Hardest Psychology Boards?

not aqa, thats for sure.

Wjec!!!!

Was it hard? I did my A-Levels in Wales and we always thought that WJEC was the easiest.

Atleast thats what my friends said about Geography and Maths.

I know that AQA has a lot less to learn for psychology compared to WJEC.

From a teaching point of view and getting results
(with can I dare say less able students?) I have always found AQA A a nightmare. It has key words and phrases that have to be used and if they are not there marks are virtually zilch even if students get the idea!

Its also difficult to predict the questions and I know a number of teachers struggling with this right now.

I used to teach AQA B ( when it was the old NEAB spec) many years ago. I quite liked that one. It was designed with students of a more practical nature in mind. It may still be the case but I have looked at the spec and found it to be bitty and incomplete and not very pleasurable to teach since the spec was changed.

I also dislike AQA for inconsistent marking ( which abounds - and its tough if your centre is involved) . Otherwise those who dont get the issue think its fine.

OCR is a piece of cake at AS. Its a b****** ( sorry for the language) at A2. You have to max out the AS grades because at A2 you can guarentee students will come in at least two grades lower.
They also have sneakey questions and marking issues ( but then what board does not have marking issues?)

I use WJEC because I like teaching it. It follows the pattern that you would get at 1st year uni anyway. Its broad. It does have a strong knowledge base but has the advantage of questions which are predictable and clear. Since I teach a lot of students who have ESL it means they can access the questions.

It can be a stinker on marking. The devil is in the detail on PY2 and on PY4. but overall I find that the whole As/A2 builds and there are no distinct differences between AS and A2. Your As grade will generally be a good predictor of overall grade at A2.

I have never found it difficult to get decent results. I have taught it since it first came out back in 2006.
Increased numbers have made it a bit hit and miss on marking more recently. It does require students to be able to string a sentence together though but you can teach to the exam essays.

I hear Edexcel are pretty easy. Its one I have never taught. If I didnt have success with WJEC I would probably try AQA B again or Edexcel, but since I dont have issues with the WJEC board, I have stuck with it.

As for which gets the best marks overall - well despite what has been said here, AQA A doesnt come out well in the score lines. If you are bright, you can do it, if not, you will struggle. However, overall there is about 1% in grade profuiles between the boards. Given that most teachers will select boards according to student profile ( ie whether we have more academically challenged students who barely make the GCSE entry profile) its difficult to compare specs on results.

The real problem is expectation. You need to get real here. Psychology is NOT an easy touch. It has the same difficulty profile as biology and chemistry. Geography and history are much easier! Maths and physics harder. Too many students take psychology thinking it is easy and thats the real problem.

From a teaching point of view and getting results
(with can I dare say less able students?) I have always found AQA A a nightmare. It has key words and phrases that have to be used and if they are not there marks are virtually zilch even if students get the idea!

Its also difficult to predict the questions and I know a number of teachers struggling with this right now.

I used to teach AQA B ( when it was the old NEAB spec) many years ago. I quite liked that one. It was designed with students of a more practical nature in mind. It may still be the case but I have looked at the spec and found it to be bitty and incomplete and not very pleasurable to teach since the spec was changed.

I also dislike AQA for inconsistent marking ( which abounds - and its tough if your centre is involved) . Otherwise those who dont get the issue think its fine.

OCR is a piece of cake at AS. Its a b****** ( sorry for the language) at A2. You have to max out the AS grades because at A2 you can guarentee students will come in at least two grades lower.
They also have sneakey questions and marking issues ( but then what board does not have marking issues?)

I use WJEC because I like teaching it. It follows the pattern that you would get at 1st year uni anyway. Its broad. It does have a strong knowledge base but has the advantage of questions which are predictable and clear. Since I teach a lot of students who have ESL it means they can access the questions.

It can be a stinker on marking. The devil is in the detail on PY2 and on PY4. but overall I find that the whole As/A2 builds and there are no distinct differences between AS and A2. Your As grade will generally be a good predictor of overall grade at A2.

I have never found it difficult to get decent results. I have taught it since it first came out back in 2006.
Increased numbers have made it a bit hit and miss on marking more recently. It does require students to be able to string a sentence together though but you can teach to the exam essays.

I hear Edexcel are pretty easy. Its one I have never taught. If I didnt have success with WJEC I would probably try AQA B again or Edexcel, but since I dont have issues with the WJEC board, I have stuck with it.

As for which gets the best marks overall - well despite what has been said here, AQA A doesnt come out well in the score lines. If you are bright, you can do it, if not, you will struggle. However, overall there is about 1% in grade profuiles between the boards. Given that most teachers will select boards according to student profile ( ie whether we have more academically challenged students who barely make the GCSE entry profile) its difficult to compare specs on results.

The real problem is expectation. You need to get real here. Psychology is NOT an easy touch. It has the same difficulty profile as biology and chemistry. Geography and history are much easier! Maths and physics harder. Too many students take psychology thinking it is easy and thats the real problem.

I also teach A Level Psychology and totally agree with your last paragraph "wellpastmybedtime".

I teach AQA (A) but used to teach AQA (B). It very much depends on student profile (including motivation). You have to expect descriptive statistics at AS, moving on to inferential stats at A2, but nothing that a decent GCSEs in maths and science won't have prepared you for.

With your grades, you should be fine Hg1571, for AS level...then see what you think about moving on to A2. Good luck