Psychology A-Level

[Poseidensgrumpyneighbour]

My DD is in year 11 and has recently decided she'd really like to do Psychology as one of four A-levels. Would appreciate your honest views on the value of it as an A-level subject.

I liked the emphasis on critical thinking and understanding research methods in the blurb I read about it. DD is good at maths, which sounds as if it will be important. But I suppose I've put it in the same category as A-levels like Law i.e. subjects that should be studied later / at degree level rather than during sixth form. I imagine that's a quite outdated view now though so any thoughts from someone more in-the-know than me would be very welcome. Thanks in advance

Funnily enough I've seen it argued that DC shouldn't take A level psychology if they want to do a psychology degree, because so much of the first year covers stuff in the A level syllabus and it's boring!

@Hughs I’ve seen that argued too. Although I would suggest that can be a positive too as young people are adjusting to university life and being independent so having some repetition of content is useful. I did A level psychology and a degree in psychology there is overlap but definitely not exactly the same.

I would imagine it depends where you are intending to study. Bath, as I said earlier want an essay subject. Cambridge don’t see psychology as a science for their course so you have to decide where to go and what to study to suit what you are aiming for. Psychology as a third subject probably wouldn’t harm applications for other degrees!

Easiest A-level I did, by a long shot. Doesn't mean it's not valuable, just a comment. Wasn't accepted as valuable by some of the unis I applied to, but that was a 20 years ago now!

Psychology is by far the most dropped subject for some reason

It was at DD's school. I think it is an untried subject for most students as they haven't sat the subject at GCSE. Also, at DD's school a lot of the less academic students took psychology because they didn't get the grades for other subjects.

In DD's case she hated psychology. She found it boring and unchallenging. It is very content heavy and you have to remember loads of case studies by people with difficult to spell names. DD took it to AS level then dropped it.

It is, of course, possible that the more interesting topics were covered in year 13, but most of what DD learned about in year 12 was unpleasant experiments carried out on unsuspecting people.

My daughter is taking this. There are a lot of psychology specific skills but it also tackles how do complete a research project, ethical studies and plenty of transferable skills.
She wants to become a psychologist to help SEND children eventually but we have explored plenty of other potential career paths to use the psychology degree she is aiming for and there are LOTS.

There are lots of options but many with this degree will have to compete against others with all sorts of degrees for jobs. So I know Dc who work for charities, became social workers and even a journalist with a psychology degree. But I could look at similar jobs for politics, English, history, MFL grads etc etc. There are counselling roles and a friend is doing a masters in this following a psychology degree.

Wowsers, I stepped away from MN for a few days and this thread has come alive. Some excellent food for thought here - I prob won't have time to respond to all the posts individually but am reading each one so thanks so much to everyone who has taken the time to give their thoughts.

The more I read/hear, the more I think it sounds like a subject that would suit her v well. But I think it's unlikely she'd choose to pursue it at degree level. So she'd just be doing it for interest, which is an excellent reason to study something but I do worry about the workload.

@Dido2010 you make a v good point re music and what a huge commitment it is alongside 3 a-levels let alone 4. A huge amount of DD's free time (and study time) at weekends and in holidays is taken up with music, and she's really coming up against that this year with GCSEs. Also, she's showing no signs of wanting to ease up on any of that. So, I've been encouraging her to think about sticking to three A-levels. At the moment, she's settled on what those three will be and it's the fourth (Psychology or further maths) that's up in the air.

There is no need for 4. With her music, what’s the point? Unis don’t ask for 4 unless it’s FM. Music looks like a non negotiable for A level, but should it be? It’s the same as Psychology if she’s not taking it to degree level. Something to consider. Does she see Music A level as a gimme? Far less work for a high grade? I’d look into that position as less work and 2 others keeps workload reasonable. Adding a 4th, in the circumstances, seems pointless.

It's quite likely she will do music at degree level and professionally. But she isn't 100% decided on that and we've encouraged her to keep her options as open as possible for now. So the music a-level is a definite. I'm increasingly convinced that 3 not 4 would be wise though!

Can she start with four and drop the subject she least likes?

DD was convinced that psychology was the one A level she really wanted to do, along with geography and biology. As she did so well in her GCSEs she was told she had to take 4 A level subjects, so she picked chemistry as well.

After a few weeks in year 12 it was psychology that she really didn't want to do, but she kept on with it to bank a good grade at AS level then dropped it much to the disappointment of the teacher who told her she was throwing away an A*.

If she had stayed with 4 subjects I doubt that she would have achieved the grades that she did in her other three subjects as she managed to improve on two of the grades.

Yes, I think that would make a lot of sense. I'm not sure if AS levels are an option at the school - need to check that.

I don't think schools in England do AS levels any more. DD sat AS levels in 2017, which was the last year her school did them.

If she wants to do music at uni, where does psychology come into her thinking? It’s totally unnecessary. I think some music degrees require more essays than others so my advice is to do at least an essay subject. Then a third which probably should be what she likes so why not maths?

You have to write essays for A level psychology, much to DD's annoyance. Anyway music A level will teach her to write essays, she doesn't need another essay subject for a music degree. (I did music with A levels of music, maths and biology.)

@TizerorFizz No, it definitely isn't necessary. It's just something she's shown a sudden interest in doing as an additional subject and I'm not at all familiar with it as a subject (hence starting the thread).

As @Hughs says, I think music itself will have some essay writing, as will geography I guess

Not to the same extent as history or politics, for example. However not sure it will really matter!!

@TizerorFizz relevant work experience would be anything with children/older adults e.g. helping at a holiday club especially if for children with SEN, care work, volunteering at a day centre, befriending. Nobody is going to let a 17 year old loose on inpatients in a psychiatric hospital!

I taught Psychology and had several students go on to study medicine with it.