Please note: This course is not on offer for 2024 admissions.
Exam Board – AQA
Qualification – A Level
Entry requirements –5 GCSEs at grades A*-C including a grade 5 in Maths, English and/or Science
Who to contact – Miss Kirkham: Nkirkham@retfordoaks-ac.org.uk
Course specification
Psychology is the scientific study of behaviour and experience. The A Level course covers a wide range of approaches to human behaviour in Psychology, and investigates behaviours such as aggression, learning, memory, attention, language, culture and groups. The course specifically looks at criminal behaviour and mental health alongside well known debates in Psychology such as ‘is Psychology a Science?’ and ‘nature versus nurture’.
Students are encouraged through a range of teaching techniques to develop responsibility for their own learning. In lessons you will encounter discussions, debates, presentations, videos, lectures, research and experiments to create a varied and interesting learning environment.
There will be three two-hour exams:
- Paper 1- Social influence, memory, attachment and Psychopathology.
- Paper 2- Approaches, Biopsychology and Research methods.
- Paper 3- Issues and debates, Relationships, Schizophrenia and Option 3.
What doors will this open up for me?
An A Level in Psychology is taken as seriously as an A Level in other subjects when applying to universities. It is also considered a science subject by a number of top universities. This is a popular course which students enjoy but it is also a serious subject.
Employers like students with a qualification in Psychology because it demonstrates a high level of analytical thinking along with a good knowledge of people skills. Psychology graduates are valued for their strong communication skills. It is a subject which is useful in just about all fields of work so by choosing to study Psychology you do not limit your future options, but can actually broaden them.
