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Well, at first I picked biology, chemistry and psychology, however I am starting year 12 again with sociology instead of psychology. All I can say is that psychology is more about the study of the mind and how it relates to behaviour, whereas sociology studies the problems within society and how this affects people’s behaviour.
Original post by The-judge-16
Well, at first I picked biology, chemistry and psychology, however I am starting year 12 again with sociology instead of psychology. All I can say is that psychology is more about the study of the mind and how it relates to behaviour, whereas sociology studies the problems within society and how this affects people’s behaviour.


Okay thanks. Did u find the content hard to remember and learn for psychology
Original post by Isabelpayne200
Okay thanks. Did u find the content hard to remember and learn for psychology


Tbh the content is not hard at all to learn, there is just a lot to memorise. I would say sociology is easier though.
i took sociology and LOVED it, became obsessed with it and will now study it at uni in Sept.

psychology is commonly called 'harder' and is 'better recognised' - i found both interesting at the subject fair but wasn't good at maths so didn't end up taking it!
Original post by yzanne
i took sociology and LOVED it, became obsessed with it and will now study it at uni in Sept.

psychology is commonly called 'harder' and is 'better recognised' - i found both interesting at the subject fair but wasn't good at maths so didn't end up taking it!


Psychology is math based? What do you workout? I’ve been told sociology is very interesting but friends took it at gcse and found it reallllyyy hard. What else did you pick?
Original post by Isabelpayne200
Psychology is math based? What do you workout? I’ve been told sociology is very interesting but friends took it at gcse and found it reallllyyy hard. What else did you pick?

the alevel sociology course is practically the same as gcse - now that i've done the a level, i signed up to be a tutor in it for a level students because im feeling that confident in my knowledge.

im told psychology does have some maths elements. let me text my friend and find out for you!

I also took English and History, as well as French at AS. :yep:
Sociology is less about the brain ofc and more about society, so if you’re interested in behaviour, education systems, health systems, crime, policy, culture etc above how our mind works, then I would choose Sociology. I personally loved Sociology A Level, took it at degree level and now I’ll be studying Sociology, Anthropology and the History & Philosophy of Science at Cambridge in September! Feel free to message me with any questions about the subject!
Original post by CharlotteSalf
Sociology is less about the brain ofc and more about society, so if you’re interested in behaviour, education systems, health systems, crime, policy, culture etc above how our mind works, then I would choose Sociology. I personally loved Sociology A Level, took it at degree level and now I’ll be studying Sociology, Anthropology and the History & Philosophy of Science at Cambridge in September! Feel free to message me with any questions about the subject!

ayyy I'm doing history and sociology in september hopefully at warwick!! :yep: twins ish lol
To add to my above message, Sociology is very essay based and so is psychology but to a lesser extent. It may be worth looking at assessment alongside content bc some people find essays work for them, yet some people really struggle. Both subjects are massively theory based.
Original post by yzanne
ayyy I'm doing history and sociology in september hopefully at warwick!! :yep: twins ish lol


That’s so cool! At undergraduate level or masters? I was going to do Sociology at Warwick initially but chose York for undergrad :smile:
Hi I took psychology at A-level and it is definitely NOT maths based. Research methods is the only paper that contains maths and from someone who got a 6 at gcse I’d say the maths isn’t that bad. Psychology is vv interesting as it looks at several different aspects to explain behaviour e.g cognitive, developmental and biological.
Original post by CharlotteSalf
That’s so cool! At undergraduate level or masters? I was going to do Sociology at Warwick initially but chose York for undergrad :smile:

oh, undergrad. aha would love to get a masters in sociology tho! could always go to cambridge if i got a first?
Original post by yzanne
oh, undergrad. aha would love to get a masters in sociology tho! could always go to cambridge if i got a first?


Go for it, aim high :smile:
Original post by Isabelpayne200
Psychology is math based? What do you workout? I’ve been told sociology is very interesting but friends took it at gcse and found it reallllyyy hard. What else did you pick?


Please don’t worry about this, it’s not maths-based whatsoever. Yes there are elements of maths to it, but as long as you can do easy maths like addition, percentages etc you will be fine xx
There are 16 mark & 12 mark essays you can get. Then there can be smaller questions (8, 6, 4 and even 3) based on a study or theory you have learned about.
With AQA psychology the papers are split into topics. Most of the maths is found in the Research Methods topic, but research methods isn’t solely maths either. It’s about experimental designs, types of experiment, case studies etc.
I’m in Y13 (so finished now lol) and I took Bio and Chemistry A Levels alongside Psychology. Psychology was my favourite- honestly if you memorise content easily psychology is a doddle and the majority of it is interesting.
Some of my friends did sociology and therefore I can echo what the others said- it’s very essay based.
It’s all about what you want to do though- Psy is a study of the mind and human behaviour whereas sociology is more to do with society in general. Have you any idea what you want to do further down the line? That might help :smile: xx Good luck xx
Original post by Isabelpayne200
Psychology is math based? What do you workout? I’ve been told sociology is very interesting but friends took it at gcse and found it reallllyyy hard. What else did you pick?


my friend texted me back and said you only do means, ratios and percentages :yep:
Hi, I'm in year 11 going into yr 12 this September. I chose biology, chemistry, economics and psychology for a level however I'm thinking about changing psychology to sociology. I do sociology for GCSE and I do absolutely love it however my curiosity for psychology is quite big. One thing I do want to prioritise is taking a more relaxed and enjoyable subject as it would be easier to manage my time when it comes to revision and would like it to be more flexible, and you probably know about the rumours about chem and bio being very hard and almost impossible. I am willing to stay on my A game at all times and not slack since they are hard subjects. That's why I'm thinking of picking sociology A level than psychology as I am more familiar with it and it could be easier. Do you have any advice for me? Tips on reassuring me with Biology and Chemistry A level would be great too. <3 Thanks.

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