Five key changes we are making to our A Level Psychology, and why
23 October 2024
Nicola Heath, Psychology Subject Advisor
In this blog, I will be discussing the recent changes we have made to our refreshed A Level Psychology (H569), which is planned for first teach 2025. The course has now been submitted to Ofqual, who've reviewed it and shared some recommendations. We have considered these alongside extensive teacher feedback and external stakeholder involvement. By listening to and responding to all suggestions, we’re ensuring that we're making truly beneficial updates to the content and assessment of A Level Psychology.
Why are we making changes now?
Our H567 qualification has been delivered in schools since 2015 and we felt it was due for a review and update. This was supported by feedback from teachers, who told us that improvements could be made that would benefit both themselves and students.
Working in collaboration with teachers and specialists
Throughout this process, we have valued and considered every piece of insight from teachers. Not only did this influence our decision to refresh the course initially, but it has shaped many features in the refreshed qualification. Many of you have shared your views with us – in surveys, focus groups and one-to-one meetings – and we really appreciate your time and effort.
We’ve also spoken to higher education specialists of different HEIs and members of The British Psychological Society and The Association for Teachers of Psychology. We are very confident about the quality of the qualification and its suitability for students and teachers.
Working in collaboration with Ofqual
Throughout this process, we’ve been working closely with Ofqual, and we continue to do so. Their specialists have shared feedback on our qualification, which has allowed us to improve it over time.
This does mean that, as we go through the development journey, we have had to update and refine our draft documents. It is therefore vital that you have signed up for email updates, so you can be informed when the latest versions are ready to view online and, of course, receive updates on new resources and events straight away.
Our most recent draft submitted specifications and SAMs can be found on our psychology page.
Five key changes
Below, I have highlighted the five key changes you wanted to be addressed by this refresh, and how we have responded to them to improve the qualification. I’ve also included tweaks we’ve made to our draft specification and sample assessment materials, based on ensuring they meet teachers' needs and regulatory guidelines.
1. Reduce the volume of content
One of the most important things to our teachers was that the volume of content was addressed and reduced. It was clear that they have been finding it hard to fit teaching the content into the time available and students were finding revision of the course difficult too. With the refreshed qualification we have:
- reduced the number of core studies on component 02 from 20 to 15 (3 per area)
- reduced the number of key studies from component 03 from 15 to 11.
We know these changes will make a big difference and impact to our teachers and students of A Level Psychology. You can view which studies have been removed by looking at our latest version of the specification.
2. Reduce the number of statistical tests
Many teachers expressed that calculating five statistical tests was challenging for some students, especially those with lower prior attainment in maths. Some teachers, particularly non-specialists, were also finding it tricky to teach out of their comfort zone. We have therefore decided to:
- reduce the calculation of statistical tests in component 01 from 5 to 1
- ask that students only calculate Chi-square
- update the specification guidance to include what we are expecting from a statement of significance.
Students should be able to select an appropriate statistical test to use from five but will only need to do calculations for one. We know this will be a welcome change for many teachers and students alike.
We have spoken to different Higher Education Psychology course leaders who have confirmed that calculating statistical tests by hand is not necessary for undergraduate study. However, an understanding of what statistical significance means, as well as a good grasp of descriptive statistics, is beneficial.
3. Improve the contemporary nature of the qualification
One theme that has come up from teachers and HE specialists is that some of our core and key studies could be updated to have a more modern focus and be evaluated in terms of their current relevance. Another way we’ve enhanced the qualification to be more contemporary is to use recent examples of research, articles and topics in the scenarios and stimuli that we use in our exam papers. Our specification has been updated to include the following modern studies:
- Fulmer et al. (2018) Using psychological artificial intelligence (Tess) to relieve symptoms of depression and anxiety
- Wunderlich et al. (2021) How does spectator presence affect football?
- Elsadek et al. (2020) Window view and relaxation: Viewing green space from a high-rise estate improves urban dwellers’ wellbeing.
Our sample assessment materials have also been updated to include contemporary research examples and modern topics.
4. Improve the consistency of assessment
We received feedback on a few aspects of assessment and marking. We were told that teachers wanted to see a more consistent approach to the types of question asked and the number of marks allocated. This would in turn support teachers to prepare students for exam technique and also provide some familiarity and confidence for students sitting the exams. We have therefore worked hard to ensure that:
- we have carefully selected a definitive set of command terms, which will be the only ones used across all three papers. These include familiar terms such as outline, describe, explain, discuss, sketch and calculate
- we have selected the types of mark allocation that will be used across the papers to increase consistency
- similar question types will have a similar mark scheme across the papers, for example the 12 mark ‘discuss’ questions in component 02 and 03.
As well as this, the Criminal Psychology topic has now become mandatory in component 03 as over 98% of students were completing this option. Students will also choose one option from Child Psychology, Environment Psychology or Sport and Exercise Psychology.
Whilst we cannot have predicable questions, we can provide a familiar exam experience for students with a ‘no surprises’ approach. This will support students’ confidence in the examinations.
5. Improve the assessment experience
We had a number of suggestions about the assessment experience for students. Our teachers said time management in the exams was something that could be improved by giving more time or reducing the mark allocation. There was also appetite to change the assessment of the ‘options’ topics in component 03 as they are currently only asked about one topic from six. There were multiple ways we could have improved these and we have decided to:
- reduce the number of marks per paper to 80; this will be the same for all papers compared to the 90, 105, 105 split we currently offer in H567
- keep the time for the exams at two hours, providing more time per mark for our students
- reduce the ‘options’ of Child Psychology, Environment Psychology and Sport and Exercise Psychology to just three topics. These will be assessed on multiple in a given year
- review and update our accessibility principles to ensure our exam papers are fair for all. For example, we will provide clear signposting to students of key parts of the question and indicate where responses require two ideas by having the numbers 1 and 2 in the answer lines.
Next steps
We continue to work with Ofqual to ensure our new A Level Psychology (H569) is accredited ready for first teach September 2025, and that it is the best possible qualification for you and your students.
We will continue to keep you updated as we go through this process, so please make sure you:
Stay connected
Share your thoughts in the comments below. If you have any questions, you can email us at psychology@ocr.org.uk, call us on 01223 553998 or message us on X (formerly Twitter) @OCR_Psychology. You can also sign up to subject updates to keep up-to-date with the latest news, updates and resources.
If you are considering teaching any of our qualifications, use our online form to let us know, so that we can help you with more information.
About the author
Nicola joined OCR in 2022 as the Subject Advisor for Psychology. Prior to joining OCR, she taught psychology for over 10 years and has had various other responsibilities in that time, including being Head of Year and Subject Leader for PSHE. Nicola has a personal interest in mental health and wellbeing and enjoys reading, baking and spending time outdoors to relax.