Course information
Psychology
The Queen's School - Cheshire West and Chester
01244312078
City Walls Road, Chester, CH1 2NN
Course summary

‘The science of mind and behaviour’ The subject matter of psychology relates to the sciences, humanities and mathematics, so combines successfully with many subjects and provides good preparation for many university courses. As psychology is a science, it has the same requirement as other sciences for examination papers to have 10% of questions testing relevant mathematical skills. Aims of psychology: • To explore people’s thinking and behaviour. • To develop investigative skills and critical thinking in relation to theories and research. • To apply knowledge and understanding of psychology to the real world in areas such as eyewitness testimony in Year 12 and schizophrenia in Year 13. • To develop a thorough understanding of how psychologists conduct research, for example using experiments, of the skills needed to design and conduct effective investigations, and of ways to analyse results using a range of statistical techniques.

Entry requirements

Entry to the Sixth Form for all pupils is dependent upon achieving good GCSE results - normally 7 GCSEs at grade 6 or above (including Maths and English), with at least a 7 in your chosen subjects. We also ask prospective pupils joining us from other schools to provide a report from your current school confirming that you are a suitable candidate to sit A-levels and we invite you to come in for a short interview. Below is an overview of the admissions process into Sixth Form at Queen's.

How you'll be assessed

The psychology A-level is 100% examination across three two hour papers and comprises: Paper 1: Introductory topics in psychology (total 96 marks, 33.3%) • Cognitive Psychology explores human memory, focusing on models of memory, explanations of forgetting and eyewitness testimony. • Developmental Psychology looks at attachments in child development and considers the impact that our early attachments have on later childhood and adult relationships. • Social influence covers conformity, obedience to authority and minority influence, focusing on the darker side of human nature. • Psychopathology considers biological and psychological models of abnormality and the key ways in which mental abnormality is defined and treated. Paper 2: Psychology in context (total 96 marks, 33.3%) • Approaches considers the origins of psychology including how it emerged as a scientific discipline. This topic covers the key approaches taken by psychologists in explaining human behaviour. • Biopsychology allows pupils to gain an understanding of brain structures and their function, biological rhythms and evolutionary behaviours such as the fight or flight response. • Research methods involves research design and implementation, hypothesis testing, the use of key research methods, ethical issues, sampling and the analysis of qualitative and quantitative data. This component runs through all topics of the course and although examined as a topic on paper 2, runs across all examination papers. Paper 3: Issues and options in psychology (total 90 marks, 33.3%) • Schizophrenia looks at how schizophrenia is diagnosed and the issues surrounding this, covering both explanations and treatments. • Gender considers why we feel masculine or feminine and looks at biological, psychological and environmental influences. • Aggression discusses biological and social factors that contribute to how aggressive an individual is. This topic also consider evolutionary theories of aggression and the applicability of animal studies. • Issues and debates looks at the wider ethical implications of psychological research as well as considering the range of issues and debates that the study of human behaviour raises.

School Info

About Education Provider

RegionNorth West
Local AuthorityCheshire West and Chester
Ofsted Rating
Gender TypeGirls
ISI ReportView Report
Boarding FeeUnknown
Sixth Form Fee£10,215 - £15,645
AddressCity Walls Road, Chester, CH1 2NN