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Edexcel A2 Government and Politics (U.S. options)

Is it possible to study 3 out of 4 topics from each module and still get an A*? I'm self-studying, and I have approximately 5 months left. Would like to narrow down the scope, even though I have covered all the material. Thanks!

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Reply 1
Yes, why not. If you manage to learn these three topics at a level of a political expert - probably you can get an A*
But I would not do it, it is better to study all the 4 topics imho.

Another problem is that some of the questions may be awkwardly worded and you may have to transform your knowledge and apply it to a particular context, which is quite hard under exam timed conditions.

Try to read plenty of mark schemes and examiners reports


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Reply 2
Original post by SMB7
Yes, why not. If you manage to learn these three topics at a level of a political expert - probably you can get an A*
But I would not do it, it is better to study all the 4 topics imho.

Another problem is that some of the questions may be awkwardly worded and you may have to transform your knowledge and apply it to a particular context, which is quite hard under exam timed conditions.

Try to read plenty of mark schemes and examiners reports


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Thank you, for the reply. If I might ask, how much research do I need to do for AS and A2? Thought of getting the yearly review, in addition to the textbooks I have. My problem right now is time, but would it be infinitely safer to learn all four - or would it be more pragmatic to do three at a higher level? I have a U.S. History background. Thought of picking one international politics module.
Reply 3
Well, you need plenty of research if you're taking UK and US politics. For AS I did not learn judiciary and, as a result, got c for other questions in total. I think it is better to learn all four modules for AS and, maybe, three modules for A2 if you take US politics, but four if you take ideologies.
Use sites such as prechewedpolitics.com and other news web sites. Wikipedia is extremely useful for US politics as well (don't know about UK politics, did not use it last year).
So, try to carry out as much research as possible. Also try to find up-to-date info, as it is awarded in an exam. In addition, make bullet-point notes during the research and put all your notes in one place, so it will be easier to revise right before the exam.


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Reply 4
Original post by SMB7
Well, you need plenty of research if you're taking UK and US politics. For AS I did not learn judiciary and, as a result, got c for other questions in total. I think it is better to learn all four modules for AS and, maybe, three modules for A2 if you take US politics, but four if you take ideologies.
Use sites such as prechewedpolitics.com and other news web sites. Wikipedia is extremely useful for US politics as well (don't know about UK politics, did not use it last year).
So, try to carry out as much research as possible. Also try to find up-to-date info, as it is awarded in an exam. In addition, make bullet-point notes during the research and put all your notes in one place, so it will be easier to revise right before the exam.


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Thank you!
Reply 5
Original post by SMB7
Yes, why not. If you manage to learn these three topics at a level of a political expert - probably you can get an A*
But I would not do it, it is better to study all the 4 topics imho.

Another problem is that some of the questions may be awkwardly worded and you may have to transform your knowledge and apply it to a particular context, which is quite hard under exam timed conditions.

Try to read plenty of mark schemes and examiners reports


Posted from TSR Mobile


For anyone doing 4C I want to miss out congress and do the other 3 because it is by far the longest and takes up 40% of the whole unit! Is this a good game to play for this exam.... Thoughts?...
Reply 6
Original post by Jcoe
For anyone doing 4C I want to miss out congress and do the other 3 because it is by far the longest and takes up 40% of the whole unit! Is this a good game to play for this exam.... Thoughts?...


I think you should not drop Congress as it is actually one of the niciest topics in terms of overlap with other ones, and in terms of relevance. I'd rather drop something like Racial Politics or Presidency (but not the Executive branch as a whole), or the Supreme Court. At the end of the day, I guess that it is good not to drop a topic completely, but to learn all the topics. However, some topics should be learnt by heart, while others do not need the same degree of attention. There is pretty much overlap between all the topics indeed, in my honest opinion =)
Reply 7
Original post by SMB7
I think you should not drop Congress as it is actually one of the niciest topics in terms of overlap with other ones, and in terms of relevance. I'd rather drop something like Racial Politics or Presidency (but not the Executive branch as a whole), or the Supreme Court. At the end of the day, I guess that it is good not to drop a topic completely, but to learn all the topics. However, some topics should be learnt by heart, while others do not need the same degree of attention. There is pretty much overlap between all the topics indeed, in my honest opinion =)

Whilst I hear you presidency has its links in its own section and congress is LONG relatively so I will miss it out
Original post by Jcoe
Whilst I hear you presidency has its links in its own section and congress is LONG relatively so I will miss it out


How are you all revising this? it's so long and I keep finding myself getting wrapped up in other topics!
Reply 9
Original post by angellayerr
How are you all revising this? it's so long and I keep finding myself getting wrapped up in other topics!

Take notes and revise (although it may be probably be late).
I've been taking notes from different sources throughout the year and now have a great booklet. Maybe, I will even start selling them after exams :P
Reply 10
Is this a lot more harder than AS, or more info needed?
Original post by Pato1
Is this a lot more harder than AS, or more info needed?


I think what's hard is that we don't live this life, like AS we live British politics but not A2 US politics!
Reply 12
Original post by SMB7
I think you should not drop Congress as it is actually one of the niciest topics in terms of overlap with other ones, and in terms of relevance. I'd rather drop something like Racial Politics or Presidency (but not the Executive branch as a whole), or the Supreme Court. At the end of the day, I guess that it is good not to drop a topic completely, but to learn all the topics. However, some topics should be learnt by heart, while others do not need the same degree of attention. There is pretty much overlap between all the topics indeed, in my honest opinion =)


i hear you but congress is LONG like almost half the course which is time consuming plus presidency has links in my book in 'relationship with congress'
Reply 13
I did this last year at AS, learnt two topics and got 100/100. This year, for this exam - this actually will not work. They all overflow into each other, so I wouldn't look at it separately, especially if you are looking at the A*. For Unit Three and Four I'm going to learn all four topics, without doing that, you are only putting yourself at risk. Uni is on the line - so I wouldnt advise taking any risks
Reply 14
Me and my mates write a blog for Edexcel Politics - we are all A2 students but we are updating AS sections of the website as a significant number of our mates at resitting either unit one or unit two. Could be a good revision resource for people doing


EDEXCEL Unit One - People and Politics
EDEXCEL Unit Two - Governing the UK
EDEXCEL Unit Three - Representative Processes in the USA
EDEXCEL Unit Four - Governing the USA


http://ussmokefilledroom.blogspot.co.uk/?m=1


The contributors of the site are predicted A/A* and some who have scored high 80s up to full marks - so please check it out!!
Thank you, this is really helpful! :smile:

Just checking, are the representation in Congress figures for the current congress?

QUOTE=taamuuu;54998177]Me and my mates write a blog for Edexcel Politics - we are all A2 students but we are updating AS sections of the website as a significant number of our mates at resitting either unit one or unit two. Could be a good revision resource for people doing


EDEXCEL Unit One - People and Politics
EDEXCEL Unit Two - Governing the UK
EDEXCEL Unit Three - Representative Processes in the USA
EDEXCEL Unit Four - Governing the USA


http://ussmokefilledroom.blogspot.co.uk/?m=1


The contributors of the site are predicted A/A* and some who have scored high 80s up to full marks - so please check it out!!
Original post by Pato1
Is this a lot more harder than AS, or more info needed?


Not necessarily harder, IMO, but definitely more knowledge needed. In fact it's quite easy to get so wrapped up in endlessly going over flashcards that you end up neglecting the analysis component.

With regards to leaving out a topic, I personally wouldn't, just because some questions are objectively much easier than others - for example, Pressure Groups is my least favourite topic in 3C, but I'd rather do a really broad 45 on pressure group power or pluralism than a really specific parties one, say.
Reply 17
Original post by Jcoe
For anyone doing 4C I want to miss out congress and do the other 3 because it is by far the longest and takes up 40% of the whole unit! Is this a good game to play for this exam.... Thoughts?...


Congress as a unit contains information needed to answer the other topics for example a question on the president could discuss his relationship with Congress and to be able to answer that revising Congress would help. To be honest, I think it is easier to just revise all of them but maybe study one in less detail. I did that last year for Philosophy and Ethics and it worked out pretty well.
Original post by Chandz_em
Thank you, this is really helpful! :smile:

Just checking, are the representation in Congress figures for the current congress?

QUOTE=taamuuu;54998177]Me and my mates write a blog for Edexcel Politics - we are all A2 students but we are updating AS sections of the website as a significant number of our mates at resitting either unit one or unit two. Could be a good revision resource for people doing


EDEXCEL Unit One - People and Politics
EDEXCEL Unit Two - Governing the UK
EDEXCEL Unit Three - Representative Processes in the USA
EDEXCEL Unit Four - Governing the USA


http://ussmokefilledroom.blogspot.co.uk/?m=1


The contributors of the site are predicted A/A* and some who have scored high 80s up to full marks - so please check it out!!


This is a pretty good site, thanks for letting us know! ^^
What textbooks or revision guides would you recommend? I have the US Politics Study Guide by William Storey, any thing that is tailored to Edexcel and included relevant examples along with everything we need to know?
I am doing the A2 exams - Option C: US Politics. I don't want to have to look at too many sources, but I am aiming for an A* (praying for one anyway). Also, just re asking what has already been asked but after revising can anyone see any topics that could potentially be left out?

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