Psychology Teaching in England, Wales and Northern Ireland

Psychology is one of the most popular subjects at both AS and A-level. AS (Advanced Subsidiary) is a one-year course, designed to give students a broad introduction to the main approaches and topics in psychology. Students who are successful at this level can progress to A2 (full Advanced level) in their second year, when they have the opportunity to specialise a little more. Students have the opportunity to carry out their own research projects.

Around 40,000 students took psychology at Advanced level in 2003, reflecting the growing popularity of the subject. This has had obvious implications for staffing and accommodation in many schools and colleges. There is a serious shortage of qualified teachers of psychology in the UK. The British Psychological Society and the ATP are pursuing this issue with great urgency, but in the interim it means that many psychology posts are being filled with non-specialists. While many of these are highly skilled teachers, with more than adequate subject knowledge, there is understandable concern among psychologists about the situation. Other European countries appear to be experiencing similar problems, so perhaps this is one important issue that EFPTA might address.

Dorothy Coombs
Deputy Chair, Association for the Teaching of Psychology