Psychology is an excellent choice for students at St Katherine’s, as it will deepen their understanding of others’ behaviour, enabling them to explain how and why the diverse backgrounds and experiences of our students can and do affect them and their peers every day. This academic subject gives knowledge of psychological issues, research studies, theories and models in a range of topic areas. Psychology includes elements of many other disciplines including Biology, Mathematics, English Language, History and Geography and, as such, complements a wide range of other subject choices.

The topics that we cover will appeal to students from all backgrounds. It allows for exploration of many diverse topics, and can give students insight into recent and current societal events, such as social influence giving explanations for the Black Lives Matter protests and the impacts of stress from the Covid-19 pandemic on the individual. In addition, students will also learn explanations of mental health disorders and how they arise within topics such as psychopathology, an area which is increasingly important across society as a whole.

A key aim of our course is to support students to develop skills that will help them in their future education, work life, family life and as a valuable member of society. Students develop the higher level skill of evaluation by looking at strengths, limitations and other discussion points such as compare and contrast throughout the course. This allows them to understand the complexity of psychological issues and move away from simplistic answers towards more developed discussions. Students use their knowledge and evaluation skills to apply Psychology to real world examples of behaviour which not only allows them to develop empathy into situations that they will personally encounter. At the heart of our psychology courses is a focus on empathy, understanding and tolerance; essential skills for any individual to become a successful member of society.