Psychology & Sociology

Psychology is a popular subject choice and involves an exploration of the human mind and our behaviour, for example, mental health, obedience and crime. We are interested in why human beings behave the way they do.

We encourage students to have an open mind when studying Psychology and to motivate them to look at behaviour from a variety of viewpoints. In this way, lessons are often debate or discussion based.

This subject is useful for a number of careers, including the following:

• Forensic psychology
• Educational psychology
• Clinical psychology
• Teaching / Lecturing
• Counselling / Psychotherapy
• Occupational psychology
• Management
• Human resources

Click here for exam board information on WJEC Psychology

Sociology is likewise a popular subject, in fact, most students take both this and Psychology and find that they complement each other very well.

Sociology is the study of society and the various institutions within it; for example the family, education, crime and deviance and the mass media. We look at a range of perspectives surrounding the aforementioned topics, some more traditional and others more liberal.

Similarly to Psychology, we encourage students to have an open mind but also be free to express their thoughts and opinions on a particular topic. One of the main aims of the subject is to teach the students to be able to express themselves in a non-biased, measured and mature way.

Career choices relevant to Sociology include:

• The police force
• Social work
• Counselling
• Fundraising
• Human resources
• Teaching / Lecturing
• Youth work
• Probation officer
• Housing manager/officer

Click here for exam board information on AQA Sociology

As part of their A-level studies students have the opportunity to take part in their very own research, as well as take part in workshops run by local university academics. This gives them a real sense of how Psychology and Sociology are applied in the real world. Similarly, students have the opportunity to attend Sociology conferences at Canterbury Christ Church University and tour the University of Kent’s Psychology department. These experiences raise aspirations and give students an insight into the academic world.

Last year, our Year 13 students had the opportunity to visit a conference in London and heard from one of the most famous psychologists of all time, Professor Elizabeth Loftus. She conducts ground-breaking research into memory, false memory syndrome and eye-witness testimony. They also heard from the famous criminologist, Professor David Wilson, who has featured on a recent BBC programme on profiling Jack the Ripper. Most notably, he starred in the Channel 4 film “Interview With a Murderer” in 2016. Finally, Professors Alex Haslam and Steve Reicher discussed their research in the field of social psychology and their replication of the Stanford Prison Study for the BBC.

Next year, we are going to the same conference and will hear from another expert in the field of social psychology; Professor Philip Zimbardo. He conducted the aforementioned Stanford Prison Experiment in 1971, which was one of the most notorious experiments of all time.