Psychology

• October 2019 subject update (152 KB)
• October 2018 subject update (152 KB)

Centres need to apply for approval before delivering the qualification for the first time, and must consider the resources that are available to them to do this.

In order to deliver this qualification in the next academic session, and in order for candidates to be certificated in August the following year, centres must apply for approval by the end of September of the previous year (for example, the deadline for applications for approval must be submitted by September 2020 in order to deliver and certificate the qualification by August 2021).

Subject specific requirements

Centres must demonstrate that teachers and lecturers delivering/assessing Psychology have completed at least two years successful study of Psychology at University or Higher National Diploma (HND) level (minimum SCQF level 8), including the study of research methods.

Find out about our approval process

• National Course modification summary: Psychology

Information on National Courses changes for session 2020/21

The following modification decisions are valid regardless of the agreed approach to assessment in session 2021-22.

National 5

Modifications for session 2021-22 will remain the same as session 2020-21.

Question paper: optional questions from both sections of the question paper will be removed, and the mark allocation for the mandatory topic in both sections will increase to 25 marks. The total mark allocation for the question paper will reduce from 70 to 50 marks, and the duration from 2 hours to 1 hour and 30 minutes.

Assignment: assignment conditions will be eased, allowing teachers and lecturers to suggest the research topic to candidates.

Normal component weightings will remain, with the question paper worth 70% and the assignment worth 30% of a candidate's grade.

Higher

Modifications for session 2021-22 will remain the same as session 2020-21.

Question paper: optional questions from both sections of the question paper will be removed, and the mark allocation for the mandatory topic in both sections will be 30 marks. The total mark allocation for the question paper will be 60 marks, and the duration will reduce from 2 hours and 40 minutes to 2 hours.

Assignment: assignment conditions will be eased, allowing teachers and lecturers to suggest the research topic to candidates.

Normal component weightings will remain, with the question paper worth roughly 67% and the assignment worth roughly 33% of a candidate's grade.