The aim of this article is to explain the most direct route to getting 16 out of 16 marks on the A-level extended writing questions. However, I want to say at the outset that exams take much of the pleasure out of learning and knowledge. Psychology is a wonderful subject, stuffed full of theories and studies that allow us to reflect on human thoughts, feelings and behaviour. Exams push this into little boxes where the criticisms become more important than the knowledge itself. Reading widely and taking an interest in the subject does pay off — but often, when it comes to exams, you need to put that to one side and play the ‘rules of the game’.
As an A-level candidate for the AQA exam board you will sit three papers. On papers 1 and 2 it is likely that there will be one 16-mark question somewhere on each of these papers — possibly two on one paper. On paper 3 (Issues and Options in Psychology) there might be four x 16-mark questions (one in each of the four sections on the paper) but there might be only three.
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