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Anyone take GCSE or A Level Psychology?

I don't take GCSE or A Level psychology but im just intrested to see how popular the subject actually is. I know its becoming more common in a lot of schools to take the subject but I've heard the course is fairly difficult aswell. Im considering taking it at A Level but I need some opinons on the course. I also want to know how common GCSE psychology is.

At my school they don't offer the course and i've heard its a rare course at GCSE but is offered at a few schools. If you take GCSE, what do you think of the course? And would it be worth taking it at a local college if they have it on offer?

I'd rather have some knowledge of psychology before I went on to do A Level so i'm considering looking around for local colleges that offer the course. :wink:

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Reply 1

Elle-Jay

I did A2 psychology and we were the first year group that our 6th form ever allowed to study it. My AS class (3 yrs ago) consisted of about 30 people, it was mad! But for A2 there were 7 of us who wanted to continue and had passed AS. We studied AQA (A) and most of it was really interesting. The social psychology stuff is just sociology (and so boring!) but we also looked at cognitive and psychobiology (or something like that) which was really interesting and involved quite a bit of bio. The group who studied A2 after us had to have 2 groups as over 25 people wanted to continue onto A2, so it was definately growing at our school. I wouldn't be at all surprised if they started GCSE psych in a couple of years, as over 60 yr11s said they wanted to study it at AS in yr12.

Hope that helps!

Reply 2

Horatio Caine

I am currently studying psychology at AS. I got a D in my January exam, I was disappointed with it - it was due to lack of revision if I'm honest. I am revising like mad for the exams in May. The two psychology exams are on the same day along with two other exams!

I think it's probably the most interesting subject I've ever studied and I'd reccomend it to anyone. Parts of it can be boring, but what subject doesn't have its boring bits? Most of it's just remembering information for the exam, the subject itself requries a lot of writing. The amount of writing we get done in one lesson is unbelievable, it was reccomended to us not to choose the lesson if we got less than a C in GCSE English or if we didn't enjoy writing etc.

Psychology is the most popular A Level in my sixth form at the moment. We have got 25+ people in the class, and it's quite crowded and the class might be getting split into two next year if the numbers remain the same. The sixth form offers GCSE Psychology to year 12/13 only and it's an alternative to those wishing to study AS Psychology but haven't got the grades too. I think that class currently has around 8 students.

I'd definately reccomend psychology but be prepared for the work load and the huge amount of stuff you need to remember.

Reply 3

Crystal89

In my sixth form it's a very popular A level subject but also has the highest drop out rate. If people do drop a subject either at the beginning of the year or after AS then it does tend to be Psychology. Honestly I thought I'd only do it for a year but I hated Biology so much I dropped that instead. I find it really interesting- the only bit I didn't like was the research methods part- and it's also my easiest subject but then again I'm relatively good at writing essays and you have to do a LOT of those. It's one of those subjects where you can just sort of throw up all your knowledge onto the page if you get what I mean so if you learn all the stuff you're pretty much guaranteed a good grade.

My school doesn't do the GCSE- as you said it's quite rare.

Reply 4

Interchange

I do GCSE Psychology. Its quite easy really, just learning a lot of names and theories. A couple of things take some understanding but not much really. Its really interesting too! I'd recommend it.

Reply 5

SeanxJames

I looked at some of the past GCSE papers and some of it looks complicated but I suppose I have never done the subject before and haven't revised the topics. Looks interesting though.

I think I might print a past paper off when I get the chance and see how I do in the paper. :smile:

Reply 6

Lola_in_Slacks

SeanxJames

I also want to know how common GCSE psychology is.

At my school they don't offer the course and i've heard its a rare course at GCSE but is offered at a few schools. If you take GCSE, what do you think of the course? And would it be worth taking it at a local college if they have it on offer?

I'd rather have some knowledge of psychology before I went on to do A Level so i'm considering looking around for local colleges that offer the course. :wink:

I'm taking GCSE Psych at night class. I chose it for "Enrichment" :rolleyes:

because it was the best option and I wanted another GCSE. I was taking A Level Psych at school too - didn't want to mind - and hated it (probably because of the fact I never wanted to take it). I left school but am still doing the GCSE. It's okay, I like the unit on moral behaviour but don't really like the cognitive stuff. The coursework is quite good though because you get to carry out your own experiment.

I think it's more common at adult ed than schools. My teacher says she's been teaching it at GCSE adult ed for 4 yrs but a specification's been around longer, which I was surprised about. Apparently she's had classes that have started out with about 10 students but have gone down to about 2 because people who assume it's easy find it's not. I don't think it's that hard though, but there's a lot of case studies to remember.

Reply 7

BeesKnees

I find learning all the stuff such a chore! There is simply toooo much in my opinion and i'm also finding A2 psych boring compared to AS.

Reply 8

SeanxJames

Psychology is one of those subjects where you have to remeber alot of factual information. I wouldn't say im particularly good at this but I think if I do decided to take it as an A Level I will be taking it because its a subject I like and really want to study so I will be making an effort to revise for it. I'm going to have a look if there are any college courses doing it locally. I think I found one a while back but the course had already started and never ended up doing it.

I guess GCSE will give me a good insight into what I can expect at As level.

Reply 9

Lupie

I'm currently taking AS Level Psychology. It's one of the most popular AS Levels in my school (we have to have two classes) but also has one of the highest dropout rates between AS and A2. Basically what others have said, it's a lot of memorising and a lot of work. But very interesting!
I got a C in my January module, but that was due to not having the technique down and also having a few horrific mind blanks.

I'd not actually heard of it being taught at GCSE, but I think it's a good idea!

Reply 10

Becky_90

Im currently doing AS level Psychology and im enjoying it. Yes some parts can be rather boring and tiresome but on the whole its good.

At the start of this year i think there were about 20-25 in my class, since then we've had a fair amount of people dropping out and we're down to about 14 people now. (We have 2 classes for it, but im not sure about the number in the other one!)
I think its a subject that people are curious about, because you havent studyed it before it appeals to people because its different, some people take to it, enjoy it and carry on whereas others dont.

Theres alot to learn and case studies etc to remember but overall it is very interesting, can take some getting used to and a bit of confusion at the beginning but sooner or later things begin to slot into place.

Reply 11

SeanxJames

It sounds like a popular subject to take but a lot of people have said that many decide to not go on and take it at A2. But I think personally I will probably find the course intresting and decide to go on and take it further. At my school they have a few A Level psychology textbooks and some of them are huge and look very confusing. It shows you how much there is to learn.

Thanks for all your help. :smile:

Reply 12

Horatio Caine

SeanxJames

The Collins one that we use isn't really that thick, but the A2 one is about double the size. So there must be a **** load more to learn for A2 than AS. I'm hoping to get above a D in my 2 exams on the 22nd, because I want to do it next year.

Reply 13

yellow96

Personally, I find A2 psychology so boring that I'm almost driven to tears every lesson. You don't learn about any interesting mental functions, it's all just what did so-and-so say and how were they wrong? There's a ridiculous amount to learn and, while I'm not generalising, not one of my lecturers is grammatically accurate, which can make your average pedant like myself incredibly confused at times. By the end of the AS year I didn't know a thing about how the mind works, but I did know several dozen names relating to studies that are disproven the second they're completed. The essays are rigid beyond belief, so showing any sort of flair (which, believe me, I rely heavily on in exams) is frowned upon. Let's see, what else.. oh, it's so common these days that it's not really a respected subject. It's not a completely laughable one mind you, but it's no physics.

Reply 14

SeanxJames

At my school they have the A Level textbooks. I can't understand why because psychology isn't even a subject avaliable at my school. But the books are huge and when I looked through one of them a while ago it all seemed very scientific but i'm sure its intresting even though I don't think I understood a word of what I was reading.

Good luck Unagi. :biggrin:

I'm sure you will get higher than D.

Reply 15

sssjay

taking psychology for a level is prolly the best thing i have ever done (:
i didn't do it for gcse either so i didnt know what to expect and i automatically thought "i will drop this at the end of As's"
pffft; i plan to study psychology at uni now aha
and it's not difficult really at all; you just gotta know what to write in the questions.

Reply 16

SeanxJames

I think im defiently going to go ahead and take it as an a level.
It sounds really intresting and from what I have heard really good and worthwhile.
It seems to be a really popular subject at A Level & degree level.
The GCSE exams in psychology are pretty rare.
They are only a small number of schools which have the subject avaliable.
Its more common at AS and A2.
Im glad you have enjoyed the course. :smile:

Good luck with your exams btw.

Reply 17

Greenmile

I do AS which is very popular at my college. But I do find it extremely difficult learning the contnt because there is just too much of it - too many names, dates and studies to memorise, evaluate and critisize.
I scraped a C in January from 3 days revision (thanks photographic memory!). But even if you can remember it all, you have to know what to do with it.
I've been getting all A's and B's in class, but it's doubtful that I could replicate that for the exams. I doubt very much if I would continue it to A2.

However, it depends what sort of things interest you. I'm more of a sciencey person, and not really into writing essays.

Reply 18

Jozeesh

I personally wish i'd dropped Psych after AS. There's way too much stuff they expect you to learn and i'm missing out an entire topic for revision cos i don't have enough to time to revise for all my subjects as it is. I'm disappointed in A2 psych as we were told we'd be learning about interesting topics, like dreams etc and never did. It's still the same stupid stuff; lots of studies, lots of names and lots of criticisms of how every study didn't prove anything at all. But if you're good at memorising lots and lots of information, i suppose it won't bother you as much as it's bothered me :rolleyes:

Reply 19

jit92

Hey..I'm a 16 year old student from Singapore. Finished my gce "O" levels in Nov..I'm going to Bellerbys college in London in jan 2009. Doing Maths, Econs, Psych, Physics. was wondering if Bio is important in psych? i have not done bio at "O" levels. Oh and i wld also appreciate it if you guys can advice me if Bellerbys college is good..
Thanks!
much appreciated
Jitesh :smile:

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