A LEVEL PSYCHOLOGY

“TRADITION EVOLVES, AND SO DO WE."

As the Head of the School’s first Psychology Department, I can vouch for the truth of this statement.

It is a pleasure and a privilege to introduce St Albans School to the fascination, insights, and rigour of Psychology A Level. Psychology is the study of mind and behaviour. References to what we now label Psychology appear throughout human history. Mental illness is discussed in the Ebers Papyrus dated to 1500 BCE. Plato described the brain as the “Seat of Mental Processes” in approximately 387 BCE. In the 19^th Century scientists began to categorise mental illness and systematise the study of behaviour in the way that has led to our modern understanding of Psychology.

In the Summer of 1972, the first ever cohort of 275 A Level Psychologists sat their exam. By 1997 there were 28,000 candidates a year and in 2025 Psychology, with 72,930 results issued, was the second most popular A Level course nationally, beaten only by Maths.

St Albans School staff and students have fully embraced Psychology. We have three Lower Sixth Form classes starting their Psychology journey. The Department has excellent resources with a dedicated classroom and office. Psychology Society is open to any interested Fifth to Upper Sixth formers. We are also running Clinic sessions.

In keeping with the traditions of St Albans School and the Science Faculty within which we sit, our students have fully embraced the academic challenge of the subject, acting as participants in recreations of classic research and conducting their own studies on members of the Upper Sixth. I am excited to be a part of St Albans School's history and look forward to supporting the students in their future achievements.

Dr Ellie Morewood, Head of Psychology