Specifications that use this resource:
Co-teaching guide
New A-levels have been decoupled from AS. Therefore AS results do not count towards the A-level results.
The structure and content of the AS and A-level specifications have been designed to facilitate co-teaching where appropriate.
The flexible nature of the specifications enables smooth transition from AS to A-level or from GCSE to A-level and from A-level to Higher Education.
The AS course represents a strong introduction to the A-level course. The skills developed at AS will be utilised and embedded within the second year of the A-level course. The AS course also serves as an extremely beneficial way of honing the necessary exam skills. Students sitting the standalone AS and A-level can be taught alongside each other in the same class and the same lesson plan can be used to address the needs of both levels.
AS and A-level courses can be structured to suit the needs of individual departments.
The AS in Psychology can be co-taught with the first year of the A-level, from September - June.
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One year course |
Two year course |
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|---|---|---|---|
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AS |
☑ |
AS over one year |
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A-level |
☑ |
A-level over two years where teachers structure the first year in their own way |
Benefits of our flexible specifications
- time to develop skills and explore ideas, techniques and processes
- opportunities for independent learning
- freedom to select different optional topics for A-level study
- teachers may structure courses that utilise the knowledge, expertise and resources in their departments
- teachers may structure courses that respond to the interests and needs of their students
- enables students to make informed choices for year 13 and beyond
- opportunities for stretch and challenge.
Co-teaching pathways
Below is an example of co-teaching the AS and A-level specifications. It is neither prescriptive nor exhaustive. Courses can be structured in a way that suits you and your students.
The additional A-level content from Paper 2 can be delivered along with the content of Paper 3 in the remainder of the summer term and through the second year. Revisiting and developing aspects of research methods, approaches in psychology and biopsychology offers an opportunity to consolidate earlier learning.
| AS | A-level |
|---|---|
The AS consists of:
| The A-level consists of:
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The AS is assessed by two 1.5 hour exams, the content of both is compulsory
| The A-level is assessed by three x 2 hour exams, the content of Paper 1, Paper 2 and section A of Paper 3 is compulsory
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Teaching AS and A-level Psychology
Year 1
AS and A-level
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Winter term |
Spring term |
Summer term |
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Introductory Topics in Psychology
Social influence
Memory
Attachment
Self report techniques questionnaires and interviews |
Practice/mock exam Psychology in Context Approaches in Psychology
Biopsychology
Correlational research: presenting and interpreting correlational data Psychopathology
Introduction to psychological disorders Characteristics of phobias and Behavioural explanations for phobias
Characteristics of depression and Cognitive explanations for depression
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Characteristics and explanations for OCD Treating OCD Revision and practice exams Role of peer review A-level only
Qualitative data analysis coding and thematic analysis
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Additional guidance
Content for winter, spring and first half of summer term is identical for the AS and the A-level.
Differentiation would need to reflect the different weightings of the skills for the AS and the A-level by the use of learning activities in which:
- the mix of AO1, AO2 and AO3 tasks is varied, this can be done through paper based worksheets
- the activities are varied by presenting more complex materials and/or more complex tasks
- there are differentiated extension activities that motivate students to go beyond the specification requirements thus providing more scope for informed discussion
- practical research design that differs in demands, eg more potential extraneous variables than need to be controlled or dependent variables that are more tricky to measure.
For co-teaching to be effective there also needs to be differentiation in terms of the assessment/marking of work.
Delivering the additional A-level research methods material in the final half term of the year, teachers can engage students in extended practical work and develop skills that they will use in undertaking practical work in relation to the optional topics for Paper 3.
These practical skills will then be consolidated and fine tuned throughout the second year so preparing students for the research methods assessment which constitutes 50% of the A-level Paper 2 exam.
Paper 1 Introductory topics in psychology
At AS:
- there will be multiple choice questions in both AS and A-level. At A-level these may contain more demanding distracters
- on the AS the largest mark value for a question will be 12 marks, and on the A-level the largest mark value for a question will be 16 marks.
Both AS and A-level students will need to develop knowledge and understanding of concepts, theories, research evidence, methods and ethics.
A-level students will be expected to have a clearer understanding of these and so be able to present a more thorough and effective analysis, interpretation, evaluation, or conclusion based on the implications of theory, research, methods and ethics.
In developing application skills in relation to topics in Psychology, students at A-level will need to work with more complex scenarios and/or be encouraged to show more precise understanding of concepts, theories, research evidence, methods and ethics.
For example at AS students might be asked to 'Describe and evaluate two studies of social influence' but at A-level to 'Discuss two explanations for resistance to social influence, and relate them to a transcript of a conversation.'
Paper 2 Psychology in context
On Paper 2, Psychology in context, at AS and A-level the contribution of AO2 is greater reflecting the emphasis on application skills, in particular application of research skills to plan and design research and to manipulate data. Note interpreting and drawing conclusions from data and refining research are elements of AO3.
At A-level the students need to develop competence in relation to conceptually more demanding aspects of scientific processes, qualitative data analysis skills and inferential/significance testing skills.
At AS students:
- may be asked to 'Write a debriefing', whilst at A-level to 'Design a study including reference to how reliability of the data could be established'
- might be asked to 'Explain how the psychologist could have used random allocation to assign the participants in condition B into the five groups'. Whilst at A-level 'Explain how the psychologist would have obtained a stratified sample from a company employing 60 men and 40 women and how she would allocate her stratified sample to the two conditions to ensure an equal number of males and females in each condition'
- might be asked to sketch a bar chart and at A-level sketch a distribution based on the value of the mean, median and mode for the data.
The nature of Biopsychology is such that there is more emphasis on knowledge and understanding. At both, AS and A-level, students will need to develop their understanding of relevant terminology. At A-level, students will be expected to demonstrate good understanding of biological processes and confident use of terminology to match the broader and conceptually more demanding biological content.
At AS, students might be asked to use terms from a list to label a diagram of a synapse whilst at A-level they could be asked to outline the structures and processes involved in synaptic transmission, recalling the relevant structure function and terminology.
Approaches in Psychology represents a more discursive element of the specification. Again differentiation between AS and A-level being in terms of the question demands and thoroughness, effectiveness and coherence of analysis, interpretation evaluation, or conclusion.
At AS, students might be asked to 'Describe social learning theory' and 'Discuss two limitations of social learning theory' in separate questions. Whereas at A-level they might be asked to 'Discuss the contribution of social learning theory to our understanding of human behaviour' or 'Select one topic in psychology and compare the effectiveness of social learning theory explanation with a biological explanation'.
Paper 3 Issues and options in psychology (A-level only)
Research methods and maths may be assessed in Issues and Debates and/or in the context of the options.