General Studies GCE A Level

General Studies GCE A Level

Qualification: 1 year additional course

Course type: Level 3 (advanced)

Entry requirements:
College entry requirements of four B grades at GCSE.

Head of Department: Dr Alastair Wilcox

Course assessment:
As you are doing both the AS and A2 in one year, you will do the two AS modules in January and the two A2 modules in summer. They will include essay questions, interpreting sources (visual and numerical) and constructing arguments.

What can this course offer me?
General Studies allows you to come away with both an AS and an A2 after one year. You will look at a whole range of different ideas and topics: scientific controversies, sport, young people in the community, division in society, political parties, pressure groups, art and architecture, news, television and the media, big business and advertising, fair trade, individual rights, equal opportunities and tolerance, space travel, climate change and the environment, multi-culturalism and nationalism, transport, the energy debate, medicine, law enforcement and many others!

What will I learn?
One hour and a half lesson a week with excellent teaching that should help you do well in the exams. Lively discussions together with stimulus from newspaper and journal articles on everything from stem cell research to Big Brother, from whether football has become too commercialised to whether fine art can change society!

What Makes a good General Studies student?
An enquiring mind and an interest in a wide range of different topics. Useful skills are essay writing and a basic grasp of graphs and tables. You do not need to have studied General Studies before.

Which other courses link well with this subject?
General Studies at KGV is an Enrichment subject so you do it alongside your other AS, A2 or BTEC courses. It will appeal to Humanities and Science students alike as it involves looking at a wide range of topics.

Future Opportunities
This is what one leading univeristy says: "we regard a good grade at General Studies as a good indicator of an intelligent applicant with a wide general awareness and broad interests. We would encourage students to take General Studies and to try hard to do well in it."

Is there anything else I need to know?