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General Certificate of Education in Psychology AQA

A Level Psychology AQA

Psychology supports progression onto university in degrees such as Health and Social or Science. You will receive up to 56 UCAS points and expert guidance applying to Universities worldwide including the UK.
  • Awarding Body: AQA
  • A' Level Psychology AQA: 7182
    AS Level Psychology AQA: 7181
  • Learning Hours: 360 Hours
  • Fast Track Available
  • Full A Level Qualification
General Certificate of Education in Psychology AQA
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Enrolment Fee £395

Overview

The A Level Psychology Online course with Learn Now follows the AQA (7182) specification and is equivalent to the qualification you would achieve if attending mainstream college. Once completed, you will obtain UCAS points which will support progression to university in degrees such as Psychology, Health & Social Care, Science or Business.

This course would suit adult learners returning to education, students resitting exams or studying alongside other commitments, and learners looking to be accepted into University.

Get 10% discount when ordering multiple A Level courses. Use the coupon code: ALEVEL10 at checkout

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Syllabus

This A Level Psychology Course will give you an understanding of the way people think and why people behave in certain ways.

The mind is something intangible that exists within our brain; an unseen process of enzymes, chemicals and electric currents. But why is it that some people suffer from stress or mental illness? Or that others are considered abnormal for deviating from social norms? Psychology looks at questions like these and more. It’s a fascinating science with cutting edge research that has real world applications that you are bound to find interesting.

You will learn a variety of skills including analytical thinking, improved communication, problem solving and many more that will prepare you for an exciting future with the possibility of a range of fantastic careers.

The Full A Level has 11 topics you will need to cover and the AS Level has six topics.  These are listed below.

AS Level Modules

  • Types of conformity
  • Conformity to social roles as investigated by Zimbardo
  • Explanations for obedience
  • Explanations of resistance to social influence, including social support and locus of control
  • Minority influence including reference to consistency, commitment and flexibility
  • The role of social influence processes in social change.
  • The multi-store model of memory
  • Types of long-term memory
  • The working memory model
  • Explanations for forgetting
  • Factors affecting the accuracy of eyewitness testimony
  • Improving the accuracy of eyewitness testimony, including the use of the cognitive interview.
  • Caregiver-infant interactions in humans
  • Animal studies of attachment
  • Explanations of attachment
  • Ainsworth’s ‘Strange Situation’
  • Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation
  • The influence of early attachment on childhood and adult relationships, including the role of an internal working model.
  • Learning approaches
  • The cognitive approach
  • The biological approach
  • Definitions of abnormality, including deviation from social norms, failure to function adequately, statistical infrequency and deviation from ideal mental health.
  • The behavioural, emotional and cognitive characteristics of phobias, depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
  • The behavioural approach to explaining and treating phobias
  • The cognitive approach to explaining and treating depression
  • The biological approach to explaining and treating OCD
  • Experimental method. Types of experiment, laboratory and field experiments; natural and quasi-experiments
  • Observational techniques
  • Self-report techniques
  • Correlations

Full A Level Modules

An individual may change their feelings and behaviour so that they can fit in or be liked. Other individuals might be swayed as they may feel others know better or are told to do something by someone with authority.  For example, if you are at a concert and everyone claps, you might clap too – even if no one told you to or you didn’t feel like it was a great performance.  This is known as social influence.  This topic will look into why people conform, obey authority, resist pressure or create social change.

  • Types of conformity
  • Conformity to social roles as investigated by Zimbardo
  • Explanations for obedience
  • Explanations of resistance to social influence, including social support and locus of control
  • Minority influence including reference to consistency, commitment and flexibility
  • The role of social influence processes in social change
The human brain is able to take information, store it and recall it later.  This is known as memory.  However, sometimes the brain can forget things, mix things up or be influenced by other people.  This is why psychologists study how it works.

  • The multi-store model of memory
  • Types of long-term memory
  • The working memory model
  • Explanations for forgetting
  • Factors affecting the accuracy of eyewitness testimony
  • Improving the accuracy of eyewitness testimony, including the use of the cognitive interview
Early relationships such as a baby and mother can affect emotional development, behaviour and later relationships in life.  For example, when a baby cries, a parent may comfort the baby and then the baby will settle.  This shows that the baby feels safe, protected and comforted with that person.  This topic will explore how babies bond with their caregivers, why comfort and care is important and how early relationships can affect later life.

  • Caregiver-infant interactions in humans
  • Animal studies of attachment
  • Explanations of attachment
  • Ainsworth’s ‘Strange Situation’
  • Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation
  • The influence of early attachment on childhood and adult relationships, including the role of an internal working model.
Psychopathology is the study of mental disorders such as phobia, depression or obsessive-compulsive disorder.  This topic will look at abnormal behaviours, what causes mental disorders and how they can be treated effectively.  For a fear such as being afraid of spiders, a psychologist would study why the fear developed and how to treat it.

  • Definitions of abnormality, including deviation from social norms, failure to function adequately, statistical infrequency and deviation from ideal mental health.
  • The behavioural, emotional and cognitive characteristics of phobias, depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
  • The behavioural approach to explaining and treating phobias
  • The cognitive approach to explaining and treating depression
  • The biological approach to explaining and treating OCD.
This topic will explore different ways psychologists explain human behaviour and mental processes.  Each approach has a theory about why people think, feel and behave the way they do.  Human behaviour is complex and therefore psychologists use multiple approaches which focus on different causes.

  • Learning approaches
  • The cognitive approach
  • The biological approach
  • The psychodynamic approach
  • Humanistic Psychology
  • Comparison of approaches.
This topic will look at the brain, nervous system, hormones, genes and biological rhythms and help us to understand how the body and brain affect behaviour, thoughts and emotions.

  • The divisions of the nervous system
  • The structure and function of sensory, relay and motor neurons. The process of synaptic transmission, including reference to neurotransmitters, excitation and inhibition.
  • The function of the endocrine system: glands and hormones
  • The fight or flight response including the role of adrenaline
  • Localisation of function in the brain and hemispheric lateralisation
  • Ways of studying the brain
  • Biological rhythms.
Psychologists will use research methods to study behaviour and mental processes.  They will collect data, test theories, analyse results and draw conclusions.  For example, a psychologist may want to know whether sleep affects memory.  Therefore, they would run an experiment, collect data and analyse the results to see if there is a relationship.

  • Experimental methods
  • Observational techniques
  • Self-report techniques
  • Correlations
  • Content analysis
  • Case studies
  • Scientific processes
  • Data handling and analysis
  • Inferential testing
For this topic, we will consider questions and arguments about how behaviour should be explained.  We will explore different viewpoints and think critically about how behaviour develops, whether people control their actions and the impact of psychological research on society.  For example, if an individual committed a crime, a psychologists may debate whether it happened because of their biology or their upbringing.

  • Gender and culture in Psychology
  • Free will and determinism
  • The nature-nurture debate
  • Holism and reductionism
  • Idiographic and nomothetic approaches to psychological investigation
  • Ethical implications of research studies and theory, including reference to social sensitivity.
This topic will study how children’s thinking and understanding develop as they grow.  Cognition refers to mental processes involved in thinking, learning & remembering and Development refers to how these mental abilities change and grow over time.

  • Piaget’s theory of cognitive development
  • Vygotsky’s theory of cognitive development, including the zone of proximal development and scaffolding
  • Baillargeon’s explanation of early infant abilities, including knowledge of the physical world
  • The development of social cognition.
This topic will refer to how, why and what people eat.  You will look into factors that influence food choices, hunger and appetite.  Studying this topic will help us understand normal eating patterns and disorders like obesity or anorexia nervosa.

  • Explanations for food preferences
  • Neural and hormonal mechanisms involved in the control of eating behaviour, including the role of the hypothalamus, ghrelin and leptin
  • Biological explanations for anorexia nervosa, including genetic and neural explanations
  • Psychological explanations for anorexia nervosa
  • Biological explanations for obesity, including genetic and neural explanations
  • Psychological explanations for obesity, including restraint theory, disinhibition and the boundary model.
If someone is addicted to something such as a substance, they are not able to control their use of the substance even when it has negative consequences on their health or life.  Addictions can be substance additions (nicotine, alcohol, drugs) or behavioural addictions (gambling, gaming, shopping).  Studying this topic will help you to understand why it develops, who is at risk and how to treat or reduce it.

  • Describing addiction
  • Risk factors in the development of addiction, including genetic vulnerability, stress, personality, family influences and peers
  • Explanations for nicotine addiction
  • Explanations for gambling addiction
  • Reducing addiction
  • The application of the following theories of behaviour change to addictive behaviour; the theory of planned behaviour and Prochaska’s six-stage model of behaviour change.

What can I do with an A Level in Psychology?

Students in the past have progressed onto the following degree courses:-

•Psychology •English studies •Sociology •Business studies •Teaching •Sport and exercise science •Law

Studying A’ Level Psychology at University gives you all sorts of exciting career options, including:-

•Marketing •Business development •Accountancy •Human resources •Forensic
psychology •Occupational therapy •Clinical psychology •Nursing •Teaching.

Previous Knowledge Required

There are no previous entry requirements for this course, however students are expected to have a reasonable standard of literacy. 

You have the freedom to start the course at any time and continue your studies at your own pace for a period of up to 24 months from initial registration with the full support of your Tutor.

Enrolment Fees

Our Enrolment fee for this course is noted at the top of this page where you can enrol directly onto the course.  This fee includes access to your course including tutor support for 2 years.

Our enrolment fee includes:

  • All study materials covering the full specification.
  • Full support where you can also message your tutor as many times as you need to.
  • Access to our online Library with a full range of eBooks.
  • Help completing university applications including UCAS and The Common Application.
  • Reference and predicted grade for University.
  • Assignment marking and feedback
  • Marked and graded practise examination papers
  • Eligibility for a Totum Card if you reside within the UK
  • Fast Track A Level if required and flexible learning from home 24/7.

The only other fee you will need to pay is for your exams which is due approximately six months prior and this will be paid directly to the exam centre.

Assessments

Students will be required to arrange and pay for their examinations/practicals at an AQA approved centre. We can provide an extensive list of these centres for you.

A Level Exams
There are three exams for the full A Level qualification. The length of each exam is two hours long.

Paper 1 Paper 1 Paper 1 A Level Qualification

AS Level Exams
There are two exams for the AS Level qualification. The length of each exam is 1 hour 30 minutes long.

Paper 1 Paper 1 AS Level Exams

This A’ Level Psychology course forms part of the linear qualifications. This means that learners will sit exams for their particular qualification at the end of the completed course in the June series.

You will not be able to carry forward your AS qualification to the A’ Level qualification as they are now classed as entirely independent qualifications and you will sit either AS or A’ Level exams.

A Level Psychology Online Course Outcome

On successful completion of all your exams for the A Level Psychology Online Course, you will be awarded one of the following qualifications:

A Level in Psychology with AQA | AS Level in Psychology with AQA

Click here for more information about AQA and to be taken to their official website

Still unsure? Look through our FAQs

For A Level Psychology, learners will need to have a good understanding of case studies which can be included to support arguments.  There will be some calculations required including graphs and inferential statistics in the research methods topic.  Finally, essay questions will need a good evaluation and comparison.

Many learners perform well with A Level Psychology if they have a genuine interest in the subject.  If you are interested by how people think, feel and behave, you should find the subject relatable.

You will not be required to purchase any books with this course.  We automatically include logins to our online e-Library which includes access to following eBook(s):

AQA A Level Psychology Book 1 – Jean-Marc Lawton, Eleanor Willard (Hodder Education)

AQA A Level Psychology Book 2 – Jean-Marc Lawton, Eleanor Willard (Hodder Education)

Not see the book you are looking for? Ask us and we will let you know if we have it!

A Level Biology – Psychology has a biological component (biopsychology, addiction, eating behaviour and mental health).  Studying both subjects together will strengthen understanding of research studies on brain, nervous system and mental disorders.  Pathways after these two subjects include Neuroscience, Medicine, Health Care or Cognitive Science.

A Level Sociology – Sociology and Psychology overlap with regards to social influence, culture and social issues.  You will enhance your understanding of group behaviour, social norms and cultural influences.  Pathways include Social Psychology, Criminology, Social Work and Education.

The AQA Psychology course can only be taken within the UK and some British Overseas Territories. If you are located outside the UK, you can take the Cambridge or Pearson Edexcel Psychology course which offer exam centres worldwide.

AS and A levels are standalone qualifications, however the Full A Level carries more UCAS points than the AS Level.  It also requires more study hours as follows:

  • AS Level = 180 hours
  • A Level = 360 hours
You will see the difference in the content above under ‘syllabus’ but you can also refer to our article on ‘what is as level’ for more information.

You will receive access and support for two years, however you can complete it much sooner if you want to.  Exams for this subject fall in May/June each year and therefore you are able to choose which exam sitting you want to apply for.  We have more information on exam timetables here.

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