A level psychology or religious studies?

I am currently choosing my A levels and I am taking: graphics, history, biology and either psychology or religious studies.

I would like to know which one out of religious studies and psychology is harder, takes up more time and has more memorisation?

Also, would having not taken religious studies at GCSE put me at an advantage for A level RS?

Reply 1

999tigger

Original post by Strugglingggg04

I'm guessing Psychology is harder but not by much.

RS has a very definite way of answering for high marks and is one of the favoured subjects people do in a year if they need an A level at speed.

I wouldnt think you would be disadvantaged having not taken it at GCSE.

Talk to teachers and compare specifications. Do the one you have most interest in.

Reply 2

nicole_a99

Hi! I am in year 13 and have nearly completed the course content for both Psychology and RS.For me, Psychology is definitely harder than RS. Majority of the content in Psychology is fairly reasonable to understand but the bit myself (and my whole class) struggle with is definitely trying to memorise it all. It is an EXTREMELY content heavy subject, in the sense of description and evaluation of studies and theories and believe me there are a lot. In exams, the 16 and 20 mark questions are very hard and it is rare that anyone gets near top marks. Psychology also has a lot of maths in it, especially first year, and a fair amount of science in it throughout both years which is sometimes hard to understand, but taking Biology should help you I reckon. First year Psychology is particularly interesting I found, but I personally have hated second year (clinical and child psychology). As for RS, it's considered an 'easy' subject but no A level is easy! It is content heavy once again, but I personally think the content is easier to remember. The topic of Philosophy is a strange one as it is a lot of unfamiliar content about there being other existences, ect. Ethics is very straightforward and easy to remember and enjoyable to learn. Religious development is boring but not too difficult - I do Christianity so I am familiar with the content occasionally but your school may choose a different religion so I would find out beforehand. Exam wise, there are few questions (and you choose which ones to answer) but they are long, approximately 40 marks. I didn't take Psychology or RS at GCSE so both were new subjects to me. RS takes up less time and relies on less memorisation I would argue. But Biology will compliment Psychology I should think.Good luck choosing! If you have anymore questions please feel free to contact me anytime. Nicole :smile:

Reply 3

yeahthatonethere

I'm a year 13 and currently doing A Level psychology and I did an AS Level in Religious Studies last year.

In my opinion Religious Studies was harder content wise but Psychology was a lot harder when concerning the amount of content I had to memorize but both were amazingly interesting!

Psychology is a lot of memorization and requires tons of revision but I, personally, don't find the content hard to understand and it is very interesting. On my exam board we covered everything from prejudice to drug addiction to eating disorders in the first year! It was the AS Level that took up the most of my time but this may be slightly biased as I was always going to drop RS and take Psychology from the start so I didn't spend as much time on RS.

Religious Studies was also really interesting and like I said above didn't take up too much of my time. The concepts are a lot more complex and there is a lot of content to cover but it was a really good subject. I wouldn't say you're at any disadvantage at all for not taking an RS at GCSE as many people in my class didn't and did fine. The questions can be a little iffy though with their wording. A question on my Buddhism paper last year was something along the lines of "Nirvana cannot be expressed in words. How far do you agree with the statement?" It was really obscure and oddly worded so be prepared for any kind of question you may get! The only reason I dropped RS tbh was because psychology was more related to STEM and my other subjects.

Either subject is really interesting and rewarding but also a lot of work!
If you have anymore questions on these subjects just ask away!

Reply 4

username3508100

RS is not about only learning, it's about making your own judgements about philosophers' ideas and talking about these in the exam. You get really involved in lessons, having debates and you analyse religion from outside, rather than inside.

With psychology there are more facts to learn, and it's obviously more to do with science, although there's elements of maths and English too, so in my opinion Psychology is academically harder.

I love both though! If you need to know anything, just ask as I do both of these subjects + history :smile:

)

Reply 5

lilballofanxiety

I know that this was months ago, but I was wondering if you got to choose your own religion (if I remember correctly there were 6 to choose from) or if the entire class had to do the same religion. I would really like to do Buddhism but I feel like the teacher and most of the class would want to do Christianity (I don't know why I think that - it's just more common I guess?).

Reply 6

yeahthatonethere

Original post by lilballofanxiety

No one I know got to choose their religion, your school chooses it and that's what you do. It would be too difficult for the amount of stuff you cover for the teacher to teach whatever each student wanted so I'm afraid you're stuck with what your school chooses. If I stayed at my high school for example I wouldve done Christianity but my college does Buddhism.

Hope I've helped and anymore questions just ask!