Thinking Skills

Thinking Skills is offered in Years 12 and 13 of Key Stage 5, as an AS Level option. Thinking Skills is strongly recommended for all students who wish to study Medicine and Law and will be required to take the BMAT (BioMedical Admissions Test) or the LNAT (Law Admissions Test).Thinking Skills develops a specific set of intellectual skills, independent of subject content. It reflects the need voiced by universities and employers for more mature and sophisticated ways of thinking. The Thinking Skills syllabus also enables students to approach their other subjects with an improved ability to understand, analyse and resolve problems. As a result, students find the course of great benefit when preparing for higher education and for a wide range of careers, including law, scientific research, social science, journalism, medicine, business, accounting and engineering. As a curriculum subject, Thinking Skills offers students an excellent opportunity to express themselves freely and openly. The Thinking Skills syllabus encourages free and open debate, critical and investigative thinking, and informed and disciplined reasoning.

A summary of the GCE AS Level Thinking Skills syllabus, and further information about all subjects offered in Years 12 and 13 are provided in the AS & A Level Prospectus, which may be downloaded here. The full syllabus for AS Level Thinking Skills may be found by visiting the CIE website (http://www.cie.org.uk) and locating the subject via its name and/or subject code.