Key Stage 4

Key Stage 5

Psychology is the scientific study of the behaviour of individuals and their mental processes.

Why should I choose Psychology?

Psychology is a relevant and interesting course to take, particularly if you are thinking of a people-centred career. It is growing rapidly in popularity as it provides students with insights into both their own behaviour and that of the society in which they live. Increasingly, employers see the value of a subject which probably has more transferable skills than any other, including: literacy, numeracy and statistics, interpersonal awareness, problem solving, interpretation, information finding, presentational confidence, critical evaluation and higher order analysis. Psychology students don't come up with traditional common sense, assumed answers about the way people behave; they have more insight into real-life behaviour. It is a 'bridge' between arts subjects, social sciences and sciences and fits in well with further study in many subjects including Sports Studies, History, Sociology, Geography and Natural Sciences amongst others.

What will I need to be good at?

No prior knowledge of Psychology is required for this course, although you ought to be interested in human behaviour. During the course you will need to be able to communicate effectively and research information from a variety of sources, so an ability to communicate both verbally and in writing would be an advantage. The course will involve carrying out a number of experiments and other pieces of research so it would also be an advantage to have mathematical skills in order to analyse the results, and carry out some simple statistical calculations. It is also important to be up to date on current affairs and to read widely.

How will I be taught?

At Oakwood Park Grammar School we want you to be involved in developing the subject further. Psychology is an interactive, investigative subject which needs your contribution. There will be many opportunities for discussion during lessons. A wide range of sources of information will be explored, including videos, newspaper and journal articles and the Internet. Many of the topic areas will involve practical investigations and experiments to be carried out. Students will be expected to take notes, complete written homework and carry out background reading on the topics covered in the class. Visits are arranged to conferences, museums and other locations linked to Psychology

What can I do with the qualification?

There are very few areas of human life and work where Psychology has not got insights to contribute. A Level Psychology is accepted as an entry qualification to a wide range of higher education courses and provides a helpful background for courses as diverse as English, Business Studies and Occupational Therapy. For those that go on to complete a degree in Psychology there are a range of career opportunities. These include the opportunity for professional training as, for instance, a Clinical Psychologist, Educational Psychologist, Forensic Psychologist or Occupational Psychologist. Other career areas that Psychology can be useful for include medicine, law, media, business or teaching.

Subject content

We follow the OCR GCSE specification which enables students to have the opportunity to study P sychology at an introductory level, yet also to gain enough insight into the subject to enable them to complete the course with a rounded knowledge of the approaches, processes and issues that have been chosen to illustrate it at GCSE level. The specification currently includes the requirement that candidates should carry out an internally assessed task involving a more detailed investigation to illustrate an aspect of the psychology that they study during the course.

The specification is built upon the understanding that psychological knowledge could be treated as being made up of a number of different approaches. What actually constitutes these approaches can stimulate endless debate; for the purposes of this specification, they include six approaches, each illustrated by two topic areas.

The approaches are:

. Social Psychology;

. Behavioural Psychology;

. Developmental Psychology;

. Individual Differentiation;

. Cognitive Psychology;

. Bio-psychology.

The material within the topic areas associated with the individual approaches should enable candidates to understand how particular methodologies, cultural constraints and ethical considerations can bring influence to bear upon the development of knowledge within each approach. The topic areas also provide an opportunity for the consideration of the impact of P sychology on everyday life by looking at the applications of psychology. Therefore the specification has a number of underlying processes and issues which should be considered as an integral part of the material outlined in each topic area. This allows for the development of psychological skills as well as the learning of psychological knowledge.

Extension work

Students are encouraged to pursue their own interests that may not be covered by the specification such as body language and abnormal psychology

Enrichment days and trips

All Psychology students visit the Science Museum and Natural History Museum in London