Chelmsford County High School for Girls

Subjects

General Studies

Aims of the Course

All girls in the sixth form follow a one year course leading to the AS level; the AS exam will be taken in the summer of Year 12. If girls continue with their other four subjects to A2 level, then they may choose to opt out of General Studies at A2 level. All other girls continue with General Studies to A2 level.

The main aim of this course is to encourage a deeper understanding of the inter-relationship between different areas of knowledge, and the understanding of both continuity and change in the making of the modern world.

Reasons to Study this Subject

• It allows you to link together areas of knowledge and integrate knowledge from a range of disciplines so you can begin to see patterns between different subjects.
• It will help develop research skills and will improve your communication skills so you can communicate with coherence and clarity in an appropriate format and style.
• It will give you a further opportunity to acquire confidence when constructing logical and analytical arguments on paper. You will be encouraged to think critically and constructively about significant perennial and contemporary issues.
• Higher Education Institutions see it as a predictor of academic ability and it is being incorporated more and more into offers of provisional places each year. In our experience Admission Tutors look to the General Studies grade if a student has just missed out on one of their other Advanced Levels.

Scheme of Assessment

During the course students will be asked to do one piece of written work per unit. (Students may be requested to do preparation work in advance of lessons). There will also be a mock exam during the spring.

Students follow 6 units over the two years	(Units 1, 2, 3 - Year 12) (Units 4, 5, 6 - Year 13)
Unit 1 & 4	Aspects of Culture (culture, morality, arts and humanities)
Unit 2	Scientific Horizons (science, maths, technology)
Unit 3 & 5	Social Perspectives (society, politics and economics)
Unit 6	The Contemporary World (Synoptic unit)

The written examinations will be a mixture of multiple choice questions, essay questions, short answers, mathematical questions and evaluations of stimulus material.