Psychology A2

Psychology AS/A Level
Science, Psychology & Engineering
Board and Syllabus details
Board: OCR- Syllabus: AS Level H168, A Level H568
About the subject

Psychology is often thought of as the scientific study of the mind. The new syllabus offers students a chance to become acquainted with the fundamental theories and methods that psychologists employ to make sense of complex human behaviour.
From 2008 students studying Psychology at AS level will take two modules or units in their first year. Unit 1 introduces the student to the notion of the psychological investigation. Essentially candidates will need to become familiar with four techniques of collecting /analysing data, that is-Self -report; Experiment; Observation; Correlation.
The second unit requires the student to become familiar with 15 core studies drawn from the five main approaches found in psychology; social, cognitive, physiology, developmental and individual differences.
A2 Psychology also comprises two units. Unit 3 has four options of Forensic psychology, Health and Clinical psychology, Psychology of Sport and Exercise, and finally, Psychology of Education. Unit 4 is made up of Research Methodology, where students are required to design a practical project, and Approaches, where synoptic questions will be set to allow investigation of perspectives, methods, issues and debates found generally in psychology.
It is important to note that the new syllabus requires prospective students to have a good understanding of scientific concepts and methods alongside a proven competency in mathematics.

Learning Styles

A variety of learning styles will be used to deliver the syllabus; including class based activities, research tasks, e-learning and visual aids.

Subject combinations and progression

Psychology can be usefully combined with most subjects to allow progression on to university, however, it is particularly well suited to the following subject combinations:
Psychology with English, Business Studies, Modern Languages, Maths, Biology and History.

Subject modules and assessment

AS: Structured questions based on the syllabus content. Unit 1 comprises 3 sections where students are required to answer all the set questions. The assessment lasts 1 hr and forms 30% of the overall AS grade. Unit 2 also has three sections, section A requires all the questions to be answered by candidates whereas sections B & C require candidates to choose one question from a choice of 2. The assessment lasts 2 hrs and forms 70% of the total AS Grade.
A2: Subject content examined by a mixture of structured question for Unit 4, and mainly essay- style questions for Unit 5. Both assessments lasts 1.5 hrs and make up 25% of the total A level grade.

Entry Requirements

GCSE grade C in Maths, Science and English Language.