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WJEC A-Level Psychology: complete guide to the four units and the exams

A complete guide to WJEC A-Level Psychology (Wales). Covers the four units (Past to Present, Using Psychological Concepts, Implications in the Real World, Applied Research Methods), the approaches, behaviours, controversies and research methods, and how the AS and A2 papers are structured and marked.

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WJEC A-Level Psychology (Wales) is a two-year course with an AS year and an A2 year, assessed by four written unit papers. This page is the index: below is a map of the four units, the exam structure, and how to study each one.

The four WJEC Psychology units

The specification organises the content into four units. Units 1 and 2 are the AS content and first year; Units 3 and 4 are the A2 content.

Unit 1 Psychology: Past to Present: Five approaches (biological, psychodynamic, behaviourist, cognitive and positive), each examined for its assumptions, application to the formation of relationships, a therapy, a classic study, and an evaluation.
Unit 2 Psychology: Using Psychological Concepts: Section A contemporary debates (applying the approaches to current issues), Section B research methods (hypotheses, variables, designs, sampling, reliability, validity and ethics), and the core research of Milgram (1963) and Kohlberg (1968).
Unit 3 Psychology: Implications in the Real World: Section A behaviours (three of six: addiction, autism, bullying, criminality, schizophrenia, stress, each with biological, individual and social explanations plus a therapy) and Section B controversies (cultural bias, research ethics, animal use, psychology as a science, sexism).
Unit 4 Psychology: Applied Research Methods: Section A personal investigations (the practical studies carried out across the course) and Section B applied research methods (brain scans, longitudinal and cross-sectional studies, reliability and validity, distributions and inferential tests).

Exam structure

WJEC A-Level Psychology is assessed by four written papers. A calculator is allowed.

Unit 1 Psychology: Past to Present - AS written paper, 1 hour 30 minutes, 80 marks (20 percent). Covers the five approaches and classic studies.
Unit 2 Psychology: Using Psychological Concepts - AS written paper, 1 hour 30 minutes, 80 marks (20 percent). Covers contemporary debates and research methods.
Unit 3 Psychology: Implications in the Real World - A2 written paper, 2 hours 30 minutes, 100 marks (40 percent). Structured and essay questions on behaviours and controversies.
Unit 4 Psychology: Applied Research Methods - A2 written paper, 1 hour 30 minutes, 60 marks (20 percent). Applies research methods and statistics to scenarios.

Assessment is split across three objectives: AO1 (knowledge and understanding), AO2 (application, including data handling) and AO3 (analysis, interpretation and evaluation).

How to study WJEC Psychology

Psychology rewards precise terminology, balanced evaluation and confident handling of research methods.

Work from the specification. Each statement is a checklist; questions are written from them.
Use the five-heading template for Unit 1. Build a grid of the five approaches against assumptions, relationships, therapy, classic study and evaluation.
Learn the studies as a set. Master the five classic studies and the two core studies (Milgram, Kohlberg), including their evaluation.
Practise debates and controversies. Argue both sides and reach a justified conclusion, naming the approach behind each point.
Make research methods a reflex. Drill hypotheses, designs and the inferential-test decision (difference or correlation, related or unrelated, level of data), and learn distributions and significance.

The four units, topic by topic

Each unit has a topic-level overview with worked exam questions and cross-links, plus dot-point answer pages for each part of the specification.

Unit 1 overview: the five approaches, the template and the classic studies.
Unit 2 overview: contemporary debates, research methods and the core studies.
Unit 3 overview: the six behaviours and the five controversies.
Unit 4 overview: personal investigations and applied research methods.

For the official specification

WJEC publishes the full specification, past papers and mark schemes at wjec.co.uk. Always revise from the current specification and WJEC's own past papers, because question style is board-specific.

Psychology guides

In-depth written guides with paired practice quizzes.

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Psychology practice quizzes

Multiple-choice drills with worked answer explanations. Your scores stay on this device.

The WJEC-A-LEVEL system, explained

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Common questions about Psychology

How is WJEC A-Level Psychology structured?

WJEC A-Level Psychology is a two-year course with an AS year and an A2 year, following the 2015 WJEC specification used in Wales. The AS comprises Unit 1 (Psychology: Past to Present) and Unit 2 (Psychology: Using Psychological Concepts). The A2 adds Unit 3 (Psychology: Implications in the Real World) and Unit 4 (Psychology: Applied Research Methods). Each unit is a written exam, AS results count towards the full A level, and there is no separately marked coursework folder.

What are the WJEC A-Level Psychology exam papers?

There are four written papers. AS Unit 1 (Past to Present) is 1 hour 30 minutes and 80 marks (20 percent). AS Unit 2 (Using Psychological Concepts) is 1 hour 30 minutes and 80 marks (20 percent). A2 Unit 3 (Implications in the Real World) is 2 hours 30 minutes and 100 marks (40 percent). A2 Unit 4 (Applied Research Methods) is 1 hour 30 minutes and 60 marks (20 percent). The A2 units carry the larger weighting.

Which approaches and studies does WJEC A-Level Psychology cover?

Unit 1 covers five approaches (biological, psychodynamic, behaviourist, cognitive and positive), each with a classic study: Raine et al. (1997), Bowlby (1944), Watson and Rayner (1920), Loftus and Palmer (1974) and Myers and Diener (1995). Unit 2 names the core research of Milgram (1963) on obedience and Kohlberg (1968) on moral development. You must be able to describe and evaluate each study.

How much research methods and maths is in WJEC A-Level Psychology?

A significant share of the marks assess research methods and statistics. Unit 2 introduces hypotheses, variables, designs, sampling, reliability, validity and ethics, and Unit 4 extends these with brain scans, longitudinal and cross-sectional studies, distributions and descriptive statistics, and choosing and interpreting inferential tests against the p is less than or equal to 0.05 significance level. A calculator is allowed.

How should I structure my WJEC A-Level Psychology revision?

Work unit by unit against the specification, because questions are written from it. Use the five-heading template for the Unit 1 approaches, learn the classic and core studies as a set, practise contemporary debate and controversy essays with conclusions, and make the inferential-test decision a reflex. Because the A2 Unit 3 paper is 40 percent of the A level, rehearse full-length behaviour and controversy essays under timed conditions.