Psychology A Level - pros & cons?

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In my day (aka long long long ago) psychology was seen as a ‘mickey mouse’ subject and universities wanted the facilitating subjects.

But now that I’m looking at sixth forms for DD, I see that loads of places offer it and I see from here that a lot of ‘high-achieving’ students seem to take it along with traditional academic options.

So I’m interested to know:

On the whole, is it fully respected by universities now?

At A Level, is psychology seen as a humanities subject rather than a (social) science or is it a mix?

What are the transferable skills it offers?

My children are at a grammar school which only really offers fairly traditional subjects but offers psychology- the vast majority of children go to RG unis.

My eldest is doing it - it is considered a science by unis for admission purposes (my child is looking to study politics). My dc enjoys it but it’s not necessarily for everyone.

A level wise it’s a mix of short answer questions up to 16 mark essay type ones (maybe 1 x 24 Mark I can’t remember).

The maths part is not hard at all

Thanks Kitty! I didn’t know it had a maths component but that wouldn’t be an issue. I’m asking out of general interest as well as for DD. She may pick it as her 4th A Level.

The maths is really just looking at research data type stuff. My dc is doing essay type A levels alongside it but a number are doing biology & chemistry.

They have covered various social science type modules as well as the more sciency stuff (biopsychology).

Dd is in year 12 and doing Psychology with RS and History. It’s her favourite subject as she’s very people oriented and find analysis of behaviour fascinating. It’s quite learning-heavy and there’s lots of case studies to learn. It counts as a science for university entrance (eg if you need to study two sciences to get onto a Biology degree, Biology and Psychology count).

I’ve just been through this so my twopennethworth. It’s INSANELY popular at the moment, I think particularly among girls.

I agree that I previously thought it was an “ology”, but apparently it isn’t, or no longer. My DD was looking at changing school for 6th form (we are in the crazy crucible of SW London day schools) and I think everywhere offered it other than Latymer Upper. so its definitely respectable.

She had, I think, good advice from her school that it either sits well as a social science alongside History, or as a true science alongside Biology. I think - not checked this out so treat with a pinch of salt - that if you want to do it at university some universities want a second science, as their course content is directed more towards science.

Early feedback: its quite hard!

Psychology was (I’m fairly certain) the most popular a level nationwide last year.

Yes, I read that it is now the most studied 'A' level.

Interesting. I did it over 30 years ago and I still find an foundation understanding of statistics, research methods, validity etc useful, and the cognitive stuff about how memory works was actually incredibly useful to use as a basis for 'how to revise'.

Wow incredibly popular then!

It sounds great. Thank you all.

My DD is in yr 12 and taking it alongside Biology and PE. She is finding it a bit dry but still enjoyable. It's been harder as ben at home online since 1st Oct, so it's hard to tell what it would be like normally.

I too did think "ology" when it was first mentioned, but did a lot of reading online and saw how well regarded it is now and that as @crazycrofter mentioned, DD is using it as a 2nd science as she wants to study Biology at uni.

Does she intend to do psychology at uni? If so don't do the a level. First year uni and a level are very similar in terms of content.

The maths will be statistics and she do the same module in things like biology and geography (and maths with stats obvs)

On the other hand @Twizbe, dd wants to do it at uni (decided that last year and now confirmed) but didn’t want to do any other science A Levels. As most uni courses require a Science at A Level, taking Psychology seemed the sensible option. She’ll probably get a better grade in it than she would in Biology too, which will help towards the high entry requirements for Psychology at uni.

It's worth doing the 'A' level to know if you want to go on and study it at university though, surely?

Yes @christinarossetti19 - when dd was talking about studying it at uni when she was in year 11, I kept stressing that she didn’t really know if she’d like it and it would be best to see if she liked the A Level first (which she does - but apparently lots dont).

Yes, it's often not what people think it is.

I did very well at 'A' level and went on to study it at university. Switched subjects completely after a term, as I realised that I actually like psychology much, despite finding it very easy.

DIDN'T like it much!

If she wants to study it as an add-on to her other subjects, she should go for it. It’s a very interesting subject but very content-heavy.

DS did the A level and is now in his fourth year of a Psychology degree (3rd year was a placement). He said there is quite a bit of repetition in year 1 of the degree but lots of other stuff besides so it didn’t bother him.

If she finds she loves it and wants to do it for her degree, she should bear in mind that there are around 18,000 new psychology graduates every year. You need to be able to offer something to set you apart, so a placement year is highly recommended, as well as other work experience.

Thank you. DD doesn’t want to study psychology at university, but a psychology A level certainly wouldn’t be a bad fit for the degree subject she’s planned on studying.

She’s chosen her main three and so far has politics in mind as a fourth. But after seeing it repeatedly mentioned I wondered whether psychology would be a good alternative.

Just to add though, this is more for my own knowledge and interest than DD’s as I think she’s fairly sorted on what she wants to study.

My DS did it alongside Physics and Biology. Biology and Psychology are deffo complimentary. He is doing it at uni now. Best bit is it stimulates lots of discussion around the dinner table.

DD2 is doing it alongside Biology and History to get her to the degree she wants to do. She's finding the sections on research methodology particularly helpful. Because we have a history of mental ill health in our family, she's finding that part of the work useful in terms of dealing with that too. It's very content heavy, but if you're a good essay writer it's really doable.

The longest question in the A-Level (for AQA at least) is 16 marks - four or five paragraphs ideally. There is a lot of names, dates and details - and A LOT of evaluation of theories, models etc. Very good for learning about behaviour though - she may end up applying it in her other subjects, as elements of it are very transferrable.

I'd personally choose sociology over psychology as it is just too popular it seems (I have a masters in educational psychology but I dint use it for anything). But my daughter is considering it if she goes to a sixth form that requires four A levels. It's not a soft option.

Psychology is a good A-level to study. It's considered largely a 'science' at degree level now I think, rather than an art or social science, and chartered psychologists are eligible for chartered scientist status. I did A-level psychology (in the 90s!!!), a degree in it, an MSc and a doctorate!! I didn't find it to be a Micky mouse subject :) It's interesting and once you get to degree level and beyond the maths, stats and IT get pretty tricky!!

It's Ds1's favourite out of his 3. Very respected now.

@Twizbe

Does she intend to do psychology at uni? If so don't do the a level. First year uni and a level are very similar in terms of content.

The maths will be statistics and she do the same module in things like biology and geography (and maths with stats obvs)

That's such poor advice. How would she know if she likes the subject if she's never studied it before?

Also, there is crossover, but uni offers plenty more besides, and the A Level course is more about learning names, dates and studies - all of which are useful for a degree, but the degree goes into much more depth.