Government and Politics
Uppingham School - Rutland
01572822216
Uppingham, LE15 9QE
Course summary

This subject aims to give pupils an understanding of a range of important political principles. This is achieved by studying the political systems of the United Kingdom and the United States. In order to develop a full understanding of the way in which the two systems operate their development is explained and put into context. This could entail, for example, consideration of why the United Kingdom has an uncodified constitution and why the USA has a codified constitution. These principles would then be assessed in terms of contemporary developments such as the impact of ‘Brexit’ or the continuation of gun ownership in the United States, which are both constitutional issues. This has obvious benefits in terms of extending a pupil’s understanding of the modern world, but pupils will also acquire the ability to think for themselves, to ask and answers questions about the world they live in and to participate in sophisticated debate and analysis about the political systems that they live under. Politics simply cannot be boring when it has such an impact on so many aspects of people’s lives. Some knowledge of current affairs is helpful. If you do not know the name of the Leader of the Opposition in parliament then the subject may not be for you. At the same time it is important to realise that knowledge of current affairs is only a helpful starting point. You do not need to be an expert on political affairs, but you should be interested in them. If you like the idea of reading a quality newspaper or following the news in the media this might be a subject that you would find interesting.

Entry requirements

For candidates taking GCSEs, offers remain conditional on achieving at least three passes of grade 7 (or A) and three passes of grade 6 (or B) in academic subjects at GCSE (or equivalent), excluding short-course GCSEs.

How you'll be assessed

The course consists of three papers and will be examined by a mixture of short answer, essay and extract questions: • Paper 1: Government and politics of the UK (33%) • Paper 2: Government and politics of the USA and comparative politics (33%) • Paper 3: Political ideas – liberalism, socialism and conservatism, and then one from nationalism, feminism, multiculturalism, anarchism or ecologism (33%)

School Info

About Education Provider

RegionEast Midlands
Local AuthorityRutland
Ofsted Rating
Gender TypeCo-Educational
ISI ReportView Report
Boarding Fee£49,979
Sixth Form Fee£29,370 - £31,941
AddressUppingham, LE15 9QE