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AQA A Level Psychology: Paper 3 (Unofficial Mark Schemes)

As with Paper 1 and 2, we can work on an unofficial mark scheme for Paper 3. Unlike the other papers, there are options for topics so students will be doing different ones.

There will therefore be three unofficial mark schemes to cover all the topics. Only the first will cover Issues and Debates (which everyone does) and the other topics will be split across the mark schemes. They are as follows:

Mark Scheme 1 - Issues and Debates | Gender | Schizophrenia | Forensic Psychology
Link - https://docs.google.com/document/d/119oh83AVHVbVGWngwacLQybkiPzw5_2_8YjGS-M-oMI/edit?usp=sharing

Mark Scheme 2 - Relationships | Eating Behaviour | Aggression
Link - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tDOICcpZF4AZBejMZIZ7peji4Z9l54QD_gFhxnyf7IY/edit?usp=sharing

Mark Scheme 3 - Cognition and Development | Stress | Addiction
Link - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CBegPNcInqraL6J4nmZEJVgRPUFcnyiuZw_gr1zo38Q/edit?usp=sharing

I apologize if this is confusing or your topics aren't all on one mark scheme but the options make it complicated. Whichever topics you do, please contribute to the relevant mark scheme.

Reply 1

Jamesphillll

Are grade boundaries different for individual sections i.e. Gender and forensics because the gender 16 marker had so many people talking about the wrong topic so surely it should have lower grade boundaries?

Reply 2

aalfaiaz

Original post by Jamesphillll

No I'm pretty sure that the grade boundaries are the same no matter the option. I know it's so frustrating, it's the same for most subjects, like History or English.

Reply 3

sophierees23

Any idea what the grade boundaries will be like? higher or lower than average

Reply 4

hahabbie

hi idk how to edit it but there was a question on issues and debates, question 4 i think, a one marker on how to minimise beta bias or something?

Reply 5

aalfaiaz

Original post by sophierees23

Any idea what the grade boundaries will be like? higher or lower than average

Probably lower than average because it is a first year spec

Reply 6

factual13

The gender question. I spoke about kleinfelters and turner syndrome :angry:

Reply 7

aishah28

Original post by factual13

The gender question. I spoke about kleinfelters and turner syndrome :angry:

Same! I'm so pissed, they didn't make it clear. And I wrote about hard and soft Determinism for the ideas and approaches one, that's 32 marks lost. 😭😭

Reply 8

factual13

Original post by aishah28

Same! I'm so pissed, they didn't make it clear. And I wrote about hard and soft Determinism for the ideas and approaches one, that's 32 marks lost. 😭😭

Naah thats literally going to ruin my overall grade, and uni place. Lets hope the grade boundaries are low

Reply 9

bhavik-

Original post by aishah28

Same! I'm so pissed, they didn't make it clear. And I wrote about hard and soft Determinism for the ideas and approaches one, that's 32 marks lost. 😭😭

Nothing wrong with that, they said two or more types of determinism and those are two types of determinism. In a similar question on the specimen paper they credit both soft/hard and psychic/environmental/biological. As long as you linked it to the STEM, you can totally talk about hard and soft, don't worry.

Reply 10

stormeranna

Surely both adrenaline and cortisol are released by the adrenal glands??

Reply 11

Blancosdos

Original post by aalfaiaz

No I'm pretty sure that the grade boundaries are the same no matter the option. I know it's so frustrating, it's the same for most subjects, like History or English.

nope.for AQA History grade boundaries are different for the units taken.

The same can't be said for English :frown:

Reply 12

mary_ogorman

Original post by Blinkie

For the 16 mark question about determinism. I talked about the soft, hard and environmental determinism. Would that also be okay?

I'm pretty sure that would be fine. I mentioned biological and environmental then went on to explain hard and soft. You'll definitely get some credit for it so don't worry.

Reply 13

Emilia.mrm

how did you find the english exam? I went blank and honestly failed it... thats my uni place gone

Reply 14

witchyyy

Original post by Emilia.mrm

how did you find the english exam? I went blank and honestly failed it... thats my uni place gone

Literally same...hate English exams and these were the worst

Reply 15

bhavik-

Original post by stormeranna

Surely both adrenaline and cortisol are released by the adrenal glands??

the question specified a hormone that regulates the carbohydrate/biological molecule metabolism which is the main role of cortisol, leading to the decrease in resources due to long term stress & eventually, stress related illnesses.

Reply 16

Bob_Dhillon

Would writting about biological explanations for atypical gender developmemt (such as genes and the bstc) score credit on the 16 marker. It is still after all "psychological research into atypical gender developmemt" and surely if they wanted only social psychological explanations, as described in this unofficial mark scheme, they would have specified them as that, rather than "psychological research".

Reply 17

MelikeYalcin08

Does anyone know what % you need for an A grade according to last years grade boundaries? Also do you reckon it will be higher or lower this year compared to last years grade boundaries?

Reply 18

hahabbie

Original post by MelikeYalcin08

Does anyone know what % you need for an A grade according to last years grade boundaries? Also do you reckon it will be higher or lower this year compared to last years grade boundaries?

i'm thinking about 70%-75% based on last years (AS) grade boundaries (105/144 for an A which is 72%). i have no idea if they'd go up or down, but i'd assume they'd stay near 70%.

Reply 19

hahabbie

Original post by abbiefiler

hi idk how to edit it but there was a question on issues and debates, question 4 i think, a one marker on how to minimise beta bias or something?

i'm back w another suggestion, for the second mark scheme, thematic analysis keeps data qualitative. coding units are identified however a report is written rather than tallies made to turn it into quantitative data. (i think)