Im thinking about taking psych a level help
11
PLEASE any advice for psych should i take it? should i not? what things do u wish u did from day 1 of it what sort of stuff does it involve? how content heavy is it and what type of revision methods work best for it? what are the tests like? is it something i could learn over summer to be fully prepared for yr12 and how could i do that? AQA btw literally any advice at all
Reply 1
10
Hi, I study AQA Sociology, Psychology, and Economics. Psychology is my favorite subject because the content is interesting, which motivates me to study. Additionally, there are many online resources, like PsychBoost, that can really help with A-level Psychology.
I'm in Year 13 and currently taking my exams. I wish I had actively taken revision notes and made flashcards from the beginning, so I wouldn’t have to cram at the last minute. For any A-level subjects you are studying, make sure you regularly do past paper questions and submit them to your teachers for marking. This is especially important for the longer 16 and 25 mark questions, so you have time to improve over the two years.
Psychology has a lot of content and requires a lot of memorization. The revision method that works best for me is using flashcards. On one side, I put all the AO1 (basic knowledge about the topic), and on the reverse side, I put all the AO3 (evaluation points: two points for the topic and two points against the topic). Occasionally, I write down everything I remember on my whiteboard and then check the flashcards to see what I missed.
For AQA Psychology, the highest mark we can get is for a 16-marker question. To prepare yourself before starting year 12, I suggest starting with PsychBoost. He condenses all the necessary information into short, 10-minute videos for each topic. Look at the content and see if you enjoy it. My college started Year 12 with topics on Memory and Social Influence, so you might want to start there.
Let me know if you have any more questions!
I'm in Year 13 and currently taking my exams. I wish I had actively taken revision notes and made flashcards from the beginning, so I wouldn’t have to cram at the last minute. For any A-level subjects you are studying, make sure you regularly do past paper questions and submit them to your teachers for marking. This is especially important for the longer 16 and 25 mark questions, so you have time to improve over the two years.
Psychology has a lot of content and requires a lot of memorization. The revision method that works best for me is using flashcards. On one side, I put all the AO1 (basic knowledge about the topic), and on the reverse side, I put all the AO3 (evaluation points: two points for the topic and two points against the topic). Occasionally, I write down everything I remember on my whiteboard and then check the flashcards to see what I missed.
For AQA Psychology, the highest mark we can get is for a 16-marker question. To prepare yourself before starting year 12, I suggest starting with PsychBoost. He condenses all the necessary information into short, 10-minute videos for each topic. Look at the content and see if you enjoy it. My college started Year 12 with topics on Memory and Social Influence, so you might want to start there.
Let me know if you have any more questions!
Reply 2
phob17
OP
11
Original post by idklol1
Hi, I study AQA Sociology, Psychology, and Economics. Psychology is my favorite subject because the content is interesting, which motivates me to study. Additionally, there are many online resources, like PsychBoost, that can really help with A-level Psychology.
I'm in Year 13 and currently taking my exams. I wish I had actively taken revision notes and made flashcards from the beginning, so I wouldn’t have to cram at the last minute. For any A-level subjects you are studying, make sure you regularly do past paper questions and submit them to your teachers for marking. This is especially important for the longer 16 and 25 mark questions, so you have time to improve over the two years.
Psychology has a lot of content and requires a lot of memorization. The revision method that works best for me is using flashcards. On one side, I put all the AO1 (basic knowledge about the topic), and on the reverse side, I put all the AO3 (evaluation points: two points for the topic and two points against the topic). Occasionally, I write down everything I remember on my whiteboard and then check the flashcards to see what I missed.
For AQA Psychology, the highest mark we can get is for a 16-marker question. To prepare yourself before starting year 12, I suggest starting with PsychBoost. He condenses all the necessary information into short, 10-minute videos for each topic. Look at the content and see if you enjoy it. My college started Year 12 with topics on Memory and Social Influence, so you might want to start there.
Let me know if you have any more questions!
I'm in Year 13 and currently taking my exams. I wish I had actively taken revision notes and made flashcards from the beginning, so I wouldn’t have to cram at the last minute. For any A-level subjects you are studying, make sure you regularly do past paper questions and submit them to your teachers for marking. This is especially important for the longer 16 and 25 mark questions, so you have time to improve over the two years.
Psychology has a lot of content and requires a lot of memorization. The revision method that works best for me is using flashcards. On one side, I put all the AO1 (basic knowledge about the topic), and on the reverse side, I put all the AO3 (evaluation points: two points for the topic and two points against the topic). Occasionally, I write down everything I remember on my whiteboard and then check the flashcards to see what I missed.
For AQA Psychology, the highest mark we can get is for a 16-marker question. To prepare yourself before starting year 12, I suggest starting with PsychBoost. He condenses all the necessary information into short, 10-minute videos for each topic. Look at the content and see if you enjoy it. My college started Year 12 with topics on Memory and Social Influence, so you might want to start there.
Let me know if you have any more questions!
YOU'RE A STAR TYSM I WILL TAKE ALL UR ADIVE!!!!!!!!!! I wish u all the luck on ur a level exams seriously thank you!!!
Original post by phob17
PLEASE any advice for psych should i take it? should i not? what things do u wish u did from day 1 of it what sort of stuff does it involve? how content heavy is it and what type of revision methods work best for it? what are the tests like? is it something i could learn over summer to be fully prepared for yr12 and how could i do that? AQA btw literally any advice at all
heyyyy @phob17 i'm a year 13 doing a level aqa psych and i really enjoy it! it is quite content heavy so i highly recommend making notes as you go along and revising consistently. if you want to learn more about the way people behave, then you should take psychology. especially if you take a science subject like biology as there's quite a lot of science involved! i recommend flashcards, blurting & simply condensing your notes into cornell notes for example
! you don't need to learn the content over summer - you have plenty of time to make sure you know as much as you can for the actual a level exams! hope this helps 
(thanks @erin11 for the tag!)Reply 5
Original post by idklol1
Hi, I study AQA Sociology, Psychology, and Economics. Psychology is my favorite subject because the content is interesting, which motivates me to study. Additionally, there are many online resources, like PsychBoost, that can really help with A-level Psychology.
I'm in Year 13 and currently taking my exams. I wish I had actively taken revision notes and made flashcards from the beginning, so I wouldn’t have to cram at the last minute. For any A-level subjects you are studying, make sure you regularly do past paper questions and submit them to your teachers for marking. This is especially important for the longer 16 and 25 mark questions, so you have time to improve over the two years.
Psychology has a lot of content and requires a lot of memorization. The revision method that works best for me is using flashcards. On one side, I put all the AO1 (basic knowledge about the topic), and on the reverse side, I put all the AO3 (evaluation points: two points for the topic and two points against the topic). Occasionally, I write down everything I remember on my whiteboard and then check the flashcards to see what I missed.
For AQA Psychology, the highest mark we can get is for a 16-marker question. To prepare yourself before starting year 12, I suggest starting with PsychBoost. He condenses all the necessary information into short, 10-minute videos for each topic. Look at the content and see if you enjoy it. My college started Year 12 with topics on Memory and Social Influence, so you might want to start there.
Let me know if you have any more questions!
I'm in Year 13 and currently taking my exams. I wish I had actively taken revision notes and made flashcards from the beginning, so I wouldn’t have to cram at the last minute. For any A-level subjects you are studying, make sure you regularly do past paper questions and submit them to your teachers for marking. This is especially important for the longer 16 and 25 mark questions, so you have time to improve over the two years.
Psychology has a lot of content and requires a lot of memorization. The revision method that works best for me is using flashcards. On one side, I put all the AO1 (basic knowledge about the topic), and on the reverse side, I put all the AO3 (evaluation points: two points for the topic and two points against the topic). Occasionally, I write down everything I remember on my whiteboard and then check the flashcards to see what I missed.
For AQA Psychology, the highest mark we can get is for a 16-marker question. To prepare yourself before starting year 12, I suggest starting with PsychBoost. He condenses all the necessary information into short, 10-minute videos for each topic. Look at the content and see if you enjoy it. My college started Year 12 with topics on Memory and Social Influence, so you might want to start there.
Let me know if you have any more questions!
Def agree with everything said here about psych!! I absolutely love it, I'm planning to do it at uni so I think you will enjoy it! I find flashcards the most effective revision method for me, and though the content is quite a lot, it's all so so so interesting and so much of it interlinks!! Hope this helps x
Reply 6
10
Hiya I take AQA psych a level at the minute and I’m predicted A* and hoping to start a Psychology degree this September
My best tips would be:
- Make notes on the content before the lesson (something we were told to do from the start) so you go in knowing a bit and can use the lesson to solidify your understanding
- Complete plenty of past papers throughout year 12 and 13. This will help you learn the structure needed for longer questions and what to expect
- Flashcards!! I doubt this will work for absolutely everyone but I made my pre-lesson notes as Anki flashcards direct from the textbook. Use these regularly throughout 6th form - revising little and often across a longer period of time will be much better than cramming it all in the last week before the exam
My school is a grammar school so quite academically focused, they did have us do some summer work over the few months between GCSES and starting Year 12. It was something called an Independent Scholarship Award (ISA). I’m not sure if it’s a more widely available thing or just at my school but it’s definitely not as fancy as it sounds. From what I remember it involved watching videos from Hank Green’s crash course psychology series on YouTube and completing some worksheets, as well as some independent research. To give yourself a good head-start I’d advise looking into the research methods module (Year 1, don’t worry about the Year 2 part yet). This website can be a good start: https://www.physicsandmathstutor.com/psychology-revision/a-level-aqa/research-methods/
There’s a lot of content in the A Level for sure but overall I’ve really really enjoyed it!! This is a collection of the things that have really helped me throughout the course and might not reflect how everyone would find it but I do hope this helps
My best tips would be:
- Make notes on the content before the lesson (something we were told to do from the start) so you go in knowing a bit and can use the lesson to solidify your understanding
- Complete plenty of past papers throughout year 12 and 13. This will help you learn the structure needed for longer questions and what to expect
- Flashcards!! I doubt this will work for absolutely everyone but I made my pre-lesson notes as Anki flashcards direct from the textbook. Use these regularly throughout 6th form - revising little and often across a longer period of time will be much better than cramming it all in the last week before the exam
My school is a grammar school so quite academically focused, they did have us do some summer work over the few months between GCSES and starting Year 12. It was something called an Independent Scholarship Award (ISA). I’m not sure if it’s a more widely available thing or just at my school but it’s definitely not as fancy as it sounds. From what I remember it involved watching videos from Hank Green’s crash course psychology series on YouTube and completing some worksheets, as well as some independent research. To give yourself a good head-start I’d advise looking into the research methods module (Year 1, don’t worry about the Year 2 part yet). This website can be a good start: https://www.physicsandmathstutor.com/psychology-revision/a-level-aqa/research-methods/
There’s a lot of content in the A Level for sure but overall I’ve really really enjoyed it!! This is a collection of the things that have really helped me throughout the course and might not reflect how everyone would find it but I do hope this helps
Reply 7
Original post by phob17
PLEASE any advice for psych should i take it? should i not? what things do u wish u did from day 1 of it what sort of stuff does it involve? how content heavy is it and what type of revision methods work best for it? what are the tests like? is it something i could learn over summer to be fully prepared for yr12 and how could i do that? AQA btw literally any advice at all
just as a different opinion- i think anyone thinking of taking psych should be careful:
It’s a super content heavy subject so u need to make sure you’re on top of it the whole way through cos last minute cramming with psych just does not work believe me. In fact ppl say bio is the worst in terms of content but I personally found psy to be the worst (i did bio, chem and psy)
Don’t get me wrong it’s pretty interesting but if you’re already taking one other content heavy subject then just be careful cos u don’t want to have too much yk. (Unless u think you’re organised enough/ have a very good work ethic so can handle it. In that case go ahead but just start revising early👍🏼)
Also its an essay based subject, so if you’re not good at writing those it’s prolly best not to take it cos every long question requires a proper essay structure for the high marks. Some ppl who aren’t good at essay writing might be able to improve tho so u never know 🤷🏽*♂️ Just take ur essay writing ability into consideration when deciding to choose it or not.
Good luck!
Reply 8
phob17
OP
11
thank u to everyone whos responded ill defo take all ur advice!!! it was always between psych and geography and i found i dont really find geog that interesting and struggle to even revise it at gcse
Reply 9
Original post by phob17
PLEASE any advice for psych should i take it? should i not? what things do u wish u did from day 1 of it what sort of stuff does it involve? how content heavy is it and what type of revision methods work best for it? what are the tests like? is it something i could learn over summer to be fully prepared for yr12 and how could i do that? AQA btw literally any advice at all
Hiya @phob17
In my opinion you should defiantly study Psychology! I did it at A-Level pretty randomly having never studied Psychology before, just because I thought it sounded interesting and I LOVED it. I found it so fascinating and easy to revise for since I was genuinely interested in the subject. It's a really good all-rounder subject, with a lot of written questions as well as some data driven/ maths questions. I personally loved it and it made me want to progress further with it at uni.
Some things I would recommend doing are making detailed revision material with specific facts from research as these will be really useful to remember for specific examples in questions. For example, making simple mind maps of different research as you go along so that you're consolidating what you're learning as you go along and you then don't have to make these materials all at the end.
I hope this helps, I am sure you will make the right decision for you : )
Katie - Third year Psychology student at Edge Hill Uni
Reply 10
Original post by phob17
PLEASE any advice for psych should i take it? should i not? what things do u wish u did from day 1 of it what sort of stuff does it involve? how content heavy is it and what type of revision methods work best for it? what are the tests like? is it something i could learn over summer to be fully prepared for yr12 and how could i do that? AQA btw literally any advice at all
I personally think psychology is a very interesting subject and easy to understand. However I would say it is very content heavy, but as long as you keep up with the work and go back on what you learned in lesson the same week you would be perfectly fine.
Good luck!!
Reply 11
Original post by phob17
PLEASE any advice for psych should i take it? should i not? what things do u wish u did from day 1 of it what sort of stuff does it involve? how content heavy is it and what type of revision methods work best for it? what are the tests like? is it something i could learn over summer to be fully prepared for yr12 and how could i do that? AQA btw literally any advice at all
i also did AQA psychology and just finished all the exams. i also did chemistry and biology and i think psychology was definitely the easiest of the three. it does take a lot of memorising which was mentioned before, but i revised slightly differently so i thought i would share my perspective too for other options! personally, i downloaded the specification online and along side each specification point, i filled in any relevant information and any repetitive mark scheme points which seemed to pop up. the day before my exams i read through the document and blurt everything down to make sure it stuck in my head. past papers and past questions are a must in psychology! i would also suggest making essay plans as you go. i never did that in year 12 i only did them recently before my exams i would suggest making essay plans for any essay questions for each topic as you complete the topic, and check with your teachers if they are okay. i did this on my ipad by making a grid with an AO1 box and 4 AO3 (evaluation) boxes and wrote a brief summary of the evaluations since after revising you will kind of know alot of them and will only need cues to remember them. i wouldn’t bother learning all the random psychologists names they give you, but remember the important ones that the topic is based around (you will understand what that means once you start the a level since it’s kind of hard to explain). these essay plans were super helpful for me and it was what i looked at just before going into the exam as i felt i already knew content but since any 16 marker could come up, looking at the plans was helpful x
Reply 12
phob17
OP
11
Original post by lara495x
i also did AQA psychology and just finished all the exams. i also did chemistry and biology and i think psychology was definitely the easiest of the three. it does take a lot of memorising which was mentioned before, but i revised slightly differently so i thought i would share my perspective too for other options! personally, i downloaded the specification online and along side each specification point, i filled in any relevant information and any repetitive mark scheme points which seemed to pop up. the day before my exams i read through the document and blurt everything down to make sure it stuck in my head. past papers and past questions are a must in psychology! i would also suggest making essay plans as you go. i never did that in year 12 i only did them recently before my exams i would suggest making essay plans for any essay questions for each topic as you complete the topic, and check with your teachers if they are okay. i did this on my ipad by making a grid with an AO1 box and 4 AO3 (evaluation) boxes and wrote a brief summary of the evaluations since after revising you will kind of know alot of them and will only need cues to remember them. i wouldn’t bother learning all the random psychologists names they give you, but remember the important ones that the topic is based around (you will understand what that means once you start the a level since it’s kind of hard to explain). these essay plans were super helpful for me and it was what i looked at just before going into the exam as i felt i already knew content but since any 16 marker could come up, looking at the plans was helpful x
Tysm this is amazing advice!!! Sorry to ask but do u also have any tips for Biology and chemistry?? Cuz ur psych ones are very helpful!
Reply 13
Original post by phob17
Tysm this is amazing advice!!! Sorry to ask but do u also have any tips for Biology and chemistry?? Cuz ur psych ones are very helpful!
Reply 14
phob17
OP
11
Original post by lara495x
i’m glad i can help! i would say chemistry was definitely the hardest but i also enjoyed it the most since i like a challenge haha. i also did the spec document for chemistry and biology too but i found this much more helpful for chem and bio since mark scheme points are much more repetitive in these subjects than psych. i also say past papers are super super super important for both these topics as having just done bio paper one this week, a few questions from the past papers i did had popped up. i recommend especially for biology to be strict on yourself when marking any past papers as mark scheme points are VERY specific like sometimes if you get it roughly correct but dont say a certain word, you dont get the mark. this is why it is important to be strict on yourself when marking since you are essentially memorising mark scheme points which constantly repeat themselves. advice i would give for both is to please please please ask your teachers if you are struggling. i was always quite quiet in lower school and didn’t like being wrong so never asked for help, however a levels are difficulty and you are bound to struggle with something. please ask because the amount of times i was ripping my hair out trying to figure something out when i could have just asked my teacher and had it explained to me in 5 minutes was countless. if you do pick chemistry, make sure you stick at it even if you are struggling because i found sometimes we would be in a lesson and it would take 2/3 lessons into the topic for it to click and i promise once it clicks it all makes so much sense so just don’t give up and keep powering through. as much as i have made this sound difficult, i LOVED my a level options and i wouldn’t change them for the world. let me know if you have any more questions i would be more than happy to help x
TYSM!!! I can defo relate to being quiet in class lmao I'll take ur advice and ask for help if I don't understand!!
Reply 15
I know you said regarding aqa psy which I think is quite a good exam board for psy, but I recommend not to pick OCR psy.
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