Politics

Politics

At Ferndown Upper School, we are proud to offer A Level Politics as an option for our Sixth Form Students.

As our students begin to take their steps into the world around them, they are bestowed the valuable right to vote. Political education and understanding, enables our students to make informed decisions about the society that they are a part of, enabling their voice to be heard and playing an important role within the composition of our country.

Within this A Level, students explored three components within Edexcel A Level Politics.

Component One: UK Politics and Core Political Ideas

This section explores the nature of politics and how people engage in the political process of the UK.

The focus is placed on how people and politics interact, exploring UK Democracy and the scope of political parties.

This section focuses on four key areas of content:

  1. Democracy and Participation
  2. Political Parties
  3. Electoral Systems
  4. Voting behaviour and the media

Students are also introduced to Core Political Ideas, applying these to human nature, the state, society and the economy. Within this component we look at three political ideas:

  1. Liberalism
  2. Conservatism
  3. Socialism

Component Two: UK Government and Non-Core Political Ideas

This component focuses on the government and the roles and powers determined by the constitution. Students are able to understand the nature of the UK government and how political decisions are made. Students will explore the different branches of the government – legislative, executive and judiciary – as well as the relationships and balance of powers between them.

The four main areas students study within this component are:

  1. The constitution
  2. Parliament
  3. Prime Minister and executive
  4. Relations between the branches

In addition to this, students are introduced to non-core political ideas, of which they will study one, applying this to human nature, the state, society and the economy.

The five non-core political ideas are:

  1. Anarchism
  2. Ecologism
  3. Feminism
  4. Multiculturalism
  5. Nationalism

Component Three: Comparative Politics

In this component, students study politics outside of the UK. At Ferndown Upper School, we study Politics of the USA, exploring its standing as a world power and studying the nature of US democracy, debates surrounding this and its impact on other world states.

Students study and explore the US constitution and the arguments surrounding this. Students will also explore the powers and limitations on the US governance judging whether ‘liberty and justice for all’ has been achieved in the USA.

Within this component, there are six areas of study that students will undertake:

  1. The US Constitution and federalism
  2. US Congress
  3. US presidency
  4. US Supreme Court and US civil rights
  5. US democracy and participation
  6. Comparative theories

Assessments for the course

This A Level is a fully examined course. Students undertake 3 written 2 hour exams at the end of their A Level course on each component.

Extra Curricular Opportunities

The Politics department are excited to offer a variety of trips and opportunities to engage with politics around us as part of the course. We are aiming to offer trips to the Houses of Parliament, meetings with local MPs to ask questions and the potential to visit Washington DC to explore Congress and see the US constitution.