Psychology

The Psychology subject area is committed to providing a vigorous and challenging A-level curriculum. The subject area will deliver the course via a variety of methods, drawing on the most current pedagogical theory and learning and teaching techniques. The students will be expected to demonstrate independent learning and to express these skills through various homework’s and tests. Students can also expect high levels of support and scaffolding from their contact time in lessons. We will expect them to become critical thinkers by engaging with academic literature, which will develop their cultural and academic potential to participate fully in society. Promoting academic success is crucial to the study of Psychology, broadening student horizons and opportunities in their future careers.

In Year 12 the course covers a breath of the many topics that could be explored; the six main topics covered will be Social Psychology, Memory, Attachment, Psychopathology, Approaches and Research Methods. Students will understand how a range of mental disorders are created, e.g. phobias, the effect these have on the individual, and appropriate treatments for them. They will explore the reasons why individuals became complicit in horrific incidents in the 20th century such as the Holocaust, how such evil can be committed and to reflect on whether these causes are biological or whether social pressures compel people to do such things.

In Year 13 we will look at more specific content in depth, there are 3 sections that are compulsory; Research methods, Biopsychology and Issues and Debates. Three further topics are then selected, currently Schizophrenia, Relationships and Forensic Psychology. By completion of the course students will be able to evaluate a range of social–biological–cognitive explanations for all types of behaviour and to draw conclusions about behaviours based on a forensic evaluation of research in order to conclude which approaches they view as being the most useful.

• Examboard: AQA
• Examination: Introductory Topics in Psychology  – 2 hours, 33.3% of final qualification
• Examination: Psychology in Context  – 2 hours, 33.3% of final qualification
• Examination: Issues and Options in Psychology – 2 hours, 33.3% of final qualification
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Our students will be invited to attend a field trip to Bath. This trip provides an opportunity for the students to put into practice aspects of the Research Methods unit that we have completed in year 12, as well as developing their skills in data analysis and statistical tests. Prior to the trip, each group will design a study based on aspects of social psychology, such as sex differences in compliance or helping behaviour