Achieving Outstanding Results In AQA A Level Psychology

ABOUT THIS COURSE

The course is designed for teachers to develop their confidence in teaching exam skills needed to succeed in the 2025 exams. This will look at a range of command words, stems and extended responses. There will be marking and standardisation opportunities, and how to scaffold this for your students. We will also discuss how best to prepare for this unique year, with the use of technology to support, how to condense, and quick ways to ensure content across all three papers are delivered in time, and with opportunities to revisit and embed.

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BENEFITS OF ATTENDING

• Provide teachers of AQA A level Psychology with the material, skills and confidence to teach effectively to all ability ranges and best prepare their students for the 2025 examinations.
• Take away a range of activities and resources that you can implement in your teaching immediately.
• Increase confidence with exam preparation and ensuring all of the specification is covered and revisited.

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PROGRAMME

Introduction to ways to prepare students for examinations in Psychology.

10.00am

• Overview of good practice in preparation for any exam series; reflection, knowledge and skills audit, action plan, set targets and reflect/review regularly using trackers, long term planning, question matrix per each topic/paper, revision aids.
• Unique issues; gaps in knowledge and skills, how to use assessment data to inform intervention and action planning.
• How to use effective assessment and feedback to measure AO1/2/3, timed practice, and peer assessment.
• How to overcome; opportunities to embed and revisit threshold concepts, targeted interventions, use of technology, personalised learning, student voice, parental involvement, quick ways to ensure content covered at a high-quality level.

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Break

11.00am

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Focus on exam technique for exams, ensuring students have the necessary skills to succeed.

11.30am

• Using question papers, mark schemes, examiner reports and model answers effectively; how to demystify, encourage student involvement, and how to use in psychology staff team.
• Marking exercise and standardisation opportunity; specifically focusing on over generous or too harsh marking, what breadth and depth truly means, how to use context appropriately, positive marking and to mark like an examiner.
• Developing student’s exam skills; scaffolding, fill in gaps, part paragraphs, so-called model answers, writing frames and graphic organisers, essay feedback sheets, using digital technology, and developing literacy.

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Lunch

12.30pm

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Applying exam preparation skills to specific issues in papers 1, 2 and 3 for 2025!

1.30pm

• Lessons learnt from 2024! Focus on common errors to avoid; for example, stem-based questions and using contextualisation successfully in answers.
• Threshold concepts to embed and repeat for quick ways to succeed; issues and debates, maths content, research methods, ability to apply and evaluate, and where these apply across all three papers.  
• Comparing similarities and differences between theories, studies and approaches.  
• Discussion of options; Chance to duplicate part of first year content and develop synoptic links.

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Questions

3.00pm