sociology or psych alevel

Hey I took both psychology and sociology AQA A Levels and finished this year (2024), both with high A grades.
It absolutely depends on how you like to learn and what comes naturally to you - essay subjects are definitely my thing so I found both quite good in terms of that. Psychology is a lot of content but I learnt that through flash cards and constant repetition. The essays required need to be structured a certain way and once you have that down and memorised, it’s just a matter of remembering the content to apply to the structure.
Sociology came very naturally to me also, the essay structures are way longer (up to 30 marks whereas psych has a max of 16 markers). I’d say content needed to be known in a bit more depth than psychology, but perhaps there is slightly less of it. There are a lot of theorists and their theories that need to be memorised and statistics also. However there is a fair bit of overlap between topics which I’d say is less present in psychology.
Both subjects felt around the same difficulty level for me but when picking the subject it is worth considering what path you’d like to take post A levels. Psychology is more scientific and when I was picking a university it was considered a science and listed in their preferred subjects. Sociology was different however and this was often not the case - I applied for Psychology courses so it is worth checking any target institutions for their preferred subjects before making a decision.
Hope this helped!!

hey, thanks so much for your response. would you say AQA is the easiest exam board i can take since if im paying for the exam i don't want to pay for a stricter one and make my life harder. i understand that they're both very similar, but since it's a risk to take two completely new subjects, if you can put yourself in my shoes - you have one year to prep on your own for an entirely new subject and you want to get the highest grades for all 3 of your subjects (my other two are bio and chem), which one would you take? Which one required less prep and effort (even if it's only the smallest difference), and which one required less time then the other? Initially i was thinking sociology just because i had friends who took it and it seemed very much relaxed, but after finding out how long the questions are, im not so sure anymore as i know psych is 16 marks max for a question, whereas the 30marks in sociology is quite the difference. Regardless, don't let this affect your answer as i'm willing to answer higher marked questions if it means it's more straight forward and easier to prep for - writing alot doesnt bother me i was always good at the humanities at gcses (i.e english lit, lang, history, etc). Much appreciation for the help.

Hi, I think I replied to one of your other questions, but im also in the same situation. what do u think ur gonna go for??

hi, im still thinking about it a little more as i know the deadline to pay for exams isn’t for a little while. from what ive gathered the content in sociology seems to be a little less and i’ve heard from my friend too that psych can get difficult with research methods. i’ve asked my friend to ask her classmates who are currently taking either subject just for some final opinions. I think im leaning a little towards sociology tho just from the info i’ve already gathered. i don’t mind writing a lot, it’s just as long as i understand it well. i’ll see what my friend says and get back to u tho cuz im still not so sure. comforting to see someone in a similar situation tho. are u also taking two other subjects or just the one?

im only looking to do one, as ive already got 2 other a levels. and totally! would you like to add me somewhere, so we can talk about it? your the only other person I know in the same situation. also, I want to do something I can just learn and apply. and tbh psychology looks easier for some reason. looking at the specs. but maybe in understanding sociology is easier?

oh wow that seems like such a relief to only have one you have to study for - and yeah for sure we can add each other, what are you cool with? i think i have to do a little more research and also look at the specs as i havent done that yet; also relying on my friends to get back to me tmrw as she's surrounded by ppl who do the subjects. she initially told me that if you're good at memorizing its quite easy, but also said there are hard parts to it where she does struggle with application. guess it just needs a little more thought to be honest. i saw u said u were from an islamic background on my other post so my suggestion is making lots of dua same as me haha.

i got a year to prep for either of these exams. which is easier and less content and which exam board. thanks.