Programme of Study & Syllabus
Contents
The Syllabus, Examinations and Assessment
How Your Work is Assessed on the Course
The Transition from (I)GCSE to AS and A Level - Some Tips
Download your Programme of Study Download Download your Programme of Study
Welcome to your Wolsey Hall Cambridge AS Thinking Skills course. Please take the time to read carefully through this page as it explains how the course is structured, how to get the most out from your studies and how your work will be assessed. At the end of this page, you will find details of the reading you will need to do from your textbook and also how each module links to the CAIE syllabus and the final examinations.
This course will lead you step-by-step through the syllabus by way of video links, resources, assignments and, of course, the textbook, so that by the end, you will be confident and fully prepared for your final examinations.
Thinking skills are some of the most important skills we can learn. They allow us to judge the merits of arguments and identify where people might be providing flawed reasoning or deliberately using logical fallacies such as ad hominem attacks to create an argument that is not based on evidence. These skills will help you develop your reasoning skills which will benefit your written work across a range of subjects. This will also help you in future employment and in your civic role. The problem-solving part of the course helps to develop your ability to apply these findings to the study of mathematical data. Whether this is done through interpreting graphs or by working out from assorted data the solution to specific problems, these skills will be useful in all walks of life.
The Cambridge AS in Thinking Skills will teach you to identify the simple structures of arguments and from there, help you to understand and develop more complex, longer arguments. You will become more confident in evaluating, analysing and writing arguments and at solving puzzles of increasing complexity. You will first study the critical thinking part of the course. This introduces the structure of an argument as well as key features of reasoning. You will cover more complex claims as well as logical fallacies and then look at how to create your own developed arguments. The second half of the course focusses on problem-solving and introduces a range of techniques to help you find solutions to problems. You will also learn how to analyse existing sources of data.
PLEASE NOTE: We only offer the AS in Thinking Skills at Wolsey Hall. If you are considering taking AS Thinking Skills to enhance your application for university, you are advised to check with your chosen universities that they will accept this subject. Some universities may not do so.
By the end of the course, you will be able to:
- Demonstrate a facility for independent thinking in the real world;
- Organise and evaluate different types of information;
- Create strategies for solving unfamiliar problems;
- Present logical, ordered and coherent arguments;
- Make well-reasoned judgements and decisions;
- Demonstrate a transferable set of critical thinking, reasoning and problem-solving skills which are essential for success in higher education and employment.
The Syllabus, Examinations and Assessment
This Wolsey Hall course is designed to prepare you for the Cambridge AS Thinking Skills examinations which you will sit at a Cambridge exam centre.
It is vitally important that you become familiar with the syllabus which can be found below:
READ - Syllabus 2023-25 (CAIE) Download READ - Syllabus 2023-25 (CAIE)
READ - Syllabus 2026-27 (CAIE) Download READ - Syllabus 2026-27 (CAIE)
The examination code for AS Thinking Skills is: 9694
For the AS in Thinking Skills you will sit two papers:
- Paper 1: Problem Solving – This paper is worth 50% of your AS grade. Length: 1 hour and 30 minutes.
This paper carries 50 marks in total and comprises compulsory questions based on a variety of scenarios.
- Paper 2: Critical Thinking – This paper is worth 50% of your AS grade. Length: 1 hour and 45 minutes.
This paper carries 50 marks in total and consists of five compulsory questions based on multiple sources of evidence.
The syllabus is examined in the June and November examination series.
Assessment Objectives
The assessment objectives (AOs) for AS Thinking Skills are as follows:
- AO1: Understand information and the relationships between different pieces of information*
- AO2: Evaluate or process information in order to draw conclusions
- AO3: Suggest explanations, construct reasoned arguments and devise methods for solving problems
* This may include different pieces of text, different sources of numerical data, or a combination of the two.
Wolsey Hall offers a unique model of offline and online resources to our homeschooling students – a model which we have developed based on our many years’ experience of providing homeschooling courses to students.
Textbook
Each subject specialist team carefully selects the best textbook for you to use as you study. The textbook for your AS Thinking Skills course is:
Cambridge International AS & A Level Thinking Skills Coursebook, by Mark Dawes, Ruth Matthews, Andrew Roberts and Geoff Thwaites (Cambridge University Press, 3rd edition, 2018); ISBN: 9781108441049
Throughout the course, we recommend that you complete all of the questions and exercises in the textbook – the table below will highlight which pages you should read for each module. You will also find a range of additional worksheets relating to the textbook chapters used throughout the course. Answers to these can be found in General Resources.
Resources
In addition to your textbook, we have sourced a range of additional resources to support your learning. The resources are clearly marked out in the module pages and you should make use of these alongside your textbook to ensure that you get the very best out of your course.
You will also find a range of key resources in the General Resources section of the course. These are items which relate to the course as a whole, rather than to specific modules, and as such, you should make regular use of them. For AS Thinking Skills, these are:
- CAIE Learner Guide
- Answers to Chapter Worksheets from Cambridge University Press
- Optional Further Reading List
- Useful Websites
You should also make use of the extensive exam preparation material at the end of the course to help you to prepare for your final examination.
All the files required for your course are uploaded onto our Learning Management System, Canvas. Once you have read through this page and downloaded the Programme of Study (POS) then you are ready to begin the course.
The key course content is covered in nine core modules, each of which has an assignment at the end of it. These modules will help you to get the most out of your textbook. Module Eleven, at the end of the course, is focussed on revision and exam practice. It contains tips and tasks for you to work on once you have completed the course.
Each module is subdivided into topics so that you can study the course in manageable chunks. Each topic is set out as follows:
- Read and Make Notes – this section will include the page references from the textbook on which notes are required for the topic.
- Tasks – this section identifies tasks which you should complete in light of the reading, including activities and questions from the textbook.
- Links – throughout the course there will be links to a range of resources that will enhance your understanding of key concepts and will give you an opportunity to apply your knowledge.
- Consolidate – at the end of each topic, you complete a worksheet which relates to the chapter you have just studied. Answers for these can be found in General Resources and you should check your work after completing each one.
- Review – at the end of each module, there is a topic in which you will find key questions to draw together what you have learnt. These questions will assess the knowledge you have gained from the module and can be completed as many times as you wish as you work on developing your skills. You will also have chance to check your answers to the End-of-Chapter Textbook Questions covered in the module before you complete your assignment and move on to the next module.
- Terminology – you will keep track of new terms by making flashcards for these as you progress through the course. This is particularly important for the critical thinking part of the course where, in the exam, you will need to be able to correctly identify different forms of argument as well as the flaws and techniques used to assess the validity of a claim.
How Your Work is Assessed on the Course
Your progress will be assessed by completing an assignment at the end of each module. We recommend that you do NOT look at the assignments until you've studied all the topics in the module. This will ensure that you focus on everything you need to know for the exam. If you focus only on what you need to know to do well in the assignment, you will miss important elements in each module that you need to know and understand.
The assignments have been designed to help you prepare for your final examination – many of the questions are based on past exam papers. Answering exam-style questions is crucial in developing your exam technique, understanding exactly what the examiner is looking for in each case and ensuring you are confident when you tackle the real exams. For AS Thinking Skills, we do not expect you to complete your assignments without referring to your notes or textbook and early on, it is important to utilise these as you are learning new ideas and concepts, however, we encourage you to rely less on these as you progress through the course. By your final assignment you should be able to work without needing to refer to your textbook regularly as you will not have access to it in the exam.
You must reference and make it clear in your assignment if you quote directly from the textbook as otherwise this will be classed as plagiarism which is a serious offence. In some cases, you will be required to quote from the items in the exam paper. In these cases, it is important that you make it clear which are your words and which are those from the item. For Thinking Skills, this is an important part of analysing and judging arguments.
The assignments allow you to think critically about what you have learned and will enable your tutor to see how well you are progressing. Your tutor will mark your assignments and provide you with detailed feedback. Once you have had your marked assignment returned, you will be able to access the mark scheme and/or a specimen answer (an A-grade piece of work). You should always reflect carefully on your tutor’s feedback and apply it in your future assignments.
You should read the assignment questions carefully and answer them to the best of your ability, providing relevant examples where necessary. If you don’t do well in your first assignment, don’t worry; your tutor is there to provide advice.
We ask that you do not submit multiple assignments at the same time. For you to see a steady improvement in your marks, it is very important that you reflect on your tutor’s feedback before beginning each new assignment, so that you can incorporate their tips for improvement into each new piece of work.
To get the best out of your course, before submitting each new assignment, you must:
- Complete all the reading, notes and activities in the preceding module;
- Read carefully through all of your tutor’s comments on your last assignment;
- Use the mark scheme and/or any exemplar or specimen answers provided to help you plan for the next assignment.
We cannot guarantee that tutors will be able to mark multiple assignments within 3-5 days and your work may be returned to you to complete again in light of more recent feedback.
All assignments are submitted via Canvas – you should consult the Canvas Guide for more information.
Optional Mock Exam Service
At the end of the course, you will have the chance to use our Optional Mock Examination Service to complete a full set of AS Thinking Skills exam papers. These must be completed under examination conditions and will be marked by your tutor. They provide a good opportunity for you to test your subject knowledge and exam technique so you are well prepared for the examinations.
The Transition from (I)GCSE to AS and A Level - Some Tips
No prior learning is required to study Thinking Skills at AS, but you might find that you already have experience of some of the skills – particularly the problem-solving skills – from (I)GCSE Mathematics. The course assumes no previous knowledge of the skills being assessed outside of a basic level of reading and mathematical comprehension skills. As in many Mathematics exams, you must show your working for the problem-solving questions.
This subject is slightly different from other AS and A Level subjects in that each chapter of the textbook builds on your existing knowledge. As such, some students find that they like to read through the textbook first to get a sense of the course before then focussing on each specific module. Rather than just acquiring the knowledge, the key to success with Thinking Skills is to practise the techniques you learn regularly.
The resources provided in the module pages include a number of tests to practise the skills you will need for the exams. You can also find further examples in the Optional Further Reading List and online. Please be aware that some of these tests will structure questions in a different way to your final exam, but the skills being tested are the same. A further way to practise the skills is to read the comments section of newspapers and to analyse the arguments being made. This is best done once you have completed the critical thinking part of the course.
When you study a Wolsey Hall course, you are never alone. There are lots of people who are willing to help you. Everyone is on your side!
- Tutors: At Wolsey Hall, all our tutors are friendly and knowledgeable. They are subject experts and you should not be shy about asking them questions about your course. You will meet your tutor at the start of your course and you should contact them via Canvas messaging if you have any questions.
- Student Progress Managers: You have already been assigned a Student Progress Manager who can help with your Assignment Schedule.
- Exams Officers: Wolsey Hall’s Exams Officers are here to help students with any queries regarding exam centres.
- Canvas Help Desk: Canvas is a great virtual learning environment, but we understand that sometimes, even the best things can go wrong! If you have any problems with Canvas (e.g. uploading assignments or unable to access resources) you should submit a Canvas Help Ticket.
For information about how to create and submit a Help Ticket, please refer to the Canvas Guide.
We hope you’ll enjoy your course and studying at Wolsey Hall. We wish you the best of luck in your studies and success in your examinations. Please do let us know how you get on when you receive your examination results!
The Wolsey Hall Team