Lesson Y7-U01-L01

Y7-U01-L01 What Is History Quiz: KS3 History, Unit 1

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

In partnership with Revision Ninja

Lesson Y7-U01-L01, What Is History: 20 multiple choice questions for the KS3 History (National Curriculum), Unit 1: Year 7: England pre-1066, written with Revision Ninja.

Host it live on the board and students join with a game code on their own devices, or revise alone with Free Play. The answers are revealed in the game.

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The 20 questions

  1. What is the best description of history as a subject?

    • A list of names and dates that pupils must learn by heart
    • The study of the past using evidence that people left behind
    • The study of the future, using predictions made from old objects
    • Exciting stories about the past that are told without checking them

  2. What do we call the clues left behind from the past that historians use?

    • Centuries
    • Sources
    • Dynasties
    • Chronologies

  3. What does 'chronology' mean?

    • Putting events in the order they happened, by date
    • Studying objects found in old buildings and burial sites
    • Writing stories about the lives of ordinary people
    • Counting the years from the birth of a famous ruler

  4. What is a primary source?

    • A source made later by a historian studying the past
    • A source copied out many times by monks in the Middle Ages
    • A source that contains only opinions and no facts
    • A source made at the time being studied

  5. What is a secondary source?

    • A source that is always a coin, a building or a piece of pottery
    • A source made at the same time as the events it describes
    • A source that a historian must never use because it is unreliable
    • A source made later by someone studying the past

  6. Which date is the oldest?

    • 3000 BC
    • AD 43
    • AD 1066
    • 55 BC

  7. What does AD count from?

    • The founding of the first English parliament in the Middle Ages
    • The time Christians believe Jesus was born, which is roughly the dividing line
    • The year the Romans first invaded Britain in AD 43
    • The start of the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain around AD 450

  8. Some books write CE instead of AD. What does CE stand for?

    • Common Era
    • Classical Estate
    • Christian Enclosure
    • Central Empire

  9. A historian asks a question about the past. Which question is most like the one a historian asks?

    • How many dates can a pupil memorise before a test?
    • What will the country look like in the year 3000?
    • Which object in the museum is the most expensive to buy?
    • Why did this happen, and how do we know it is true?

  10. Which activity most closely matches the work of a historian?

    • Comparing several clues to decide what really happened
    • Making up a story about a king to make it more exciting
    • Memorising a list of dates from a textbook without questions
    • Guessing the answer to a test question without any evidence

  11. Why do historians often disagree about the same clue?

    • Historians are not allowed to look at sources made before 1900
    • Historians always work in different countries with different languages
    • Historians only study objects that are made of gold or silver
    • Clues can be incomplete, biased, or open to more than one reading

  12. On a timeline with BC on the left and AD on the right, which event is the most recent?

    • Today, which is AD 2026
    • The Roman conquest of Britain in AD 43
    • The building of Stonehenge in 3000 BC
    • Julius Caesar reaching Britain in 55 BC

  13. A letter was written in 1066 by a man who saw the Battle of Hastings. What kind of source is it?

    • A primary source
    • A secondary source
    • A source that cannot be used by historians
    • A source made in the 21st century by a museum

  14. A 2020 history book describes the Battle of Hastings. What kind of source is it?

    • A primary source
    • A coin that was minted in 1066
    • A secondary source
    • An eyewitness account written during the battle

  15. Which century is the year 1066 in?

    • The 16th century
    • The 10th century
    • The 11th century
    • The 12th century

  16. Which century is the year 1850 in?

    • The 18th century
    • The 17th century
    • The 19th century
    • The 20th century

  17. A date reads 1485. Which century is it?

    • The 15th century
    • The 18th century
    • The 16th century
    • The 14th century

  18. The Anglo-Saxons began settling in Britain around AD 450. Which century is this?

    • The 4th century
    • The 3rd century
    • The 6th century
    • The 5th century

  19. Which list of events is in the correct order from oldest to most recent?

    • Caesar in Britain (55 BC), Stonehenge (3000 BC), Battle of Hastings (AD 1066), Romans conquer Britain (AD 43)
    • Battle of Hastings (AD 1066), Romans conquer Britain (AD 43), Caesar in Britain (55 BC), Stonehenge (3000 BC)
    • Romans conquer Britain (AD 43), Stonehenge (3000 BC), Battle of Hastings (AD 1066), Caesar in Britain (55 BC)
    • Stonehenge (3000 BC), Caesar in Britain (55 BC), Romans conquer Britain (AD 43), Battle of Hastings (AD 1066)

  20. A pupil writes that AD 43 is older than 55 BC. What is wrong with this?

    • 55 BC is only older because it is written with a larger number
    • AD 43 is older because AD numbers count down towards the past
    • AD dates come after 1 AD, so AD 43 is more recent than any BC date
    • Both dates are the same age because they are close together

All KS3 History quizzes