Edexcel A-Level Psychology (9PS0): complete guide to the topics and the exams
A complete guide to Pearson Edexcel A-Level Psychology (9PS0). Covers the foundations (social, cognitive, biological and learning psychology), clinical psychology, the application option (criminological or health psychology), research methods, issues and debates, how the three written papers are structured and marked, and how to study each topic for top grades.
Edexcel A-Level Psychology (specification 9PS0) is a two-year linear course assessed by three written papers at the end of Year 13. This page is the index: below is a map of the content areas, the exam structure, and how to study each one.
The Edexcel Psychology content areas
The specification is organised into foundations, applications and skills.
- Foundations in Psychology
- Social psychology (obedience through Milgram and agency theory, prejudice through social identity theory and realistic conflict theory), cognitive psychology (the multi-store and working memory models, reconstructive memory and forgetting), biological psychology (brain, neurons, neurotransmitters, hormones and genes), learning theories (classical and operant conditioning and social learning theory), and research methods woven throughout.
- Clinical psychology
- Definitions of abnormality and diagnosis (the DSM and ICD, reliability and validity, Rosenhan), schizophrenia (symptoms, the dopamine hypothesis and treatments), a second disorder such as depression, and the medical model with drug and psychological treatments.
- Applications and skills
- A chosen application (criminological or health psychology), the key classic studies and their evaluation, and the issues and debates (nature-nurture, free will and determinism, reductionism and holism, ethics and social control, gender and cultural bias).
Exam structure
Edexcel A-Level Psychology is assessed by three written papers, all sat at the end of the course.
- Paper 1 Foundations in Psychology - social, cognitive, biological and learning psychology plus research methods. 2 hours, 90 marks, 35%.
- Paper 2 Applications of Psychology - clinical psychology and the application option (criminological or health psychology). 2 hours, 90 marks, 35%.
- Paper 3 Psychological Skills - research methods, issues and debates, and the review of studies. 2 hours, 80 marks, 30%.
At least 10% of marks assess maths skills, mostly within research methods, and a calculator is allowed.
How to study Edexcel Psychology
Psychology rewards precise knowledge of studies and theories, the ability to apply and evaluate them, and confident research-methods maths.
- Work from the specification points. Each point is a checklist; questions are written from them.
- Learn studies in full. Know each study's procedure, findings and evaluation so you can describe, apply and evaluate.
- Master the assessment objectives. Knowledge, application and evaluation all carry marks; extended essays need all three.
- Drill the maths and test choice. Descriptive statistics, significance and the inferential tests recur, especially on Paper 3.
- Apply issues and debates. Link each debate to specific theories and studies, and practise extended essays under timed conditions.
The content, dot point by dot point
Each module has specification-point-level answer pages with practice questions and cross-links, plus an overview guide and quiz.
For the official specification
Pearson publishes the full specification (9PS0), past papers and mark schemes at qualifications.pearson.com. Always revise from the current specification and Edexcel's own past papers, because question style and the named studies are board-specific.
Psychology guides
In-depth written guides with paired practice quizzes.
- Edexcel A-Level Psychology: Applications, key studies and issues and debates
A complete Edexcel A-Level Psychology guide to the application option (criminological or health psychology), the key classic studies and how to evaluate them, and the issues and debates that run through the course, assessed on Paper 3.
14 min readRead → - Edexcel A-Level Psychology: Biological psychology and learning theories
A complete Edexcel A-Level Psychology guide to biological psychology and learning theories: brain, neurons, neurotransmitters, hormones and genes, classical and operant conditioning, social learning theory, and the biological and learning explanations of aggression.
14 min readRead → - Edexcel A-Level Psychology: Clinical psychology (diagnosis, schizophrenia, depression and the medical model)
A complete Edexcel A-Level Psychology guide to clinical psychology: definitions of abnormality and diagnosis using the DSM and ICD, schizophrenia, a second disorder such as depression, the medical model and treatments, with the named clinical studies.
14 min readRead → - Edexcel A-Level Psychology: Foundations in Psychology (social, cognitive and research methods)
A complete Edexcel A-Level Psychology guide to the foundations content: social psychology (obedience and prejudice), cognitive psychology (memory and forgetting) and research methods, with the named studies and how the topics are examined on Paper 1.
14 min readRead →
Psychology practice quizzes
Multiple-choice drills with worked answer explanations. Your scores stay on this device.
- Edexcel A-Level Psychology Applications, key studies and issues and debates overview quiz11 questionsStart →
- Edexcel A-Level Psychology Biological psychology and learning theories overview quiz11 questionsStart →
- Edexcel A-Level Psychology Clinical psychology overview quiz11 questionsStart →
- Edexcel A-Level Psychology Foundations (social, cognitive and research methods) overview quiz11 questionsStart →
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