Paper 1 is the one that tests the psychology itself: the approaches, the contexts and the concepts. Three sections, three different jobs. Most marks are lost here not because students do not know the content, but because they answer Section B the way they answered Section A.
📘 What you need to know
Paper 1 is sat by both HL and SL. You get 1 hour 30 minutes and the paper is worth 35 marks.
It is weighted at 35% for SL and 25% for HL.
Section A: two compulsory SAQs from two of the three content areas, 4 marks each (8 total).
Section B: two compulsory SAQs from two of the four contexts, 6 marks each (12 total). A scenario is given.
Section C: two optional ERQs. You answer one, worth 15 marks.
Section A is content, Section B is application, Section C is concept-based argument. Three different skills.
The shape of the paper
If you answer both Section C questions, only the first one is marked. Choose, then commit.
Section A: the three content areas
Section A questions come from two of the three approaches, and they will not name a context. You are being asked about the psychology on its own terms.
Approach
Topics you could be asked about
Biological
Animal models, biological reductionism, brain imaging, chemical messengers, diathesis-stress, genetics, localisation of function, neuroplasticity, neurotransmission
Cognitive
Anchoring bias, classical conditioning, cognitive load theory, cognitive models, confirmation bias, dual process model, operant conditioning, schema theory
Sociocultural
Cognitive dissonance, compliance techniques, conformity, cultural dimensions, emic and etic approaches, enculturation, acculturation, social identity theory, social learning theory
The command terms used here are AO1 and AO2: describe and state for AO1, and analyse, apply, comment, design, explain, interpret, predict, suggest for AO2. In practice, describe and explain do most of the work, so those are the two worth drilling.
Research studies are optional in Section A. You can illustrate a point with a hypothetical or everyday example instead. Studies do help — a well-known one gives your answer a solid anchor — but you do not need to memorise fine detail for every topic on the list.
Section B: application to a scenario
Section B gives you a short scenario and asks you to apply psychology to it. The marks are for the link, not for the recall. An answer that describes brain imaging beautifully but never mentions the study in the question is a Section A answer sitting in the wrong section.
The command terms are all AO2: analyse, apply, comment, design, explain, interpret, predict, suggest. Every one of them assumes the scenario is in front of you and being used.
You do not need to bring your own studies into Section B. The study is already there in the question. Your job is to work with it, not to replace it with one you revised.
Section C: the concept-based essay
Section C is where the six key concepts appear: bias, causality, change, measurement, perspective, responsibility. Questions are framed around one of them and set inside one of the four contexts, for example “in the context of human relationships, evaluate the role of bias in social identity theory”.
Command terms are AO1 and AO3: describe and state for the knowledge, and compare and contrast, discuss, evaluate, examine, to what extent for the evaluation. The AO3 terms are the ones that carry the top marks.
Spending the 90 minutes
The trap is Section A. Four marks is a short answer, and every extra minute spent there is taken from the essay that is worth almost twice as much.
💡 Exam tip
Read the command term first, then the topic. The term tells you what shape the answer has to be.
In Section B, quote or refer to the scenario in your first sentence so the application is visible immediately.
Do Section C last if essays make you run over, but never leave it under 25 minutes — it is 15 of the 35 marks.
Cross out any Section C answer you abandon. Examiners mark the first answer they meet.
Leave a line between paragraphs. Structure that can be seen at a glance reads as structure.
⚠ Common mix-up
Writing a Section A answer in Section B. Content with no scenario is worth very little there.
Answering both Section C questions. Only the first is marked, so the second is unpaid work.
Thinking Section A needs a named study. It does not. A clear example, real or hypothetical, is enough.
Over-writing 4-mark answers. There is no fifth mark waiting at the bottom of the page.
Confusing HL and SL weightings. Paper 1 is 35% at SL and 25% at HL — same paper, different share of the grade.
Up next: What Paper 2 Asks For — the research methods paper, built almost entirely on the practicals you ran in class.
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