Top Tips for Starting A Level Politics!
September has rolled round again! For those of you who might be thinking about taking Politics at A Level, here are my 5 top tips for being successful!
1. Be organised and proactive.
You need folders – lots of them! Whether you do this electronically, or have A4 binders, you are going to need to stay organised in order to stay on top of the content.
For the Edexcel Spec, you will need the following folders (at a minimum)
Unit 1 (Politics) / Unit 2 (Government) / Unit 3 (Either USA or Global) – you may also want a fourth smaller folder for Ideologies, which spans across Unit 1 and 2.
Within these folders, it’s best practice to divide them up to reflect the areas of the specification. If it was me, this is how I’d divide them
I’d also leave a section at the back of the folder for any essays or feedback so it’s easy to locate.
If you miss a lesson, I guarantee you that the content will not be covered again, there isn’t time – so you need to catch up. Ask another student in the class to help you first – don’t make it your teachers problem!
2. Read the news – and RECORD what you find out.
When I was teaching I was always astonished by how few of my students regularly kept up with the news, so I set up Padlet, which they could follow, where I picked out the most relevant news stories and categorised them under the right specification heading.
I’d also recommend some kind of log for what you read – I’ve linked an example here – trust me, the political situation at the end of the course will not be the same as when you started, so you need to maintain good records of examples throughout your two years! Examiners have said that they don’t want to see the same old historical examples of 1979 dragged out when there are better ones that could be used from 2022 or 2023!
3. Accept that there will be loads that you don’t know
Content-wise, Politics is heavy. You go into the course thinking it will be relatively straightforward, and then BAM – you’re hit with conventions, electoral statistics, the intricacies of parliament like the roles of the whip & Hansard, and trying to get your head around how much money has been allocated to Scotland through the Barnett Formula. DO NOT PANIC. It gets easier, and the more you learn, the more it all starts to make sense. Politics is one of those subjects where everything starts to tie together at the end, so be patient and wait it out.
4. Revise early
As above, you’ll make your life so much easier if you can revise as you go along – keep revision resources to add to and extend as you progress. For Unit 3, in particular, you will benefit from creating revision or summary sheets as you go – this will make the whole process less daunting and overwhelming in April of Year 13!
5. Focus on exam technique
You can know all of the content off by heart, but if you don’t know what the examiner wants, you aren’t getting the grades.
It’s important to understand what each of the assessment objectives are and what the examiner is looking for. The assessment objectives are always the same, but they are weighted differently depending on the question. For Edexcel, the objectives are below:
AO1 – Knowledge: in a standard 30 marker, there are 10 marks available for knowledge – marks are awarded based on relevance of the information given, as well as level of specificity.
AO2 – Comparison: You have to acknowledge both sides of the argument in politics, and this cannot be tokenistic – you need to explore both sides clearly. I suggest the PEACE essay structure for this (explanation to follow in another blog/video!) as it allows for you to ensure that you compare. There are another 10 marks available for this.
AO3 – Analysis: arguably the trickiest part, analysis is the section where you outline your view, and carefully ‘shoot down’ the alternative argument, explaining clearly why your view is the correct one. Depending on how well you do this, will depend on how many of the available 10 marks you receive.
There’s way too much about exam technique to write here – so keep your eyes peeled for a video on the best way to approach essay questions soon!
A Level Politics is a brilliant subject – it’s highly regarded by universities and you gain so much understanding of society by doing it, but don’t underestimate it’s difficulty. I hope the steps above help to get you started in your first few weeks of the course – and if you need help at any point, feel free to get in touch!
CGA x
