The Cambridge IGCSE History (0470) May/June 2026 papers and mark schemes are out, and they’re free. Papers 0470/12, 0470/22 and 0470/42 can be downloaded and printed on the Tutopiya Learning Portal. Below is every question set on the core content, the depth studies and the source paper, and how the levels of response gave marks, taken from the papers themselves.

Key points from the 2026 0470 papers

• Germany came up on every paper. Hitler’s foreign policy in the core, the Germany depth study on Papers 1 and 4, and the Treaty of Versailles as the Paper 2 twentieth-century option.
• The Reichstag Fire was set twice: a 10-mark question on Paper 1 and a 25-mark “discuss” question on Paper 4.
• The Paper 2 nineteenth-century option was American. It was about the Freedmen’s Bureau after the Civil War, not European unification.
• Every Paper 1 (c) question needs both sides. An answer that only explains one side can’t score more than 6 out of 10.
• Date limits were strictly enforced. Several mark schemes say not to credit anything outside the dates in the question.

All May/June 2026 0470 papers

Paper	Code	Duration	Marks	What it tests
Paper 1 Structured Questions	0470/12	2 hours	60	Two core content questions and one depth study question, 20 marks each
Paper 2 Document Questions	0470/22	1 hour 45 minutes	40	One source-based question on one option
Paper 4 Alternative to Coursework	0470/42	1 hour	40	One two-part question on your depth study

Timings and marks are taken from the front cover of each 2026 paper. Each paper comes with its official Cambridge mark scheme. For the full list of syllabus content, see the Cambridge IGCSE History 0470 syllabus.

Which variant is this? Cambridge sets different versions of each paper (variants) for different time zones. The papers here are variant 2: 0470/12, /22 and /42. All variants cover the same syllabus at the same difficulty, so variant 2 is just as good for practice as the one your school sat.

Download the 0470 May/June 2026 papers →

What came up in 0470 Paper 1 (Structured Questions), May/June 2026?

You answer two questions from Section A (core content) and one from Section B (depth studies). Every question has three parts: (a) describe, 4 marks; (b) explain why, 6 marks; (c) a judgement, 10 marks.

Section A, Option A: The nineteenth century

Question	(a) 4 marks	(b) 6 marks	(c) 10 marks
1 Italian unification	The Roman Republic of 1848–49	Why Napoleon III was interested in Italy	Was the 1859 war against Austria the most important conflict?
2 German unification	The Frankfurt Parliament	Why Prussia’s economic strength mattered to other German states	Bismarck’s greater achievement: defeating Austria (1866) or France (1870–71)
3 Imperialism	The American reaction to the sinking of the USS Maine	Why Leopold II’s rule of the Congo was criticised	India 1857: a sepoy mutiny or a nationalist uprising?
4 Causes of the First World War	The Balkan Wars, 1912–13	Why German imperialism created tension	The Alliance System or the assassination of Franz Ferdinand?

Section A, Option B: The twentieth century

Question	(a) 4 marks	(b) 6 marks	(c) 10 marks
5 League of Nations	Japan in Manchuria, 1931–33	Why the League failed to stop Italy invading Abyssinia	Had the League met its supporters’ hopes by the end of the 1920s?
6 Hitler’s foreign policy	The Munich Agreement	Why Germany invaded Poland in 1939	The Rhineland or Anschluss: which was more important?
7 Origins of the Cold War	Marshall Aid	Why the Truman Doctrine was announced	How little agreement was there at the 1945 peace conferences?
8 The USA and communism	US involvement in Vietnam under Eisenhower	Why the USA agreed to the 1973 Paris Peace Accords	How successful was the USA with Cuba, 1961–62?

Section B: Depth studies

Depth study	Question	Parts (a), (b), (c)
A: First World War	9	South West Africa; why Japan joined the war; T E Lawrence and the Arab Revolt
	10	The Eastern Front in 1914; why Gallipoli failed; was the U-boat campaign a success?
B: Germany, 1918–45	11	Goebbels’ role, 1924–33; the Munich Putsch’s damage to the Nazis; the Reichstag Fire and consolidation of power
	12	The war economy; why some young Germans opposed the Nazis; the Final Solution and the impact of war
C: Russia, 1905–41	13	The Bolshevik takeover in Petrograd; why the Provisional Government failed; Trotsky and the Civil War
	14	Stalin and the nationalities; why collectivisation was introduced; did people benefit from his industrial policies?
D: The United States, 1919–41	15	Women’s lives in the 1920s; why people joined the KKK; how far Prohibition failed
	16	Economic weaknesses by 1929; the banking crisis; why Roosevelt won in 1932
E: Second World War, 1939–c.1945	17	How Japan attacked Pearl Harbor; why it attacked; why Singapore fell
	18	The 1944 Warsaw Uprising; why the Holocaust largely took place in Poland; German bombing of British cities

What made it hard: several (c) questions compared two named events (Rhineland or Anschluss, Austria or France). You must explain both and then decide.

What came up in 0470 Paper 2 (Document Questions)?

You answer one question on one option. Each option had background information, seven sources (A–G) and five parts worth 40 marks.

Option A: How far were criticisms of the Freedmen’s Bureau valid? The sources included rival New York newspapers from February 1866 (one Republican, one Democrat), a black-owned New Orleans newspaper from 1867, the 1866 report of Generals Steedman and Fullerton, a reply to that report in The Nation, and two cartoons from 1866 and 1868.

Option B: How far did the Germans have good reason to be angry about the Treaty of Versailles? The sources included two recent historians’ accounts, British and American cartoons on reparations from 1921, the German reply to the draft treaty (May 1919), an article by Wilson’s adviser Thomas Lamont (1921), and a 1933 book by British delegate Harold Nicolson.

Part	Option A task	Option B task	Marks
(a)	Why was Source A published in February 1866?	How far do Sources A and B agree?	7
(b)	How similar are Sources B and C?	How similar are the two cartoons, C and D?	8
(c)	Does Source D make Source E surprising?	How far does Source E prove Lamont (F) wrong?	8
(d)	How far do the two cartoons, F and G, agree?	Is Source G surprising?	8
(e)	Do the sources show the criticisms were valid?	Do the sources show the Germans were justified?	9

What came up in 0470 Paper 4 (Alternative to Coursework)?

You answer one question from your depth study: (a) “write an account”, 15 marks, and (b) “discuss the importance/impact”, 25 marks.

Depth study	Question	(a) Account, 15 marks	(b) Discuss, 25 marks
A: First World War	1	The German invasion of Belgium, 1914	The importance of the BEF in 1914
	2	The Indian army on the Western Front	The importance of Canadian troops
B: Germany	3	How the Republic was set up, 1918–19	The impact of the War Guilt Clause
	4	The Nazi rise to power, 1930–33	The importance of the Reichstag Fire
C: Russia	5	Industrial workers’ problems, 1905–14	The impact of the October Manifesto
	6	The Kornilov Affair	The impact of staying in the war in 1917
D: The United States	7	Industrial growth in the 1920s	The impact of tariffs in the 1920s
	8	The work of the AAA	The importance of the first Hundred Days
E: Second World War	9	Germany’s defeat of France, 1940	The importance of the Battle of Britain
	10	The Battle of Midway	The impact of the August 1941 US oil embargo on Japan

How the 0470 May/June 2026 mark scheme gives marks

1. Paper 1 part (a) is one mark per relevant point, with caps. Question 13(a) on the Bolshevik takeover allowed a maximum of 2 marks for listing places occupied. Question 14(a) capped groups that suffered discrimination at 2. Question 15(a) gave nothing for vague claims like women having “more freedom” and only one mark for domestic appliances.

2. Part (b) rewards explained reasons, not lists. Paper 1 (b) questions use four levels. Identifying or describing reasons scores 2–3. One explained reason scores 4, or 5 with specific supporting knowledge. Two explained reasons score 6. On Question 1(b), for example, the mark scheme’s Level 3 answer takes Napoleon III’s wish for Nice and Savoy and explains how it led to his deal with Cavour.

3. Part (c) needs both sides and a judgement. Explaining one side scores 4–6, one mark per explanation. One explanation on each side gets 7, with a mark for each extra explanation up to 9. The full 10 needs a valid judgement on “how far”. Writing about the topic without answering the question scores 1.

4. Stay inside the dates and the topic. Question 8(c) gave no credit for events before 1961. Question 14(c) did not accept collectivisation in an answer on industrial policy. Question 7(b) gave no marks for the Domino Theory, which came later. Paper 4 Question 1 did not credit anything after 1914.

5. Paper 2 rewards the big message and the author’s purpose. In Option A (a), the levels climb from paraphrase (1 mark) through sub-messages (3) to the big message or the context of 1866 (4–6). The top mark, 7, needs the source’s intended impact on its audience explained in that context. In the cartoon questions, the top level needs the cartoonists’ points of view, supported from the sources. Unsupported answers drop at least a level.

6. “Surprising” and “prove” questions need evaluation. In Option A (c) and Option B (c), the 8-mark level needs you to compare the sources’ overall views and evaluate at least one of them, using purpose, context or cross-reference. If you never say whether Source E is surprising, or whether Lamont was wrong, you’re capped at Level 2.

7. Part (e) needs sources on both sides, and the exact statement. Using sources to support and reject the statement puts you in the 6–9 level; one side only is 3–5. Each source use needs its letter, a quote or its provenance, plus an explanation. In Option B, testing “the Treaty was unfair” instead of “the Germans were justified in their view” dropped answers to Level 2.

8. Paper 4 is marked with two grids. Part (a) uses three levels (11–15 at the top) for an accurate, logically sequenced account that addresses the question; Question 3(a) had to cover both 1918 and 1919 to reach Level 3. Part (b) uses five levels. The 21–25 band needs well-supported explanations of more than one facet (for example political, social and economic impact) and a clear, substantiated judgement on relative importance.

Which papers should you sit?

All candidates sit Paper 1 and Paper 2. For the third component, schools choose either Paper 3 (Coursework) or Paper 4 (Alternative to Coursework). On Paper 1 and Paper 4, answer only on the core option and depth study you have studied.

How to use the 2026 papers as a mock

1. Keep them for last. Use older 0470 papers for topic practice and save May/June 2026 for a full mock a few weeks before your exam.
2. Time yourself at 40 minutes per Paper 1 question. Spend most of it on part (c), which carries half the marks.
3. Write a judgement sentence first for every (c) answer. Then make sure you have at least one explained paragraph for each side.
4. On Paper 2, say yes or no. For every “surprising”, “agree” or “prove” question, give a direct answer and back it with the source and your knowledge.
5. Check every date range. Cross out anything outside the dates in the question before you mark it.

More IGCSE History resources

• IGCSE History past papers (Cambridge 0470, all years)
• IGCSE past papers 2026: all subjects

🔍 Looking for a specific past paper? Use our free Past Paper Finder to search by subject, year and exam board.

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Frequently asked questions

Are the 0470 May/June 2026 past papers free? +

Yes. Paper 1 (0470/12), Paper 2 (0470/22) and Paper 4 (0470/42), with their official mark schemes, are free to download and print on the Tutopiya Learning Portal.

What was the 0470 Paper 2 source topic in May/June 2026? +

Option A (nineteenth century) asked how far criticisms of the Freedmen's Bureau in the USA were valid. Option B (twentieth century) asked how far the Germans had good reason to be angry about the Treaty of Versailles. Each had seven sources and five questions worth 40 marks.

What came up in the 0470 Paper 1 Germany depth study in 2026? +

Question 11 covered Goebbels' role from 1924 to 1933, the consequences of the Munich Putsch and the Reichstag Fire in Hitler's consolidation of power. Question 12 covered the war economy, young Germans who opposed the Nazis and whether the Final Solution happened because of the war.

How is the 10-mark question on 0470 Paper 1 marked? +

With five levels. Explaining one side only caps you at 6 marks. One explanation on each side earns 7, each extra explanation adds a mark up to 9, and the full 10 needs a supported judgement on how far you agree.

Why can't I find 0470/11 or 0470/13 for 2026? +

Only variant 2 of the May/June 2026 papers is on the portal at the moment. Cambridge sets different variants for different time zones; variants 1 and 3 test the same syllabus in the same format, so variant 2 prepares you just as well.

When will the October/November 2026 0470 papers be available? +

Cambridge usually releases the October/November papers in the new year. We add them to the Learning Portal once they are published.

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