Sixth Form Subjects

Psychology

 Course Overview

With no prior knowledge of Psychology required, students are introduced to the main area and principles of the subject, so that they come to evaluate critically how psychologist have conducted research, formulated theories and applied them to real world settings. 

Course Content and Assessment

Psychology is the scientific study of the mind and behaviour. The course, new in line with the national changes to Advanced level qualifications, will be taught at the advanced level only, meaning that students will study for 2 years before taking their 3 written examinations in the June series of examinations in the second year of study.
The course specification that they will follow is AQA Psychology (7182). The course offers an excellent range of topics which will be studied over the two years.

In year 12 students will cover:

• Social influence – Understanding why some people will obey even when they know it’s wrong, and why others will rebel even when it costs them to do so.
• Memory – How does our memory work? Why do we make mistakes in our recall? What can we do to improve our memory?
• Attachment – Why is it important to form an attachment early on in life? What happens when we don’t?
• Psychopathology – Why do people suffer from mental illness? What can be done to help people to live “normal” lives?
• Approaches in Psychology – Why do psychologists view things so differently? Why is Freud’s work so important yet no longer used in main stream psychology?
• Research methods - How do we conduct research in psychology? How can we be certain our results show what we claim?

In year 13 students will cover:

• Biopsychology - The ways in which our body’s systems affect our state of mind and how we can use this to our advantage.
• Issues and debates in psychology - Do we really have control over how we act is it set by our genetics? Can we look at just one part of the human mind, and do we need to look at it all at once?
• Aggression – why do people become aggressive? What can be done to remove aggression from a situation?
• Forensic psychology – Why do criminals become criminals? What can we do to reform offenders?
• Addiction - why do people become addicted to behaviours and substances? Why can a gambler not see that their actions are irrational?

Learning Methods

A range of Teaching methods, materials and activities are used to make the subject interesting, engaging and stimulating. With a focus upon developing examination skills throughout the course, enabling the students to succeed in their final exams.  There will also be discussions, relevant videos clips, in and out of class research studies, presentations and private study. Students will be given the opportunity of frequent support and formative assessment throughout the course, combined with self and peer assessment, in order to enable the students to know exactly how to meet and exceed their targets.

Future Pathways

There is a wide range of careers for psychologists, from educational to clinical to research based. In addition to this the course is also relevant to any career where people are involved, areas such as medicine, marketing, teaching or human resources. The course provides an insight in to how people think and behave, which is relevant in all work places.

 Entry Requirements

Grade 5 GCSE English is required. In addition to this a grade 5 Maths qualification is required due to the increase in mathematical content in the new specification.
Grade 5 in GCSE Science is also required for entry.

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Other courses of interest

• Science
• Mathematics
• English Language

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