You do not need GCSE Psychology to take A Level. You will need GCSE English, Maths and Science at Grade 5 or above.
Psychology is the scientific study of human mind and behaviour. There is a great amount of new subject knowledge required. As well as understanding of the key concepts in psychology you need to be able to criticize and evaluate.
Psychology is a science and involves understanding research methods, human biology and mathematics. It is a fascinating subject but takes motivation and dedication to achieve good grades.
Additional Course Information
The Psychology A Level is a two year course that provides students with a stimulating choice of diverse materials. The individual unit title’s that we study are listed below:
- Social Influence
- Memory
- Attachment
- Psychopathology
- Approaches
- Biopsychology
- Research Methods
- Issues and Debates
- Relationships
- Schizophrenia
- Aggression
- Papers 1, 2 and 3 are all 2 hour written exams.
- Each exam is 33.3% of the total A Level.
- In all papers there is a combination of short questions and essay questions (at least two A4 pages).
There are three Assessment Objectives (AO):
AO1: Knowledge and Understanding of scientific ideas, processes, techniques and procedures.
AO2: Applying AO1 to theoretical context, practical context, handling qualitative and quantitative data.
AO3: Analyse, interpret and evaluate scientific information, ideas and evidence including in relation to: make judgements and reach conclusions and also develop and refine practical design and procedures.
Psychology is a valued subject for any occupation which deals directly with people or which requires its employees to engage with each other at higher levels of communication.
A BPS recognised degree in Psychology is required for a number of specific occupations: Clinical Psychologist, Educational Psychologist, Occupational Psychologist, Forensic Psychologist, and Psychology Lecturer / Teacher. All of these require further study, for most of them a Ph.D. is required.