AQA A-Level Politics (7152): complete guide to the three components and the exams
A complete guide to AQA A-Level Politics (specification 7152). Covers the three components (Government and Politics of the UK, Government and Politics of the USA with comparative politics, and Political Ideas), the three written papers and their assessment objectives, the named core thinkers, and how to study each part for top grades.
AQA A-Level Politics (specification 7152) is a two-year linear course assessed by three written papers at the end of Year 13. There is no coursework; every mark comes from the exams, and questions are written directly from the numbered specification. This page is the index: below is a map of the three components, the exam structure and assessment objectives, and how to study each one.
The three AQA Politics components
The specification is organised into three components. The first covers the UK, the second the USA with comparative politics, and the third political ideas.
- 3.1 Government and Politics of the UK
- UK Government covers the constitution, Parliament, the prime minister and executive, the relationships between the branches and devolution. UK Politics covers democracy and participation, political parties, electoral systems, voting behaviour and the media, and pressure groups.
- 3.2 Government and Politics of the USA and comparative politics
- The US constitution and federalism, Congress, the presidency, the Supreme Court and civil rights, and democracy and participation, all compared with the UK using rational, cultural and structural comparative theories.
- Political Ideas
- The three core ideologies, liberalism, conservatism and socialism, plus one further idea (here nationalism), each analysed through human nature, the state, society and the economy, and supported by named core thinkers.
On this site these are grouped into four study modules: UK Government, UK Politics, Political Ideas, and USA Government and Politics.
The named core thinkers
Political Ideas requires you to apply named thinkers.
- Liberalism: Locke, Wollstonecraft, Mill, Rawls, Friedan.
- Conservatism: Hobbes, Burke, Oakeshott, Rand, Nozick.
- Socialism: Marx and Engels, Luxemburg, Webb, Crosland, Giddens.
- Nationalism (further idea): Rousseau, Herder, Mazzini, Maurras, Garvey.
Exam structure and assessment objectives
AQA A-Level Politics is assessed by three written papers, all sat at the end of the course. Each is 2 hours, worth 77 marks, and counts for one third of the A-level.
- Paper 1 - Government and Politics of the UK. UK government and politics plus the core political ideas, mixing source and extract questions with 25-mark evaluative essays.
- Paper 2 - Government and Politics of the USA and comparative politics. US institutions and comparative questions plus core ideas, including comparative analysis using rational, cultural and structural theory.
- Paper 3 - Political Ideas. The ideologies in more depth, including the further idea, alongside UK content, with extended evaluative essays.
Three assessment objectives run through the marking: AO1 knowledge and understanding, AO2 analysis and comparison, and AO3 evaluation and judgement. The high-tariff 25-mark essays are dominated by AO2 and AO3, so balanced analysis and a justified conclusion matter far more than recall.
How to study AQA Politics
Politics rewards precise knowledge, current examples and balanced judgement.
- Work from the specification statements. Each numbered point is a checklist; questions are written from them.
- Build an example bank. Keep current, named UK and US examples, landmark court cases and case-study elections ready to deploy.
- Master the thinkers. Learn each ideology's strands and the distinctive idea of every named thinker, and use them in essays.
- Practise the comparative questions. Apply rational, cultural and structural theory to UK and US differences, not just description.
- Drill the 25-mark essay. A clear argument, two-sided analysis and a substantiated judgement win the top marks.
The components, dot point by dot point
Each component has specification-statement-level answer pages with worked exam questions and cross-links. Browse the full set at /a-level-aqa/politics/syllabus.
For the official specification
AQA publishes the full specification (7152), past papers and mark schemes at aqa.org.uk. Always revise from the current specification and AQA's own past papers, because question style and the chosen further idea are board-specific.
Politics guides
In-depth written guides with paired practice quizzes.
- AQA A-Level Politics Political Ideas: a complete overview of liberalism, conservatism, socialism and nationalism
A deep-dive AQA A-Level Politics guide to the Political Ideas component. Covers the core ideas, strands and named thinkers of liberalism, conservatism and socialism, plus the further idea of nationalism, analysed through human nature, the state, society and the economy, with the exam patterns AQA repeats.
18 min readRead → - AQA A-Level Politics UK Government: a complete overview of the constitution, Parliament, the executive, the branches and devolution
A deep-dive AQA A-Level Politics guide to the UK Government component. Covers the nature and sources of the constitution, the structure and functions of Parliament, the powers of the prime minister and executive, the relationships between the legislature, executive and judiciary, and devolution, with the examples and exam patterns AQA repeats.
18 min readRead → - AQA A-Level Politics UK Politics: a complete overview of democracy, parties, electoral systems, voting behaviour and pressure groups
A deep-dive AQA A-Level Politics guide to the UK Politics component. Covers democracy and participation, political parties and funding, the electoral systems used in the UK, voting behaviour and the media, and pressure groups, with the case-study elections and exam patterns AQA repeats.
18 min readRead → - AQA A-Level Politics USA Government and Politics: a complete overview of the constitution, Congress, the presidency, the Court and comparative politics
A deep-dive AQA A-Level Politics guide to the USA Government and Politics component. Covers the US constitution and federalism, Congress, the presidency, the Supreme Court and civil rights, democracy and participation, and the comparative theories used to compare the UK and USA, with the cases and exam patterns AQA repeats.
18 min readRead →
Politics practice quizzes
Multiple-choice drills with worked answer explanations. Your scores stay on this device.
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