Psychology

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Is this course for me?

Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behaviour. It is an excellent A-Level subject to study: it is interesting, exciting and challenging.

Studying Psychology helps to develop transferable skills of analysis, communication, evaluation and argument. It changes the way that you think and perceive the world forever, you will no longer be able to watch the news or read articles without considering the bigger picture and the interaction of contributing factors that lead to a variety of human behaviours.

The Basics…

The Psychology Department currently follows the AQA Psychology A-Level (7182), there are 3 exams all lasting 2 hours each. The exams are all sat at the end of the 2 year course. Questions consist of multiple choice, short answer and long answer (up to 16 marks).

What will I learn?

  • Social Influence (Explanations and types of conformity, obedience and social change)
  • Memory (Models of how memory works, types of memory and eye Witness Testimony)
  • Attachment (Explanations of caregiver-infant attachments and the impact on adult relationships)
  • Approaches in Psychology (Understanding of the five many psychological approaches)
  • Biopsychology (Understanding of biological structures and how they influence behaviour)
  • Research Methods (How to carry out, and analyse the data of, psychological research)
  • Issues & Debates in psychology (Understanding of the main controversial discussions)
  • Schizophrenia (understanding of the symptoms ,causes and treatment of schizophrenia)
  • Gender (understanding of how gender is determined and causes of gender disorders)
  • Forensic Psychology (Explanations and treatments of offending behaviour)

Anything else I need to know?

  • Psychology is often studied alongside: Business, PE, English, Maths, Sociology and many other subjects; psychology is a mixture of science, maths and humanities skills.
  • The mathematics component is studied within the context of analysing results and is no higher than GCSE level maths and so the mathematics component is easily achieved.
  • Psychology is able to give you many skills that can be useful in all walks of life and will give you great insight into behaviours all over the world; we frequently refer to contemporary news and current affairs.

Future careers:

  • Medicine, physiotherapy, speech therapy, counsellor, clinical psychologist, nursing, midwifery, Physical trainer, coach, dietician, immunologist and research scientist.
  • Occupational health, personnel, business, human resources, employment, advertising and marketing.
  • Teaching, educational psychology, child care, adolescent welfare, probationary, young offenders, criminology, forensics, law, administration, social work, government, uniformed services and politics.

Psychology A-Level Curriculum