Citizenship AS Level

CITIZENSHIP AS Level (Year One)

• Level 3 course
• One year
• Progression higher education or employment
• Exam board AQA
• 3-5 periods a week
• This course is offered within the Arts, Culture and English Division

This fascinating A Level will take you through the whole spectrum of citizenship, from learning about your rights and responsibilities as a citizen and how the country is governed through to taking action to bring about change. As a result, youll have a greater appreciation of your role in society and also be better prepared for higher education in a number of rewarding subjects. Studying citizenship takes you through a personal journey. You start off as an informed citizen and then become a citizen who has the knowledge to participate in society, before finally arriving at the stage of being an active citizen with a voice that can be heard and the skills to make a difference in society. At A2 Level the specification continues to require you to be actively involved in a range of citizenship activities. You will study the principles and characteristics of justice systems, the nature of representative democracy, the role of parliament in the UK, and global citizenship issues.

What skills will I learn?
- How to select and interpret information
- How to make decisions and take action
- How to construct and communicate arguments
- How to work as a team to achieve results
- How to take responsibility for your own learning.

Students find that Citizenship is a natural fit for subjects like:
Critical Thinking, Government & Politics, Law, Sociology, Media, Religious Studies

Course outline
Unit 1: Identity, Rights and Responsibilities
In this unit you will studying what it means to be British and the cultural values that shape identity including issues of multicultural society; whether all citizens can be considered to be equal and issues of prejudice, discrimination and disadvantage exist; why people are racist, sexist, homophobic and Islamophobic; poverty in Britain; how discrimination and disadvantage be reduced; rights and responsibilities in the UK and how these rights are protected by the legal system; the difference between civil and criminal law and how should people be punished and compensated.

Unit 2: Democracy
In this unit you will discover who can make a difference in our society; who holds power in the UK and how is it controlled; what impact does the government have on individuals lives; what the impact of the European Union has on life in the UK and do pressure groups improve the democratic process.

Active Citizenship: Making a Difference
You will have the opportunity to take part in active citizenship tasks where you will find out how citizens in the UK can bring about change; discover how you can make a difference; play your part by bringing about change and making a difference and develop and demonstrate active citizenship skills and participation through team work.

Assessment
40% of AS Level
1 hour 15 minutes written Paper
Unit 2
60% of AS Level
1 hour 30 minutes written Paper

Progression
Apart from being beneficial at a personal level, your AS Level in Citizenship can help with quite a few career paths. These include higher education and working in law, politics, teaching or social work.

CITIZENSHIP A2 Level (Year Two)

Currently this subject is only offered at AS