It’s that time of year when students in year 11 are expected to choose their A level subjects. We are going to cover some of the ’new’ A level subjects that may be unfamiliar to parents and students alike.
Today we are looking at A level Psychology with Will. Will studied Psychology at Oxford University and has tutored the subject for many years with Clarendon. He currently works at Westminster School, teaching Psychology.
We asked Will a few questions about the Psychology A level:
What can students expect to learn with Psychology A level?
The Psychology A-Level is a comprehensive overview of a broad and fascinating academic field. It covers major research studies and theories from the last 100 years, spanning across the major branches of the field – Social, Cognitive, Developmental, and Psychological and Personality Disorders. Alongside the wide array of content, which matches much of the initial content covered in the first part of an Undergraduate degree, the A-Level also devotes time to the philosophical context of Psychology, its development as a science, and the Research Methods employed within the field.
Furthermore, there is time devoted to the applications of Psychological evidence in the real world. Students can expect to delve into the study of the human mind, brain, and behaviour, whilst building the core skills needed to construct and evaluate experimental design. Perfectly suited to prepare students for Undergraduate study and onwards, the A-Level will teach students to methodically think about how they, and everyone they know, tick!
What type of students will thrive with this subject?
Students with an interest in juggling theory and evidence, and bringing them together in written argument will thrive in this subject. A student who enjoyed and excelled in any of the following GCSEs may find themselves drawn to Psychology: Maths, Biology, History, R.S., English. Studying Psychology uniquely mixes the skills required by the Humanities (argumentation and thinking skills using verbal reasoning) and the STEM subjects (logical, step-by-step problem solving).
The technique of the written answers within the exams isn’t dissimilar from GCSE History or R.S. Finally, students with a creative flare will enjoy the room to explore originality and outside-of-the-box thinking in this subject when it comes to proposing experimental paradigms to test hypotheses.
How are students examined?
Students are examined through written exam papers containing a mixture of multiple choice, short answer questions, and extended writing questions.
Which exam boards to you like tutoring?
My preferred exam board is OCR, but all exam boards have lots of overlap with fascinating foundational concepts and theories within Psychology.
What contents of the course do you think are particularly engaging?
I think learning about Individual Differences, Personality and Mental Health conditions is always fascinating for students. Gaining the Experimental Psychology-perspective on these often clinically-defined conditions is fascinating and insightful. Additionally, for students new to the subject, studying Cognitive Psychology and, in particular, ‘Memory’ is one of the most engaging bits of content. This provides the perfect avenue through which to pick up insights into experimental design, research methods, and therefore the true process within this science. It also shares some mind-blowing pieces of theory that often shifts the students’ perspectives on what ‘memory’ is, and therefore how they may understand how they actually go about experiencing their lives altogether.
