Government and Politics

AS level

(Edexcel Syllabus B)

Two papers: each is one hour and twenty minutes

Unit 1: People and Politics

How people can participate in the democratic political system in the UK. We look at parties pressure groups, elections, referenda and initiatives.

Unit 2: Governing the UK

How the UK is governed and the changing UK political system. Here we look at the Constitution and how it has changed radically in recent years, the prime Minister, parliament and the role of the judiciary in defending civil rights and holding the government to account.

A2

Two papers: each is one hour and thirty minutes.
The focus is on political ideologies which have shaped western political systems:

Unit 3: Introducing ideologies

Here we look at the four main ideologies upon which western political systems are based- Liberalism, Conservatism, Socialism and Anarchism.

Unit 4: Other Ideological Traditions

Here we look at ideologies which were spawned by the main four taught in the previous unit. These are Nationalism, the most enduring of the ideologies; Multi-culturalism; Feminism and Ecologism.

Other features

Annual trip to Parliament and the Cabinet war rooms in July
Departmental blog