A-Level Psychology

I was thinking of picking A-level psychology but I want to know what it is before picking it. So if you had to combine 2 or 3 GCSE subjects to make A-Level Psychology, what would they be? (Because if English Language is one of them, I dont think it's right choice for me) I would also appreciate it if you could tell what it is you're learning and how you answer your questions (is it PDC like questions? Is it science like questions (like 6 points, 6 marks)? etc

Hi @Kichen35 ,


I studied A-level Psychology and did not do it as a GCSE.

It is quite hard to describe what Psychology is like at A-level. I would say it is a bit of biology (human biology but more brain stuff) and a tiny bit of English language (as it is probably essay based).

Some of the topics I covered (it depends on the exam board your school chooses) included:
There are others but I cannot remember them off the top of my head!

Are you able to speak to a Psychology teacher at your school to find out more?

Alia
University of Kent Student Rep

Hi Alia,
Thank you for responding. Unfortunately no. There isn't a Psychology teacher in my school. When you say it is essay based, do we list points from topics in a psychology textbook like in GCSE Geography (Where you basically list points and evidence from a revision guide no matter the amount of marks)?
Also, could you please tell me if Psychology was easy for you and what grade you got for GCSE English Language?

I'm doing A-Level Psychology.

You don't have to write essays like you do in English, but the way that you answer questions is more essay-like than science subjects where you just list facts. You've got to know lots of evaluation points about whether theories are good and this is usually what forms an essay, combined with some information about particular studies, theories and results. I'm doing AQA, and the highest mark question is 16 marks, where you have to basically talk about a study or theory and then evaluate it.

I personally find psychology quite easy and am predicted an A* (I did get a 9 in GCSE English Lit and Lang), but lots of people do struggle with it, but I think this is because there is a lot of content.

Hope this helps

Thank you! It does help a lot. When you say there's a lot of content, how much is that in terms of pages?

hard to say... it's an A-level so a lot. Most A-levels have a lot of content and much more than GCSE.

I can't really compare it to anything else. I have pretty in detail notes, and I have like almost 2 full decent sized notebooks and am in year 13.

I would say, if you have a pretty good memory, or if it makes sense, its not hard to learn and remember the stuff. For example, a big topic is research methods, about experiments and stuff, but this comes up in almost every other topic, and you often come across approaches in other topics too. So learning new content kind of helps reinforcing old content. And some parts of research methods is kinda obvious.

If you think you will be interested or enjoy it, I would recommend it - its easier to work hard at a subject you enjoy than one you don't.

Hi Alia,
Thank you for responding. Unfortunately no. There isn't a Psychology teacher in my school. When you say it is essay based, do we list points from topics in a psychology textbook like in GCSE Geography (Where you basically list points and evidence from a revision guide no matter the amount of marks)?
Also, could you please tell me if Psychology was easy for you and what grade you got for GCSE English Language?

Hi @Kichen35 ,

That is a shame about there not being a Psychology teacher around.

By essay based I mean that you will likely have to write short or longer answer responses to question as if they were essays. So adopting the PPE structure (point, evidence, explain) which you may have come across.

As for my experience with English language, I won't disclose my exact grades but I was pretty average. It was quite a while ago so I have forgotten about how I actually found it, sorry that is not the answer you were looking for! I would say though that with time my writing skills improved so any subject you decide to pick you will likely improve in.

Edit: I have just read that you know what you want to choose so I hope it all works out for you.

Alia
University of Kent Student Rep