A-level psychology

I'm planning on taking A-level psychology and I wanted some insight from students who were already taking it/took it to help me find out more about the workload and what it was like
(I'm taking it as a fourth subject so if anyone is also taking it as a fourth that would be best as it would be most reflective):
- Is it heavy/difficult as a subject - how did you personally find it?
- What kind of homework is set and how long does/did it take you?
- To what extent is research independent, and do we receive guidance as to where to look for information?
Thanks

Helllo,
I took A level psychology, Chemistry and Biology last year and doing chemistry resit and A level maths. In psy, I achieved an A in the mocks and a high B in the actual exam.
⚠️Please note that psychology has changed slightly this year compared to when I did it, putting more focus on the essay aspect and less on memorization (removed quite alot of content).⚠️
I thoroughly enjoyed psychology and it was the highlight of my week with the subject being different from my other subjects and had an amazing teacher.
It was alot to memorise and I remember every unit we finished I did this massive A3 piece of paper double-sided filled with all the studies and explanations and the possible points that I could make about each one, this our homework was most mostly based on making revision materials and in the summer we did a practice research study that we conducted with our own experiments.
For A3 materials that are made for myself took me about a full 2 or 3's work but if you spread it out it's not a bit more manageable. I personally never struggled with the workload with psychology but I know many people in my year did, it's a bit surprising because normally I'm the one who's struggling with the workload.
I would say generally stick to the studies that your teacher gives you as as soon as you look online it's going to be completely different to what you learn in class it is the main reason why some of my friends found it particularly difficult as they would go and find studies but they wanted to write but they didn't know how to properly explain it but you can do it to supplement your essay writing especially if it's a study that you can remember quite easily.
I remember that I had to remember at least the names and the results of the study and two to three points of the procurement x3/2 ,depending on how well you can write.
Overall highly enjoyed the subject recommend it the workflow was roughly the same as my biology workload but chemistry had absurd amount of homework, due to my teachers just loading us constantly which I filmed a bit counting intuitive but anyway that's a different story. And a good one if you enjoy writing analytically comparing the pros and cons and why it's important or if you take a level English literature or English literature & language.
You are welcome to ask me any more questions.
I hope you found this useful 🎷🐝