At King Richard III College, Psychology is offered as an A Level in the 6th Form. The subject provides a foundation for further studies in this area and is also useful for any students wishing to study Social Sciences or Science related degrees.
Why study Psychology?
If you are interested in human behaviour and mental processes and want to reflect on how we think, act, and feel, then Psychology is a good choice. We will consider some of the important questions in Psychology such as why do people act the way they do? What shapes our personality? How do we learn and change throughout our life? If you are interested in a deeper understanding of the human condition A Level Psychology is an excellent course to take.
A LEVEL
We study the four key Psychological approaches to explaining human behaviour at AS level. At A2 level, we delve into Psychology and Abnormality and consider the evolution of and classification of mental health diseases. We also study Psychology and Health and consider the relationship between patient and practitioner.
Psychology teaches us how to use scientific rigour to observe behaviour closely in a specific context in order to better understand a particular phenomenon which could be about social learning, about phobias or about how the brain retains information and processes feelings.
In order to be successful when studying Psychology, it is important for students to have an interest in the Scientific approach to problem solving, particular with regards to how Psychologists plan and execute experiments.
Students must read a large number of complex Psychological studies in order to be successful in this course. For AS in Year 12 we read 12 original studies and for A2 in Year 13 there are 42 studies that must be learned for students to be able to complete the examinations successfully.
The course is modular, two modules are taken in Y12 and two in Y13. Each module is evenly weighted at 25%. The syllabus is Cambridge 9990.