--- title: "Psychology" url: "https://derbycathedralschool.org.uk/sixth-form/sixthformsubjectpages/psychology" school: "Derby Cathedral School" --- # Psychology - Subject Intent - Staffing - Homework and Assessment - Independent Study and Revision - Subject Enrichment - Super-Curricular and Literacy ## Psychology Examination Board: AQA Qualification Type: A Level ### ### Subject Intent Psychology plays a vital role in our society from all aspects such as education, the economy and crime. Not only does Psychology give learners the opportunity to explore the human mind and how we think and act, it always allows them to understand themselves as individuals. The field of Psychology is constantly evolving, giving learners the opportunity to engage with contemporary discoveries. Our aim at Derby Cathedral School is to produce Psychologists of the future who are inspired by understanding the mind and who are inquisitive, motivated and passionate to explore a range of factors that influence our behaviour. We study the AQA A Level Psychology course and have selected the following optional topics: Schizophrenia, Forensics, and Gender). Through our carefully designed curriculum and strong subject specialists, the Social Sciences department offers rich and engaging lessons that will enable learners to learn the fundamentals of Psychology and the skills needed to ‘think like a Psychologist’. --- ### Staffing **Head of Social Sciences and Teacher of Sociology, Psychology and Health and Social Care** Miss J Sowter - j.sowter@derbycathedralschool.org.uk **Teacher of Psychology, Sociology, Criminology and Health and Social Care** Mrs H Macleod - H.Macleod@derbycathedralschool.org.uk --- ### Homework A Level Subjects (Psychology and Sociology) – students will be set weekly homework in the form of three tasks - Apply (independently apply what has been learnt during lessons) e.g. exam questions, textbook exercises, skills activities, essays, detailed planning for extended writing - Acquire (independently acquire new knowledge to build good foundations) e.g. directed reading for the next lesson, directed research task, watching documentaries, listening to podcasts - Cement (independently revisiting class notes to identify areas that require further assistance from their teacher) e.g. reviewing class notes, mind mapping, creating revision material, re-reading relevant textbook pages, retrieval tasks --- ### Assessment - You will have three exams in year 13 - Each paper is two hours - Each paper is out of 96 **Paper 1 - Introductory Topics in Psychology** - Social influence (Year 12) - Memory (Year 12) - Attachment (Year 12) - Psychopathology (Year 12) **Paper 2 - Psychology in Context** - Approaches (Year 12) - Biopsychology (Year 12) - Research methods (Year 12/13) **Paper 3 - Issues and Options in Psychology** - Issues and debates (Year 13) - Gender (Year 13) - Schizophrenia (Year 13) - Forensics (Year 13) --- ### Independent Study and Revision - Completing Seneca activities – search for AQA A Level Psychology - Watching videos from Tutor2U - Watching videos from PsychBoost - Completing exam practice questions or creating plans for exam questions - Using the knowledge organisers to self-quiz - Creating your own flashcards either as physical copies or create your own Quizlets - RAG rating your understanding of knowledge using the checklist - Creating mind maps, brain dumps or revision clocks for each topic --- ### Subject Enrichment - Shrewsbury Prison Visit - Chester Zoo Visit - Dr Guy Sutton Visit - Police Officer Guest Speaker - Belgium, Luxemburg and the Netherlands Trip (includes aspects from all Social Sciences) --- ### Super-Curricular - Explore careers related to Psychology - Complete a Psychology related MOOC - Read the Psychology Review magazine - Complete the AQA A Level Psychology Up learn course - Watch relevant Ted Talks such as Philip Zimbardo on the Psychology of Evil and Georgette Mulheir on the Tragedy of Orphanages. - Watch relevant documentaries such as Making a Murderer Brendon Dassey Interview and Conformity to Social Roles BBC Prison Experiment - Follow @PsychToday, @tutor2uPsych, @MindCharity, @PsyBlog - Watch relevant films such as 12 Angry Men, Dangerous Minds, The Notebook and A Beautiful Mind --- ### Literacy - ‘The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom’ by Jonathan Haidt - ‘Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion’ by Robert B Cialdini - ‘Mistakes Were Made (but Not by Me): Why we Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions and Hurtful Acts’ by Carol Travis - ‘Upstream: How to Solve Problems Before they Happen’ by Dan Heath - ‘The School of Life: An Emotional Education’ by Alain de Botton - ‘Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgement’ by Daniel Kahneman, Oliver Sibony and Cass R Sunstein - ‘The Lucifier Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil’ by Philip G Zimbardo - ‘The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry’ by Jon Ronson - ‘Reaching Down the Rabbit Hole’ by Dr Allan Ropper - ‘The Little Book of Psychology’ by Emily Ralls - ‘Thinking Fast and Slow’ by Daniel Kahenman - ‘The Invisible Gorilla’ by Robert Cialdini - The British Psychological Society Articles - BBC News – Psychology related topics --- ### Sixth Form - [Sixth Form Overview](https://derbycathedralschool.org.uk/sixth-form) - [16-19 Study Programme](https://derbycathedralschool.org.uk/sixth-form/16-19-study-programme) - [Admissions](https://derbycathedralschool.org.uk/sixth-form/sixth-form-admissions) - [Prospectus 2027](https://derbycathedralschool.org.uk/sixth-form/prospectus) - [Subjects](https://derbycathedralschool.org.uk/sixth-form/sixthformsubjectpages) ![Derby Cathedral School](https://files.schudio.com/derby-cathedral-school/images/logo/footer-logo.png) **Derby Cathedral School** Great Northern Road Derby DE1 1LR **Derby Diocesan Academy Trust** Unit 3 Endcliffe Mount Deepdale Business Park Ashford Road Bakewell Derbyshire DE45 1GT Derby Cathedral School is proud to be a part of the **[Derby Diocesan Academy Trust.](https://ddat.org.uk)** © Copyright 2025–2026 Derby Cathedral School School & Trust Websites by [ ![Schudio logo](https://derbycathedralschool.org.uk/img/logo/light.png) ](https://www.schudio.com/)