Endorsement: from teachers

Encourage relevant skills

The new specification is clear, well-structured and skills focused, so really encouraging for teachers. It takes students back to the heart of being a psychologist. The focus on mathematics and science, ensures that students understand how science works and can understand application of these skills in the real world of psychology. Most importantly, the specification fulfils the teacher's desire, to prepare students with the right skills, for higher education.

The scenario-based questions, really test students' understanding through application of knowledge and skills. In particular, the research methods questions, which require the skills of being a psychologist.

Shaheen Laljee

Subject Leader of Social Sciences, Rochdale Sixth Form College

Familiar and topical

Having taught both spec A and B I feel that the new specification incorporates the best of both specifications. I particularly like the focus on biological psychology and research methods and I am looking forward to teaching it from 2015.

Karen Brookes

Curriculum Leader for Psychology

Flexibility

The detail of the new specification supports new and experienced teachers, while providing flexibility to the ever developing world of psychology.

Teachers can still use their established and well developed resources when teaching the new specification.

Kate Tapper

Head of Psychology, Christ the King Sixth Form College, Lewisham

Excellent introduction to psychology

The new AQA Psychology specification will give candidates an excellent and well-rounded introduction to the discipline. Students will develop a knowledge of Psychology through a stimulating array of topics, all deeply informed by a conceptual framing of the discipline, and linked to a good introduction to relevant research methods. I strongly recommend the AQA specification.

Nick Braisby

Pro-Vice Chancellor, University of West London

Former Secretary of the Association of Heads of Psychology Departments (AHPD)

How co-teaching will work for us

We are pleased to see the inclusion of common specification content for the AS and year 1 of the A-level course. We feel that we will be able to build on current resources to provide a teaching programme which will enable students in the same class to take an AS exam at the end of the first year, and/or A-level exams at the end of year 2.

The scheme of work provided by AQA is extremely helpful in suggesting activities and resources and the week by week plan makes for flexibility in changing the order of teaching.

In September 2015 all psychology students at our college will be enrolled onto the A-level course, but will be told that progression to A-level will be dependent on their success in the AS external exam taken in summer 2016. Some students may opt for AS only.

We have decided not to offer separate AS and A-level classes because:

• as a Sixth Form College, we do not know our students before they enrol in September. This makes it more difficult for us to judge whether students will be able to cope with a 2-year course. Students who find the course difficult may be prepared to complete one year to gain an AS grade, even if they do not have the ability to complete the A-level course:
• there is some indication that universities would like to continue to see AS grades from applicants
• there will be disruption of teaching in summer 2016 as students complete the old AS/A-level programme in other subjects. It therefore seems appropriate for psychology students to complete an external exam at the same time
• the psychology specification content for winter, spring and the first half of the summer term is identical for AS and A-level.

For at least the first term we intend to use A-level assessment and marking for all students. During the second term we will start to identify students who intend to complete AS only. At this point we expect to start to differentiate in terms of the assessment and marking of AS and A-level work. We expect that students who have been prepared for A-level assessment will be successful in the AS exam.

Caroline Bunyan

Psychology teacher at Hereford Sixth Form College