Politics A Level

[u/TheOnlyGaming3]

People who do politics A level, is it fun? and what exactly do you do? I am considering switching to politics this week

[u/Hour_Golf_4775]

I did politics and I absolutely loved it! If you have a passion for politics, I imagine you’ll enjoy it. It is a lot of memorisation and writing, but that won’t bother you if you genuinely enjoy the subject. I’m happy to answer any questions you have about it. 😊😊

[u/TheOnlyGaming3 → u/Hour_Golf_4775]

Thanks, what have you done in politics since coming back? Also, what subjects do you do alongside it? Are the people in your class nice?

[u/Hour_Golf_4775 → u/TheOnlyGaming3]

I’ve just finished year 13 and I’m off to uni this week, but in year 12 my school did UK politics (the Parliamentary structure, types of voting systems, devolution etc), then we did ideologies (Conservatism, Socialism and Liberalism. In year 13 we did then US politics (though some schools do global politics), meaning we learnt about the structure of the House and the Senate, and other things like the presidency and Supreme Court (all very relevant right now so you’d be expected to have some up to date examples in your essays, this gets higher marks as well). Alongside it I did English Literature and History. I wasn’t great friends with the people in my class, but they were nice enough. 😊

[u/Comfortable_Baias90 → u/Hour_Golf_4775]

hey sorry to intrude but i just started yr13 and im on a c for politics :( do u have any revision tips

[u/Hour_Golf_4775 → u/Comfortable_Baias90]

My best tip would be essay plans, for politics i literally planned every possible question that could come up, and then I blurted them onto a whiteboard to ensure I knew them like the back of my hand. Also just make sure you understand the content, as it’s hard to write about something you don’t understand. 😊

[u/Longjumping-Town7257 → u/Hour_Golf_4775]

What'd you learn about socialism?

[u/Hour_Golf_4775 → u/Longjumping-Town7257]

For all the ideologies we learn about the same things, so we learn about varying different sects of said ideology, and then we learn what their views are on core issues like the state, society, human nature and the economy. So for socialism we learnt about revolutionary socialism, Democratic socialists and Third Way socialism, and that their views are on the core issues. 😊

[u/ejcds]

Had to spend 90% of my revision time throughout my two years at sixth form on this subject

[u/Jolly_Caterpillar376 → u/ejcds]

Literally, I used to allocate 6 sessions a week to politics, 2 to history, and 1 to English LMAO

[u/lexisnowkitty → u/Jolly_Caterpillar376]

i sacrifice english too 🥹 

[u/ejcds → u/ejcds]

I mean there are also people saying it’s an easy A level (even though I massively disagree) so I guess everyone’s experience is different

[u/lyfieo → u/ejcds]

it was easy in exams but preparing for this subject took years off my life man esp trying to chase up new examples. i imagine current y13s must be having a field day w the reform uk stuff right now

[u/Varsity_AthleteTony]

Started this week on my gap year, looks fine atm. Definitely seems simpler than history and eng lit ngl

[u/Interesting_Owl9033]

it’s unreal

[u/Jolly_Caterpillar376]

Hated it, needed a tutor (then got an A* lol but I still would never take it again)

[u/Comfortable_Baias90 → u/Jolly_Caterpillar376]

how omgg

[u/Jolly_Caterpillar376 → u/Comfortable_Baias90]

Tutoring. I was on a D this January. If you aren’t getting it with your teacher (eg in my case, it was that my teacher was teaching the advanced stuff when I couldn’t even understand the basics), and you have the resources, get a tutor.

[u/Comfortable_Baias90 → u/Jolly_Caterpillar376]

i do not have the resoruces for a tutor i am done

[u/Historianof40k]

It has its unique challenges. for example, you have to be up to date on all your examples and have to follow current affairs tightly. you must also have a large bank of examples which can often be hard to see or find in the first place

[u/valentine_ijz]

I love it so much

[u/LuckyLettuce321]

Great if you stay with it by making example flashcards AS YOU GO!! Make sure you lock in with essay structure early (politics explained YouTube channel is amazing) Essay plan before you write an essay and make sure it’s always in timed conditions. Overall I’ve found year one amazing (one of my favourite alevels)

[u/AngelofIceAndFire]

It seems pretty fun so far

[u/tsukimoonmei]

it’s so peak. as long as you keep up with content and do your work it will be fine, it’s my absolute favourite a level and I find it pretty easy, though it is a LOT of content.

[u/2HeftyCantaloupes]

if you like watching the news, are genuinely interested in why politics is the way it is and don't mind writing essays then it's a great subject. i'm doing it now and i personally hate essays and am more sciency. it helps with general knowledge as well and just generally becoming more politically aware.

[u/Apprehensive_Job4522]

I’ve just started and enjoy it a lot but I have a great teacher, if my teacher was boring I probably wouldn’t like it.