As you might expect, lessons are thought provoking and lively.  Difficult issues are presented in a clear and stimulating way (often using challenging stimulus readings) and the rest of the time is spent debating the issues as a class or in small groups, as well as attempting to express and evaluate these ideas and arguments on paper.

In doing philosophy, you are required to be both logical and creative/imaginative, two aptitudes that are often developed in isolation from each other. You will develop problem-solving skills and your ability to present views, arguments and distinctions clearly (i.e. unambiguously), precisely and in detail. You will learn to incorporate this within well-structured, extended pieces of writing in which you propose and then defend a position of your own against real or imagined opposition.

This is a linear A level course.  In the second year of the course you will take two external exams that assess content covered in the first and second year and the results of these exams will determine your A level grade.

Each unit will be assessed by an examination in which you will need to demonstrate:

(a) your understanding of various philosophical concepts, views and arguments

(b) your ability to analyse and evaluate these philosophical arguments in order to form reasoned judgments of your own.

• For all topics we teach, students have access to extension readings and optional extras (students can use time in lessons to look at these if they finish other tasks earlier);
• There is an 'extension' page on the Philosophy Study Directory where students can find links to relevant websites, videos, online encyclopedias, extra reading opportunities etc;
• We help students to prepare for degrees including or relating to philosophy (including Oxbridge support);
• We advertise and encourage entry to essay-writing competitions (this year three students entered the John Locke Institute Essay Competition, two were short-listed).

Philosophy can complement many other subjects, but it tends to work best when combined with other A level subjects, especially those requiring extended writing (i.e. evaluative essays).

Philosophy is the original 'academic' subject, beginning with Plato's academy in Greece. It is a highly respected discipline and current students are finding that when they go for university interviews in various subjects, Philosophy has been a major talking point. Many continued their philosophical studies at degree level, but, for those that do not, it is accepted and appreciated by all Higher Education establishments as a suitable qualification for a large variety of other courses.

The skills you develop in philosophy are useful in a wide variety of situations.  Many students from the College go on to study philosophy at degree level, and then go on to apply their philosophical skills in jobs as diverse as the law, computer programming, management consultancy, film-making, journalism, medicine, and all areas in which clarity of thought and expression are essential.

Please see below for careers and labour market information for philosophy - use the refresh buttons to find out about different courses and careers, and use the left and right arrows to view more detailed information.

You can find the prep work for this course at prepwork.farnborough.ac.uk.

Q: How is philosophy different from religious studies?
A: These subjects are similar in some ways, but there are very important differences.

Firstly, one quarter of the philosophy course is about the existence of God, but the other three-quarters is not.  So although questions about God are part of the course, there is much that we do that is not related to God/religion.

Secondly, the approach we take to God/religion is not based on any specific religion or on any religious texts, and we are not particularly focused on religious practices.  Instead we want to know whether a being with God’s attributes is possible, and, if so, whether such a being does exist.  You can see from this that the focus is on monotheism (one God) rather than polytheism, and on the idea of a perfect being.

Q: How can you (or the examiner) possibly mark and grade students’ work in philosophy?  There’s no right or wrong answer....you can say what you like, can't you?
A: Half the marks are for what we can call 'descriptive' questions where you are being assessed on how well you can explain definitions/views/arguments and/or their similarities and differences.  So here you can’t 'say what you like'.  Rather, what you say needs to accurately represent what you have studied.

The other half of the marks are for evaluative essays that you will write.  Although you can choose to argue for whatever side of a debate you wish, you will be assessed (objectively) on whether you have answered the question (as it has been phrased) and whether you have constructed a well structured and well argued case.  In this sense, philosophy is no different to any other essay-writing subject (e.g. history, English literature) where the quality of evaluation needs to be assessed.

Q: Is it difficult?
A: Philosophy is certainly a challenging course in a few respects.  It will give your mind a real work-out as we are looking at quite tough and abstract ideas, and you will need to be good at holding different parts of a debate in your head at once.  It also involves reading about philosophy, sometimes original texts, so you need to enjoy reading to do this course, or at least be prepared to read!  Having said all of this, don’t worry, as we are here to help you with all these aspects.  Philosophy is a new subject to students, so we know that you will need help as you start your journey as a philosopher.

Q: Why should/do people study philosophy?
A: Philosophers are interested in the most important questions that humans have, and they have very high standards for how these ideas are discussed and argued for.  This means that philosophy itself is very important, and it develops skills that are also fundamental in life (e.g. problem solving, logical and creative thinking, clear communication).  For this reason, it is highly valued by universities and employers alike.

Q: What do students go on to do after studying philosophy at college and/or at degree level?
A: Students go on to do many different things.  Every year, many students go on to study philosophy at university (sometimes as part of PPE: philosophy, politics and economics). They have then gone on to work in the media, as civil servants, as lawyers (having then done a law conversion course), in charities/NGOs, and many other careers.

It is worth pointing out specifically how beneficial philosophy and its approach is to those considering a career in law, where good argumentative skills and an attention to detail are crucial.  A philosophy degree opens many doors as it is so highly valued by employers, and this accounts for the real variety of career paths that philosophy students embark on.