Curriculum intent:

• The psychology curriculum was always sequenced - having taught it in different orders for many years, it has been a trial of which sequence works the best over the two years. This was to make sure that schemas were being built upon for each topic studied and that there was a coherent narrative of knowledge and skills. There are specific concepts in Psychology - Approaches, Issues and Debates that are developed across the curriculum; these can be synoptically studied over the course in each of the different topics.
• A level psychology improves students’ literacy, numeracy and scientific enquiry skills. 25% of the Psychology A-level is Research Methods content and skill, while 10% is numeracy and mathematical content and skill.
• Studying Psychology encourages students to be more empathic and understanding of others, by challenging judgemental and prejudiced attitudes.  In particular studying mental illness gives students an insight into disorders such as Depression, OCD and Schizophrenia. 
• Psychology is also very useful in helping students understand the cognitive process involved in learning and memory that are embedded in the Highlands curriculum intent.  In particular the study of different models of memory gives students insight into transferring knowledge to LTM and developing schema.

Exam board: A Level: AQA A Level Psychology specification.