Is A Level Psychology hard ?

I am starting sixth form in September and I'm not sure if A Level Psychology is difficult as it wasn't my first option for an A Level. My original choices were Fine Art, Geography, and Physics. However, Art and Geography weren't available as they are on at the same time so I switched to psychology just a couple of days ago. I've seen videos on A Level Psychology but I don't know if it is hard or challenging as some people found it easy and some found it incredibly difficult. There wasn't really an in-between. I know that A Level Art and Physics is a lot of hard work so I wanted to know if Psychology is as well.

For me, A-Level Psychology is not hard at all. The only issue is the amount of content I have to learn! Especially the evaluations, but do not let this put you off.

I am currently in year 12 and the only thing I have found a bit tedious is Research Methods but that's just me. The Maths skills involved are quite simple too so if you are good at Maths it should be a breeze.

Hope this helped.

Yes, thank you this did help. I have been told that if your good at Biology then it will be easier. Also, that most of the content is mainly case studies. I'm not sure if it's true or not tho.

I am starting sixth form in September and I'm not sure if A Level Psychology is difficult as it wasn't my first option for an A Level. My original choices were Fine Art, Geography, and Physics. However, Art and Geography weren't available as they are on at the same time so I switched to psychology just a couple of days ago. I've seen videos on A Level Psychology but I don't know if it is hard or challenging as some people found it easy and some found it incredibly difficult. There wasn't really an in-between. I know that A Level Art and Physics is a lot of hard work so I wanted to know if Psychology is as well.

Haha, yeah I was shocked to see almost every page in textbook has a case study. I learnt them all really quickly because some of them were just easy to memorise. Yes, taking Biology does make it easier but only for 1/2 chapters. Many of the students in my class don't take Biology, including me, and we have coped just fine.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Did you do AQA A Level Psycology ? I did GCSE geography and there were a lot of case studies, I know that the case studies are not the same but there was an evaluation of factors etc. Would that be any aid or advantage to when approaching/ answering case study questions in the exam

Yeah, I did AQA A-Level Psychology. There was an evaluation of factors. I'm not sure if the one in GCSE Geography is an aid. I could send you an example of how we evaluate in Psychology if that would help?

I also take A-Level Physics if you want any advice?

Yes, if you could send an example of an evaluation in Psychology that would be helpful. About A Level Physics. How hard was it ?

I'm not going to sugar-coat it, it is quite hard! The thing I have noticed however is that the questions repeat with a different scenario! So, you are essentially answering the same question over and over until it becomes second nature.
I would say 75% of the content is Maths calculations and the other 25% is knowledge. It does rely heavily on knowing GCSE knowledge but it's not impossible! Perhaps, look at past papers to get a feel of A-Level Physics. Are you doing AQA for Physics?

I will send the breakdown of the evaluation in the next post.

yes, i am doing AQA Physics

I'm not going to sugar-coat it, it is quite hard! The thing I have noticed however is that the questions repeat with a different scenario! So, you are essentially answering the same question over and over until it becomes second nature.
I would say 75% of the content is Maths calculations and the other 25% is knowledge. It does rely heavily on knowing GCSE knowledge but it's not impossible! Perhaps, look at past papers to get a feel of A-Level Physics. Are you doing AQA for Physics?

I will send the breakdown of the evaluation in the next post.

I've started reading about the first few topics (isotope notations,specific charge, alpha,beta, gamma rays) I understand the concepts as I studied fragments of it in GCSEs. Does the topics get harder as you progress or is it one hard topic then one easy topic.

Psychology evaluation

I have taken an evaluation paragraph (attached) from the textbook based on Asch's study of conformity. Perhaps, read up on it so this makes a bit more sense!

The general layout that I was taught is PEEL:
P - Point - Is it a strength or a weakness? What is the weakness/strength of the study/content?
E - Evidence - Pick out a bit of evidence that proves your point.
E - Explanation - Expand on what makes it a weakness. Be careful to not give more evidence - it won't get you the mark.
L - Link - Conclude on your point. Make sure your link is not your point re-worded.

Using PEEL in Asch's study:

Point - The paragraph is saying that the study is a 'child of its time'. In other words, it is suggesting the study is outdated.
When writing out your point I would always refer back to the question as a starting point - for example as the question is focusing on Asch's study I would start out with:
'One weakness of Asch's study into conformity is that... and then end of with the point which is 'it is a child of its time' or 'it is outdated'.

Evidence - In this case, the evidence is that there was McCarthyism going on at the time.
When writing out the evidence I would start with 'For example...' or 'This is supported by...' and then end of with the evidence.

Explanation - What about McCarthyism affected this study? In this case, at the time when there was McCarthyism in America, conformity was more likely as people were scared to go against the majority.
When writing out the explanation I would start with 'This suggests...' and then end of with the explanation.

Link - Conclude on your point. In conclusion, Asch’s study was only valid then and could not be re-created due to the events at that time.
Remember to not make your point and conclusion the same. Chances are you won't get the mark!

So if we put this together we get an evaluation paragraph:
One weakness of Asch's study into conformity is that it is a child of its time. For example, there was McCarthyism going on at the time, a strong anti-Communist period. This suggests that due to the events at the time, the participants would conform into the majority due to fear of punishment. In conclusion, Asch’s study was only valid then and could not be re-created due to the events at that time.

I wouldn't make the paragraph more than 4-5 lines long as there are a lot of evaluations and it will just make your life harder in year 13 when revising!

Hope that helped @IDK.345

Thank you for the advice and taking the time to send the PEEL structure. Which textbook would you recommend me buy for A Level Psychology ?

I wouldn't recommend buying the textbook or any revision guide just yet as your school may offer them at a discounted rate as they are quite expensive!

Ok. Do you happen to remember the name of the textbook you used ?