Psychology A level

hey, im starting A level this year and i want psychology as one of my subjects but i dont have psychology subject in my school so i have to self study... i am completely lost and unaware as to how to even start and what books to buy... i would really appreciate some help and elaboration on this A level psychology subject.. thank you

Reply 1

Ahhhhhh1

4

Original post by scarlet pierce

hey, im starting A level this year and i want psychology as one of my subjects but i dont have psychology subject in my school so i have to self study... i am completely lost and unaware as to how to even start and what books to buy... i would really appreciate some help and elaboration on this A level psychology subject.. thank you

Buy the official AQA textbook. There's a lot to learn so are you sure you'll have time?

Reply 2

nintysixthousand

18

past papers are really useful! every question has set marks for things eg description and evaluation so learn the structure of what they are looking for eg in a 16 marker its 10 marks for eval(so 4 or 5 points) and 6 marks for description(so 3 or 4 points). this is the book i used which i found really helpful as it breaks everything down clearly and has loads of example questions, they also have a revision guide and app, although im not sure if its the most up to date available! https://www.amazon.co.uk/AQA-Psychology-Level-Year-Student/dp/1908682418/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=aqa+psychology&qid=1560870414&s=gateway&sr=8-1

Reply 3

scarlet pierce

OP

3

well i just finished my O levels like 4 days ago.. can u tell me what A level psychology is like briefly??

Reply 4

margiekins

14

I did eduqas Psychology, i think the different exam boards do different topics so just make sure before starting that your book/papers are the same exam boards

Reply 5

margiekins

14

I can only speak for eduqas psychology but in the first year you learn about the 5 different approaches which include therapies, case study, debate and assumptions for each approach. You also learn about research methods and psychological experiments such as designing your own, ethical issues etc. In the second year you use what you learnt in the first year and apply it to 3 behaviours (I did addiction, stress and schizophrenia) You also cover 5 controversies linked to the approaches you cover

Reply 6

Vib_A

13

Can't say about other boards apart from Cambridge CIE or the subject in particular, but I will comment on how to sit for the exam as a private student;

If you take CIE Psychology, go to the official Cambridge A-levels site, click on subjects and then find the Psychology subject page.
On the left hand side, you will see endorsed material which will give you a list of endorsed textbooks you can study for the subject. There will also be a tab for past papers which you can print and practice.
Also on the main Psychology subject page there will be a syllabus PDF download for the respective year. (2019-2022, for example.) I'd recommend checking that out to double-check to see if it's really something you'd be able to cope with.

You'll have to sit for the examinations as a private candidate/external candidate. Check with the schools in your area whether they accommodate private candidates or not. There will be a fee for this and they can depend from school to school. If you sit with the CIE board, there is a Cambridge School Search link that you can go to from a quick search on google. It'll basically give you a list of schools that accept private candidates or not, but I strongly advise calling up the school/emailing them to be sure they do still take in private candidates.

And lastly, hiring a private tutor can really help with dealing with the workload and also of course with any issues you might have as you go along the subject.

Reply 7

Ahhhhhh1

4

Original post by scarlet pierce

well i just finished my O levels like 4 days ago.. can u tell me what A level psychology is like briefly??

For AQA first year you do memory, attachment, social influence, approaches, and research methods. For second year you do biopsych, continue approaches and issues and debates. Then you pick 3 options we did forensics, relationships, and schizophrenia. Each topic is split into subdivisons

Reply 8

username3508100

20

You need to decide what exam board you want to do first as they vary quite a bit. For Edexcel, in the first year you do Social (so prejudice and obedience), Cognitive (memory, dementia/dyslexia), Biological (aggression, hormones, neurotransmitters etc) and Learning Theories (how we learn, conditioning). In the second year, you do clinical (schizophrenia, diagnosis, and another mental health disorder of your choice) and then you can choose from child, criminal or health (I did child, and this is stuff like day care, autism and attachment). You also have classic and contemporary studies for each unit, as well as methods (like interviews, questionnaires, maths, correlations, graphs etc). You also do issues and debates, I think there's 12, this is stuff like psychology as a science, ethics, social control etc

I loved psychology and definitely recommend it, but I'm not sure how I'd feel about doing it without a teacher, especially as you have to do practical investigations with Edexcel. Good luck tho!

(edited 4 years ago)

Reply 9

scarlet pierce

OP

3

Original post by Vib_A

Can't say about other boards apart from Cambridge CIE or the subject in particular, but I will comment on how to sit for the exam as a private student;

If you take CIE Psychology, go to the official Cambridge A-levels site, click on subjects and then find the Psychology subject page.
On the left hand side, you will see endorsed material which will give you a list of endorsed textbooks you can study for the subject. There will also be a tab for past papers which you can print and practice.
Also on the main Psychology subject page there will be a syllabus PDF download for the respective year. (2019-2022, for example.) I'd recommend checking that out to double-check to see if it's really something you'd be able to cope with.

You'll have to sit for the examinations as a private candidate/external candidate. Check with the schools in your area whether they accommodate private candidates or not. There will be a fee for this and they can depend from school to school. If you sit with the CIE board, there is a Cambridge School Search link that you can go to from a quick search on google. It'll basically give you a list of schools that accept private candidates or not, but I strongly advise calling up the school/emailing them to be sure they do still take in private candidates.

And lastly, hiring a private tutor can really help with dealing with the workload and also of course with any issues you might have as you go along the subject.

thanks i am taking CIE psychology

Reply 10

KMatambanadzo

2

Hi, in my country it is impossible for me to buy the book online or have it shipped because of various unfortunate policies. How else could I get this information to study or does anyone half picture or screenshots of the book?