Psychology at the IGCSE A Level

(*Please Note - I have diversified my work on Excelling Psychology into different blogs for better organization of content. I am continually working on the same, so these sites will be updated with more content soon.

CIE IGCSE Psychology learners may be interested in the following:

Model Answers on the following blog:

https://psychologymodelanswers.blogspot.com

References of studies for answer writing in a highly organized, detailed format:

https://psychologyreferencesummaries.blogspot.com)

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Psychology at the IGCSE A Level has two explicitly stated broad objectives, that the student should be able to:

The A level student has had a foundation in Psychology, through his or her successful completion of the AS level. The A level, is therefore, more advanced and shifts the students focus from a general overview of psychology to an introduction to specializations in Psychology. In this respect, the student is given four choices of specialization, out of which (s)he must select two:

The student is thus, given an excellent opportunity for future planning, and (s)he can make a choice based on the specialization that is best suited for the course (s)he would like to pursue at the University level. The student is made to understand that Psychology is a field with a vast scope, and many opportunities for a career. If the student does not wish to pursue Psychology ahead, (s)he can simply choose what interests him or her.

Though each specialization differs slightly with respect to its scope, in general, the student is expected to have the following application skills, irrespective of the specialization chosen:

All the research at the A level corresponds to the most pronounced theories of the given topic in the particular specialization. Thus, actively comprehending such research is an excellent means to develop the student's practical knowledge of the topic.

Just as in the AS level, the key to good performance at the A level is matching learning to the demand of the course as stated above, which is clearly not rote learning, for it is not even possible for the student to be acquainted with every possible question that could appear in the paper. An understanding of the structure of the course, and development of skills rather than information is what the student needs to excel the A level course.