Psychology

Course outline

This course provides students with a broad introduction to Psychology as a Science. The core topics are social influence, memory, attachment, psychopathology, approaches in psychology, biopsychology, issues and debates in psychology and research methods. 

The emphasis is on applying knowledge and understanding and developing the skills of analysis, evaluation and critical thinking.

As well as being asked to describe the procedures and findings of many key pieces of research, students will be required to think critically about the research itself and suggest ways that it could be improved.

Candidates will learn to question and challenge research findings, suggest the real world applications of research and be able to justify their ideas. As a result class work will often take the form of discussions and debates and will occasionally involve small-scale investigations. There is also a heavy emphasis on essay writing within each topic.

In addition, students select topics to be covered in the second year. These include: relationships, gender, cognition and development, schizophrenia, eating behaviour, stress, aggression, forensic psychology and addiction.

Course requirements (GCSE grades/interests)

Students are expected to have at least grade 6 in GCSE English, Maths and a science. Having a GCSE in Psychology is NOT a requirement for the course.

Opportunities beyond the classroom

The LRC at LVS Ascot has a range of further reading texts, journals and online resources. In addition, LVS Psychologists will have the opportunity to attend specialist revision conferences led by examination experts.

Assessment

Students will be assessed by examination at the end of the course. There are no coursework requirements.

Higher education courses linked to the subject

Students with an A level in Psychology would be well suited to any of the following courses - Psychology, Criminology with Psychology, Psychology with Business, Psychology with Marketing or any course with an element of counselling or therapy.

Careers linked to the subject

All of the following are excellent Psychology based careers that require further training on completion of a suitable degree programme - educational psychologist, counselling psychologist, sports and exercise psychologist, forensic psychologist, clinical psychologist and neuro psychologist.