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Politics A Level

Paston Sixth Form College

Grammar School Road, North Walsham, Norfolk, NR28 9JL

GCE A/AS Level or Equivalent
Level 3
Social Sciences

Available start dates

Available start dates

Tuesday, 01 September 2026
Paston Sixth Form College
2 Year(s)
Full time
Daytime/working hours

Application Instructions

Step 1: Apply

Step 2: An account will be set up for you by us, on our Learner Hub portal. You will receive a message and link via Help You Choose when this is ready for you to access.

Step 3: On our Learner Hub portal, set your first choice course (ie 'A Level Programme', 'Early Years Practitioner Level 2', 'Creative Media Level 3') and book your interview from the choices displayed

Step 4: Interview (Course discussion) You will meet with an academic tutor from your chosen area of study for an informal discussion about your course choices, to ensure you have chosen the best course for your future ambitions.

Step 5: Offer Offers are given verbally at interview but you will also receive an email confirmation. All offers are provisional until the point of enrolment and most of our course offers are conditional, meaning there is an entry criteria you need to meet before enrolling. This will be outlined in your written offer. Sometimes we are unable to offer you a place on your chosen course. If this happens the reasons will be discussed with you at your appointment and we will look at alternative options with you. We will be in contact to confirm the outcome and what to do next. We also have a team of specialist Course Advisers who are more than happy to look at alternative options with you and answer any questions you may have.

Step 4: Enrolment Enrolment is the final stage before starting your course with us and takes place within the last two weeks of August. We require you to be available to attend your appointment in person at college, so we can complete all the required steps to enrolling you on your chosen course. We may ask you to bring some documents with you so please read your enrolment invitation carefully.

NB Our main communication with our applicants is via their personal email addresses - please remember to check your inbox for messages from us!


Course Details

You will also explore issues such as why our voting system is seen as unfair, whether we have a right not to vote and what comes first; protecting you and me against possible terrorist attacks or defending the rights and freedoms of the individual.
In your first year of study, you will learn about people and politics which will involve looking at the British political system and how democracy operates in practice, why participation in mainstream politics is declining and the role and function of elections. You will also explore the unique nature of the UK constitution, the role of Parliament and whether it is effective and the role of the Prime Minister and how the cabinet is formed. In the second year of study, you will focus on completing political ideologies and global politics which includes sources of power, global conflict and the distribution of wealth, different global organisations such as the UN and NATO and liberalism, conservatism, socialism and feminism.
Every year we attend the Politics Conference in London where you get to listen to a range of MPs. We also hold a Question Time debate in College with MPs like Norman Lamb and representatives from a range of parties. This course is ideal if you are interested in local, national and global current affairs, enjoy debating a range of ideas and are capable of formulating your views in extended essays.

You will sit three exams at the end of your second year with each of these exams being two hours long. They will contain a choice of essay questions and a source based question.

Entry requirements

3 A Level Programme

Minimum of 66444 at GCSE

You must also study English/Maths GCSE if you have not already achieved grade 4 in these subjects.

If you achieve a minimum of 3 GCSE's at grade 8 plus 5 at grade 7 and your English Language and Maths are at minimum grade 4, you will have the option to join the A Plus programme.

Please note that A Plus is designed for applicants to academic courses at Oxford, Cambridge or Russel Group.


Your next steps...

You can work for the government, in the civil service, on political campaigns or for local council offices. You can also enter careers in journalism, teaching and international organisations especially if you continue to study international relations.


For more courses like this, check our courses page.