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Psychology or Economics? HELP!

Im 16 and i'll be starting 6 form As levels in september
I don't know what i want to do after a levels, but i do know i want to go university
I'll be doing 4 a levels - BTEC Law, Btec business studies and a level geography
I just need another a level which will be either psychology or economics

I don't know which one to pick, what one is easier? which one is easier to understand? How much is there to memorise for each subject? whats your opinion on the subjects? any anything else that could help me know more about subjects

thanks alot guys

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Btecs are not OR equivalent to an a-level

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Reply 2
Original post by Gladiatorsword
Btecs are not OR equivalent to an a-level

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there still seen as a level though, people from our school and others have got into universities with just btecs or a combination of btec and a level..
Reply 3
As someone who does both. Economics is much easier than psychology. Psychology depending upon the exam board has a lot of memorisation I had to learn over 75 case studies in significant detail for A2 this year

However, while economics is easier it is also 'harder' because it is so boring that you won't want to try and revise which was my downfall this year as I probably have done better in psychology rather than economics because economics is the most boring subject I have ever done.
(edited 8 years ago)
Reply 4
Original post by kingdoo
As someone who does both. Economics is much easier than psychology. Psychology depending upon the exam board has a lot of memorisation I had to learn over 75 case studies in significant detail for A2 this year

However, while economics is easier it is also 'harder' because it is so boring that you won't want to try and revise which was my downfall this year as I probably have done better in psychology rather than economics because economics is the most boring subject I have ever done.


Thanks alot for replying, means alot and i know economics is boring :/ ( i had a taster lesson) but i'd only do it as a AS, but psychology it would have to be the full 2 year ( as you cant do it as a AS, only full a level). so do you think i'd be better of doing economics as a AS (only one year) or psychology for the full 2 years ( for full a level)? what do you think i should consider when picking phsychology or econimics? thanks again, and i'd apprioete it if you replied, id be sooo grateful, im really confused :smile::smile:
I love Psychology, but I hate the exam board, they've made it into a memory test. And Economics is more useful in the long run, I guess...
Reply 6
Original post by greylupin
I love Psychology, but I hate the exam board, they've made it into a memory test. And Economics is more useful in the long run, I guess...


thanks you for replying, means alot , I know psychology is really interesting, but i've heard there is alot of memorisation to do, is it hard to understand, and is it really hard to gain marks on tests?
thanks again
Original post by Amandeep :)
thanks you for replying, means alot , I know psychology is really interesting, but i've heard there is alot of memorization to do, is it hard to understand, and is it really hard to gain marks on tests?
thanks again


Honestly right now I've just finished the OCR board psych module, and it was hell. It really is amazingly interesting, but yeah, the memorization sucks. I sort of lost motivation part way through, since I actually have a really crappy memory to start with, so by the end it was just demoralizing. To gain marks you have to fit really specific criteria. I've probably failed :') I'd just read it in your spare time if your that interested tbh
Reply 8
Original post by Amandeep :)
Thanks alot for replying, means alot and i know economics is boring :/ ( i had a taster lesson) but i'd only do it as a AS, but psychology it would have to be the full 2 year ( as you cant do it as a AS, only full a level). so do you think i'd be better of doing economics as a AS (only one year) or psychology for the full 2 years ( for full a level)? what do you think i should consider when picking phsychology or econimics? thanks again, and i'd apprioete it if you replied, id be sooo grateful, im really confused :smile::smile:


It depends you could argue that doing psychology for the full 2 years will give you better uni options because you could ask to be predicted quite highly because you won't have had to take any exams.

Although I would say that economics is definitely related to your business course so may provide some help regarding your BTEC.

Maybe you could ask to do a 3 week induction into both courses and then ask to drop 1 of them when you decide which you find more interesting and useful.

Also, I don't know which exam board you are doing for psychology but the new one for OCR which I have had a look at because I helped out at the open day and obviously the new students would be doing this course. They sit a total of 3 exams and 1 exam is pretty much AS standard and then the other 2 are more A level standard but to me it looked much easier than our course because you don't have to learn that many case studies.
Depends on what you want to do at Uni, and which University. I heard it is almost impossible to get A* in Psychology though. I go to a good grammar school and no one has gotten A* at A levels for Psychology, while many have for economics. Psychology is definitely more interesting though! And also I'd recommend taking 3 a-levels and 1 BTEC, because 3 a-levels give you great opportunities to get into the real top universities.
Original post by greylupin
Honestly right now I've just finished the OCR board psych module, and it was hell. It really is amazingly interesting, but yeah, the memorization sucks. I sort of lost motivation part way through, since I actually have a really crappy memory to start with, so by the end it was just demoralizing. To gain marks you have to fit really specific criteria. I've probably failed :':wink: I'd just read it in your spare time if your that interested tbh


thanks alot, thats great help
i've got abit of a crappy memory aswell but its okay if i do it..,last couple of question if you don't mind, is understanding psychology difficul and how easy or difficult? and if you put the work in, what grades do people normally get, is it hard to get atleast a B or A?
thanks alot, it really means alot
Original post by greylupin
Honestly right now I've just finished the OCR board psych module, and it was hell. It really is amazingly interesting, but yeah, the memorization sucks. I sort of lost motivation part way through, since I actually have a really crappy memory to start with, so by the end it was just demoralizing. To gain marks you have to fit really specific criteria. I've probably failed :':wink: I'd just read it in your spare time if your that interested tbh


Yeah basically this however in the new course guess how many studies they have to learn. 15 that is it and it is for a paper equivalent to the core studies paper and they get 2 years to learn them so it may be much better come this September.
Original post by Xiuchen
Depends on what you want to do at Uni, and which University. I heard it is almost impossible to get A* in Psychology though. I go to a good grammar school and no one has gotten A* at A levels for Psychology, while many have for economics. Psychology is definitely more interesting though! And also I'd recommend taking 3 a-levels and 1 BTEC, because 3 a-levels give you great opportunities to get into the real top universities.


thanks for replying..which one would you say is easier to understand, psychology or economics? which one has more memrorisation? thanks alot again
Original post by kingdoo
Yeah basically this however in the new course guess how many studies they have to learn. 15 that is it and it is for a paper equivalent to the core studies paper and they get 2 years to learn them so it may be much better come this September.


thanks alot for replying, but isn't the new course even harder? isn't it more harder to understand the content, and gain markS?
thanks again
Original post by Amandeep :)
thanks alot, thats great help
i've got abit of a crappy memory aswell but its okay if i do it..,last couple of question if you don't mind, is understanding psychology difficul and how easy or difficult? and if you put the work in, what grades do people normally get, is it hard to get atleast a B or A?
thanks alot, it really means alot


Understanding psychology isn't that hard once you get the core approaches and ideas in. And if you put the work in... yeah, it might be difficult, but you could probably get an A if that's your expected.
Original post by kingdoo
It depends you could argue that doing psychology for the full 2 years will give you better uni options because you could ask to be predicted quite highly because you won't have had to take any exams.

Although I would say that economics is definitely related to your business course so may provide some help regarding your BTEC.

Maybe you could ask to do a 3 week induction into both courses and then ask to drop 1 of them when you decide which you find more interesting and useful.

Also, I don't know which exam board you are doing for psychology but the new one for OCR which I have had a look at because I helped out at the open day and obviously the new students would be doing this course. They sit a total of 3 exams and 1 exam is pretty much AS standard and then the other 2 are more A level standard but to me it looked much easier than our course because you don't have to learn that many case studies.


thank you but with psychology isn't the new course much harder and more difficult to understand? that's what i've heard..how hard is it to get a A or B with work and effort? i've heard it's just a memory test, is this true?
Original post by greylupin
Understanding psychology isn't that hard once you get the core approaches and ideas in. And if you put the work in... yeah, it might be difficult, but you could probably get an A if that's your expected.


thank you
Original post by Amandeep :)
thanks alot for replying, but isn't the new course even harder? isn't it more harder to understand the content, and gain markS?
thanks again


No idea. My teachers have said the exam papers seem to have harder questions. But that may just be because they have been teaching the same course for the last 5 years.

Obviously I won't be doing the same course as you but for me the AS content was mainly a memorisation test. At A2 it was a memorisation, application and understanding type of test. It incorporated understanding because without understanding you couldn't apply it or memorise it, and you couldn't just memorise everything and then get a good grade because you had to be able to apply your memory to the question.

If you decide to do it I don't think you will have to worry about much memorisation as you only have to learn 15 case studies. Therefore you will have to do more understanding work rather than memory work.

Anyway this is only speculation and only you know what you would like to actually do. Again you should probably ask to do a 3 week induction in both subjects to see whether you actully want to do it or not.

As for grades yes it may be hard to get an A* but that is the same in any other subject that you may take, A's and B's are very common with psychology students so don't worry too much.
Original post by kingdoo
No idea. My teachers have said the exam papers seem to have harder questions. But that may just be because they have been teaching the same course for the last 5 years.

Obviously I won't be doing the same course as you but for me the AS content was mainly a memorisation test. At A2 it was a memorisation, application and understanding type of test. It incorporated understanding because without understanding you couldn't apply it or memorise it, and you couldn't just memorise everything and then get a good grade because you had to be able to apply your memory to the question.

If you decide to do it I don't think you will have to worry about much memorisation as you only have to learn 15 case studies. Therefore you will have to do more understanding work rather than memory work.

Anyway this is only speculation and only you know what you would like to actually do. Again you should probably ask to do a 3 week induction in both subjects to see whether you actully want to do it or not.

As for grades yes it may be hard to get an A* but that is the same in any other subject that you may take, A's and B's are very common with psychology students so don't worry too much.


thank youuu :smile: :smile:
Original post by Amandeep :)
Im 16 and i'll be starting 6 form As levels in september
I don't know what i want to do after a levels, but i do know i want to go university
I'll be doing 4 a levels - BTEC Law, Btec business studies and a level geography
I just need another a level which will be either psychology or economics

I don't know which one to pick, what one is easier? which one is easier to understand? How much is there to memorise for each subject? whats your opinion on the subjects? any anything else that could help me know more about subjects

thanks alot guys


Psychology is not good.

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