Pearson/Edexcel A-Level Psychology: High Impact Strategies to Access Top Marks

Course Code: T0459 £249.00

ABOUT THIS COURSE

This new course is designed for teachers of Pearson Edexcel A-level Psychology who want to develop high-impact strategies to help students achieve the highest possible marks. Delegates will explore what distinguishes top-level responses across the three examination papers, with a particular focus on assessment objectives, application, evaluation, extended writing and the effective use of psychological evidence.

Drawing on examiner insight, the course will examine common barriers that prevent students from accessing the higher mark bands and provide practical teaching, assessment and feedback strategies to address them. Delegates will leave with a range of approaches and resources that can be applied immediately in the classroom to strengthen examination technique, develop more sophisticated responses and maximise student performance.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND

  • Teachers of Pearson Edexcel A-level Psychology
  • Heads of Psychology and Psychology subject leads
  • Psychology teachers looking to raise attainment and support students in accessing the highest mark bands
  • Teachers seeking to strengthen students’ examination technique and extended writing
  • Experienced Psychology teachers looking to refine their teaching and assessment strategies

BENEFITS OF ATTENDING

  • Gain a clear understanding of what distinguishes top-level responses in Pearson Edexcel A-level Psychology examinations.
  • Identify the common barriers that prevent students from accessing the highest mark bands and develop practical strategies to overcome them.
  • Develop students’ ability to apply psychological knowledge accurately and effectively to unfamiliar contexts and scenarios.
  • Strengthen students’ evaluation skills by moving beyond generic points towards developed, well-supported and relevant analysis.
  • Explore high-impact approaches to extended writing, including planning, structuring and developing responses to higher-tariff questions.
  • Understand how to use assessment objectives, command words, mark schemes and examiner expectations to improve examination performance.
  • Analyse examples of student responses at different levels to identify what students need to do to progress towards the highest marks.
  • Take away practical strategies for modelling, retrieval, feedback and assessment that can be embedded into teaching without creating an excessive workload.

PROGRAMME

10.00am: What Really Separates Top-Level Responses?
  • Explore what distinguishes higher-level responses from those that remain in the middle mark bands across Pearson Edexcel A-level Psychology
  • Examine how assessment objectives and command words translate into what students actually need to demonstrate in their answers
  • Analyse examples of higher, middle and lower-level responses to identify the features that gain and lose marks
  • Identify common misconceptions and examination habits that prevent otherwise knowledgeable students from achieving higher marks
  • Develop practical approaches for communicating examiner expectations to students without encouraging formulaic responses
11.15am: Break
11.30am: Developing Powerful Application and Evaluation
  • Explore strategies for developing precise and effective application to unfamiliar contexts, scenarios and stimulus material
  • Demonstrate how students can move from generic evaluation towards developed, relevant and well-supported AO3
  • Examine how psychological evidence, methodological issues and debates can be used effectively to strengthen evaluation
  • Develop approaches for helping students select the most relevant knowledge rather than including everything they know
  • Explore modelling and scaffolding techniques that gradually develop greater student independence
12.30pm: Lunch
1.30pm: Mastering High Tariff and Extended Responses
  • Explore what successful extended responses require across the Pearson Edexcel examination papers
  • Develop strategies for planning and structuring higher-tariff questions, including 20-mark responses
  • Examine how students can maintain a clear line of argument and balance knowledge, application and evaluation appropriately
  • Analyse model responses to identify the difference between simply including evaluation and developing an effective argument
  • Explore practical ways to improve extended writing without relying on rigid essay structures
2.20pm: Break
2.30pm: Turning Feedback into Higher Marks
  • Explore high-impact feedback strategies that help students understand exactly how to improve their examination responses
  • Develop practical approaches to modelling, self-assessment and redrafting that make students more independent in recognising quality
  • Explore retrieval and interleaving strategies that enable students to retain and apply the substantial volume of psychological content required across all three papers
  • Identify practical approaches to stretch and challenge that can be embedded into everyday teaching and assessment
  • Develop an action plan for implementing the most effective strategies from the course within your own teaching
3.30pm: Depart  
A-Level - Code: T0459

Pearson/Edexcel A-Level Psychology: High Impact Strategies to Access Top Marks

COURSE LEADER

Sharin Sikka is an experienced Psychology educator who has taught in both the UK and Hong Kong. She holds a BSc in Psychology from UCL and a master’s in educational psychology from Institute of Education, alongside a PGCE completed in Hong Kong. Most recently, she spent eight years as Head of Psychology at Harrow International School Hong Kong, where she taught and led the Pearson Edexcel A-level Psychology specification. She is a Pearson Edexcel examiner, giving her valuable insight into assessment expectations, examination technique and the characteristics of successful student responses.

 

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