Revised GCE Specification

Useful Downloads

Specification
(PDF), Last Updated: 05 March 2012
For first teaching from September 2008. For first award of AS Level in Summer 2009. For first award of A Level in Summer 2010.

Students can take the AS course as a final qualification or as the first half of the A Level qualification . Students who wish to obtain a full A Level qualification must also complete the second half of the course, which is referred to as A2.

The specification is divided into four units. Students study two units at AS and two units at A2.

More detail on each of the units is outlined in the table below:

Unit

Summary of Content

AS 1: The Government and Politics of Northern Ireland
  • The government of Northern Ireland
  • The Northern Irish political parties
  • The Northern Irish electoral systems

AS 2: The British Political Process

  • The British political process
  • The inter relationships of the executive, legislature and judiciary
  • The UK Executive
  • The European Union

A2 1: Comparative Government

Students study either Option A or Option B.

Option A
The United Kingdom and the United States of America

  • Constitution
  • Legislatures
  • Executives

Option B
The United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland

  • Constitution
  • Legislatures
  • Executives

A2 2: Political Power and Political Ideas

Students study either Option A or Option B.

Option A
Political Power

  • Theories of political power
  • Factors involved in the exercise of political power

Option B
Political Ideas

  • Liberalism and On Liberty
  • Conservatism and Reflections on the Revolution in France
  • Socialism and the Communist Manifesto