Critical Thinking is offered in the Specialist Curriculum as a minor subject only.
Critical thinking has been described as “a form of reflective reasoning that analyses and evaluates information and arguments by applying a range of intellectual skills in order to reach clear, logical and coherent judgements within a given context.”
Qualifications in the discipline of critical thinking are relatively new. OCR has been offering Critical Thinking AS level for eight years during which time its popularity has grown. Universities welcome the skills taught and tested and they also regard the qualification as a way of discriminating between applicants. It is particularly well regarded as a preparation for reading Law and for taking the LNAT (university Law admissions test).
In preparing for the two written papers pupils will be taught to analyse and evaluate information and arguments from a number of disciplines. The course will appeal to those interested in and comfortable with reasoning and written English. Because the course is not content-heavy but, rather, focuses on the skills to be mastered it is taught in fewer hashes. Unlike the other courses offered in the curriculum Critical Thinking AS level is a one-year course with examinations taken at the end of the First Year.
Andrew Turner