Government & Politics

The teaching of Government and Politics at Wilson’s fosters an active interest in politics and political beliefs. Over the years, a good number of students have gone on to study politics at university either as a stand-alone subject or as part of PPE or International Relations.

Our Staff

Mr Powell
Mr Gore
Dr Meddelton

Key Stage 5

The focus of the AS course is on British Politics. It consists of two examined units which will be taken the end of the Lower Sixth. Unit 1 focuses on popular engagement and participation in a liberal and representative democracy and Unit 2 concerns the institutions and location of power within government Assessment is via a combination of short questions on institutions and concepts, and open-ended questions on evaluation of political perspectives and debates.

During Year 13, students are required to study additional topics in four ideological traditions – Liberalism, Socialism, Conservatism and Anarchism. Students also study a paper on Global Politics which explores six themes in international relations and governance. Assessment at A Level is based on three examinations. The content focus for the first two papers largely mirrors that covered at AS (British Politics). In addition, in Paper 1 (UK Politics) one question needs to be chosen from a choice of two out of three ideological traditions (Liberalism, Socialism or Conservatism). In Paper 2 (UK Government) one out of two questions on Anarchism also needs to be attempted. In Paper 3, Global Politics, there is a choice of one out of two short answer questions and two out of three essays but also a compulsory theories question. As in the British politics papers, in Global Politics, there is a requirement to support answers with reference to precise real-life examples.

Enrichment

In the summer term, there is a visit to Parliament.