Politics aims to develop a critical awareness of the nature of politics, acquire an understanding of the structures of authority and power within the UK, and encourage an interest in, and engagement with, contemporary politics. The AS course is divided into two units. One unit will explore government in the UK (e.g. constitution and the components of the UK’s political system). The other unit will explore politics in the UK (e.g. voting behaviour, the franchise, political parties and the role of the media). The course will be assessed by terminal examinations. A Level Politics follows a similar structure to AS except that instead of only investigating the UK, students will also study the political system of the United States. In addition, they will explore a range of political ideas. The course will be assessed by 3 terminal examinations.