Nightingale's nursing work.
It was a major uprising against British rule involving Indian soldiers (sepoys) and civilians; though suppressed, it led to direct Crown rule replacing the East India Company's control
The 1857 Indian Rebellion (Mutiny): began when sepoys (Indian soldiers in the East India Company army) refused to use new rifle cartridges rumoured to be greased with cow (Hindu) and pig (Muslim) fat. The rebellion spread across northern India, involving civilian populations, landowners, and princes. Brutal suppression by both sides. Result: the East India Company was abolished; India came under direct Crown rule (the Raj); Queen Victoria became Empress of India (1877). The rebellion is celebrated in India as an early independence struggle.
Relief, Recovery, and Reform
The New Deal aimed to give Relief to the unemployed and poor, help economic Recovery, and Reform the financial system to prevent another crash - through programmes like the Civilian Conservation Corps and Social Security Act.
Lakota Sioux and Cheyenne warriors annihilated Lieutenant Colonel Custer's 7th Cavalry regiment
At the Battle of Little Bighorn (25-26 June 1876), Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse's warriors wiped out Custer and approximately 268 men. Despite this victory, the US Army intensified its campaign, effectively ending Sioux resistance within two years.
Segregated lunch counters that refused to serve Black customers
On 1 February 1960, four Black college students sat at a segregated Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro and refused to leave when denied service. The sit-ins spread to dozens of cities and were a highly effective non-violent tactic, eventually forcing many businesses to desegregate.
The Spartacist Uprising
The Spartacist Uprising (January 1919) was a communist revolt in Berlin crushed by the Freikorps. Named after the rebel leader Karl Liebknecht, it demonstrated early instability in Weimar.
Mobile SS killing units that shot Jews and others in occupied Eastern Europe
The Einsatzgruppen were mobile SS killing squads that followed the German army into the Soviet Union from June 1941. They shot Jews, communists, and others in mass executions. The largest single massacre was at Babi Yar near Kyiv, where 33,771 Jews were shot in two days (29–30 September 1941).
Soviet military intervention to crush the uprising demonstrated that the USSR would not permit Eastern European states to leave its sphere of influence
When Hungary's new leader Nagy announced neutrality and withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact (November 1956), Soviet tanks crushed the uprising. Around 2,500 Hungarians died. The West condemned but did not intervene, revealing the limits of 'rollback' policy.
44,980 questions across 28 GCSE subjects, XP, boss battles and friend challenges. No card needed.
Start revising free →Short, frequent sessions of active recall beat long sessions of re-reading. Test yourself, check, and revisit anything you got wrong a day or two later rather than immediately.
Edexcel. Content overlaps heavily between boards, so they are still useful on another spec, but check your own specification for anything board-specific.
GCSEs are sat across May and June, so for the current Year 11 that means May/June 2027. Exact paper dates come from the exam boards and your school.
1,838 in History alone, and 44,980 across 28 GCSE subjects. Signing up is free.