A Level Politics
Overview:
The A Level Politics course covers both British and American politics along with a study of political philosophy. In Lower Sixth, students will complete the majority of British politics work, including democracy, political parties, elections, voting behaviour, Parliament, the constitution and the Prime Minister, along with a consideration of the relations between different institutions.
Students will also study the compulsory philosophies - liberalism, socialism and conservatism. Later in the course, students will also study American politics and make direct comparisons between the political institutions and politics in the two countries. The course is designed to engage students and all are encouraged to keep up to date with political events. The course involves theory, discussion, debate and question practice.
A Level Politics aims to develop students' knowledge and understanding of contemporary political ideas and institutions to give them the ability to critically analyse the world and draw their own conclusions about their place in it.
“The issues we studied in Politics were much more interesting than I anticipated. The subject gave me a much better understanding of what was happening during the EU referendum.”
Course Structure and Content:
- Component 1 - UK Politics and Core Political Ideas Students will investigate in detail how people and politics interact and the core ideas upon which political ideas and institutions are built. The topics covered in this paper are UK political parties, voting systems, voting behaviour, UK democracy and participation, liberalism, socialism and conservatism.
- Component 2 - UK Government and Feminism Students explore where power resides in the UK and how decisions are made. In addition, students study the history and application of feminist theory. The topics covered in this paper are Parliament, the UK constitution, the Prime Minister and executive, relationships between branches and feminism.
- Component 3 - US Politics Students develop their understanding of US politics by looking at institutions and democratic practice. The UK and US systems are compared. The topics covered in this paper are US democracy and participation, the US constitution, the presidency, Congress, US Supreme Court and civil rights and comparative approaches.
Click here to download a course flyer
Assessment:
At the end of the Lower Sixth, students sit an exam on all of the Lower Sixth content. This does not count towards the final grade, but assesses the content at this half-way point before progression to the Upper Sixth. The final assessments at the end of the Upper Sixth are as below:
- Assessment 1 - 33.3% 2 hour written paper based on Component 1.
- Assessment 2 - 33.3% 2 hour written paper based on Component 2.
- Assessment 3 - 33.3% 2 hour written paper based on Component 3.
Examination Board:
The course followed is the Edexcel A Level Politics 9PL0A
Edexcel A Level Politics (external link)
Future Career Opportunities:
Students will be more informed to make decisions as citizens of the UK and will find Politics useful for studying and working in areas including Politics, Law, Economics, History and anything related to decision making.