FACULTY LEADER: Mr M Faulkner

SUBJECT TEACHER: Mr M Faulkner

Qualifications and exam boards: A-level Sociology – AQA

Sociology should be of interest to everyone, since it is a study of the lives we lead and the society we are part of. Sociology combines studying ‘big data’ about our whole society, with in-depth exploration of the lived experiences of individuals. We study topics as varied as why different ethnic groups perform differently at school, why marriage is declining and divorce is rising, why migration is increasing so rapidly (and its impacts), and why some people turn to deviance and crime.

In Year 12, we study the underpinning theory of sociology and the research methods sociologists use to study society. We then move on to look at education – what role does education serve? Which groups perform well or badly, and why? What has been the impact of government educational policy? Finally, we look at Families and Households – how has family changed in the last century, and recent decades? What do we even mean by ‘family’? What role do families play for society as a whole, and for individuals?

In Year 13, we move on to look at religion in our society. Is it declining catastrophically, as some evidence would suggest? Or is it simply changing in character? Is all religion declining, or only Christianity – and if it is declining, what is causing this? Finally, we look at crime and deviance – where does crime come from? Who commits it, who falls victim to it, how can we measure it, and how can we stop it? Is crime a failure of society, or of the individual – or might it even be beneficial in some way? 

KS3 and KS4 Curriculum

Although Sociology is not taught at KS3 or KS4, students with an interest in the world around them – those who pay attention to the news or to debates on social media - will be engaging with ‘sociological’ content all the time. Inequality, racism, crime, religion, family, politics, migration – issues like these are at the heart of Sociology. Debates about citizenship and social behaviours, which continually arise in the KS3 and KS4 PSHE and PREP curriculums, are also good preparation for the formal study of Sociology at A-level.

KS5 Curriculum

See the Sixth Form pages of the website for further details of the A-level Sociology course.  

Assessment

The course is 100% exam based with three external exams at the end of the second year, each worth 33.3%.

Throughout the course, assessment takes the form of regular weekly or fortnightly knowledge quizzes, plus assessed written work building up from shorter answers early in Year 12 to long essays and full papers later in Year 12 and into Year 13.