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We confirm the syllabus code, exam series and paper route for 9990. Everything else depends on this.
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Four equally-weighted papers - core studies, research methods, and two chosen specialist options - where evaluation and the distinctive plan-a-study questions decide the grade. We tutor the exact 9990 combination your child is entered for, AS and A Level.
A simple four-step approach designed to build confidence, close gaps and improve exam performance.
We confirm the syllabus code, exam series and paper route for 9990. Everything else depends on this.
A diagnostic against the syllabus topics tells us what's secure and what isn't, so we teach the gaps rather than the whole book.
The same tutor teaches each week around school. Concepts build step by step, with the school's pace kept in view.
Past-paper questions begin early, followed by full timed papers marked against the published mark scheme.
Expert, vetted Cambridge A Level Psychology tutors who have taught the 9990 specification. Past-paper work is reviewed against published mark schemes, so your child can see where marks are awarded and where they are being lost. UK-qualified teachers are available on request as a premium option.
Not "cambridge a level psychology in general" - this syllabus, this tier and these papers.
Your child learns where the marks actually are, not where they feel they should be.
Shared whiteboard, worked solutions and lesson materials saved to review after the session.
The same tutor every week - and if that changes, we tell you first.
Cambridge A Level Psychology is assessed across four equally-weighted papers. AS Level uses Papers 1 and 2; the full A Level adds Papers 3 and 4, based on the two specialist options studied. AS content and research methodology are assumed throughout.
PAPER
WHAT IT TESTS
DETAILS
HOW WE PREPARE STUDENTS
AS LEVEL - PAPERS 1 & 2The 12 core studies, psychological approaches, issues and debates
1h 30m
60 marks / 25%
Build fluent methods without calculator shortcutsReview mark-scheme working with timed past-paper questionsResearch methods, planning investigations and data handling
1h 30m60 marks / 25%Build fluent methods without calculator shortcutsReview mark-scheme working with timed past-paper questionsA LEVEL - PAPERS 3 & 4Specialist option content plus analysis and evaluation
1h 30m60 marks / 25%Build fluent methods without calculator shortcutsReview mark-scheme working with timed past-paper questionsApplication of option content plus planning and research methods
1h 30m60 marks / 25%Build fluent methods without calculator shortcutsReview mark-scheme working with timed past-paper questionsThe four specialist options are Clinical, Consumer, Health and Organisational Psychology; candidates study two.
Figures shown for 0580 and 0980 syllabuses for 2025-2027.
AS LEVELPAPERS 1 & 2Core studies
1h 30m60 marks / 25%Build fluent methods without calculator shortcutsReview mark-scheme working with timed past-paper questionsAS methods
1h 30m60 marks / 25%Build fluent methods without calculator shortcutsReview mark-scheme working with timed past-paper questionsA LEVELPAPERS 3 & 4Two options
1h 30m60 marks / 25%Build fluent methods without calculator shortcutsReview mark-scheme working with timed past-paper questionsTwo options
1h 30m60 marks / 25%Build fluent methods without calculator shortcutsReview mark-scheme working with timed past-paper questionsThe four specialist options are Clinical, Consumer, Health and Organisational Psychology; candidates study two.
Papers 2 and 4 each include a planning question where candidates design and evaluate a study. Grades are A*-E at A Level and a-e at AS. Exams run in June and November, with March in India.
None of these are about ability. Each one is a mechanism in the exam, and every one of them is trainable.
Papers 2 and 4 require candidates to plan an investigation - choosing methods, designs, controls and measures - and evaluate the plan. This open-ended applied task is where content-strong students most often lose marks.
Analysis and evaluation drive a large share of Paper 3. Students who describe studies and theories but never weigh issues, debates and methodology stall below the top grades.
Paper 1 rewards accurate recall of the 12 core studies - aims, procedures, results and conclusions - and the ability to compare and evaluate them. Vague, half-remembered studies score poorly.
The specialist options are examined in detail across two papers. Treating them as extra reading rather than core content under-prepares students for half the A Level.
Nature versus nurture, ethics, reductionism and more are threaded across the papers. Answers that ignore the relevant debate miss the analytical marks the questions are testing.
These are the main syllabus strands your child is expected to cover. We teach all of them, starting with the gaps that are costing marks first.
Tuition stays aligned to the exact paper or unit structure, so revision time goes where the marks actually move.
Share your child's details and syllabus code. We'll match the right tutor and arrange a free 30-minute demo session.
Four: Paper 1 (Approaches, Issues and Debates), Paper 2 (Research Methods), Paper 3 (Specialist Options: Approaches, Issues and Debates) and Paper 4 (Specialist Options: Application and Research Methods). AS Level uses Papers 1 and 2 only.
Clinical, Consumer, Health and Organisational Psychology. Candidates study two of the four, examined across Papers 3 and 4.
In Papers 2 and 4, candidates plan a study - selecting the method, design, controls and measures - and then evaluate the plan. It is a distinctive applied part of the assessment.
A* to E at A Level, and a to e at AS Level.
June and November series, with an additional March series in India.
Yes. There is data-handling in the research-methods papers, though candidates are not required to carry out inferential calculations.
We replace them - free, and with no argument - and hand over the syllabus progress and known concerns so the new tutor continues seamlessly.
Yes. Both are strong international routes; the difference is structure - Cambridge's papers-together model versus Edexcel's bankable, resittable units.
