Critical Thinking is offered at A/S and A/2 at Cranbrook. Students can choose Critical Thinking in year 12 instead of the Extended Project. The course runs during General Studies time and is a focused academic option building to the two  A/S level units to be sat in June of year 12.

Critical Thinkers must attend all sixth form lectures which complement the subject- based diet. The course builds on the Thinking Skills and enrichment classes of the junior school and provides a testing A/S level for the most able sixth formers.

The course asks what is critical thinking? What constitutes an argument? Reasons, assumption, flaws and conclusions are discovered as we tour through the best arguments in the media (press, YouTube, Question time, House of Commons etc) and move on to evaluate credibility, evidence, reliability of sources and so on. The questions at A/S level  require an analytical and logical approach – they range from multiple choice answering of short text questions to a deeper analysis of longer arguments or assessing what went on in disputed case studies.
There is the option to move on to A2 where philosophy and ethics provide greater knowledge base  for  argument and analysis.

Critical Thinking has had a varied press over the last few years.  However it forms the basis of the Oxbridge TSA (Thinking Skills Assessment) tests for entry in a variety of subject disciplines such as Law and PPE.  The number of A grades and the level of difficulty equates with that of Physics …so it is quite hard!  What it does for our students is organise their thoughts and structure their writing.  The knock-on effect for essay-writing and logical argument structure is very considerable.