Subject: Sociology

Examination Board: AQA

Controlled Assessment: 0%

Examination: 100%

Specific entry requirements: Grade 6 in GCSE English Language or English Literature and a grade 6 in a GCSE humanities subject, such as Citizenship, History, Geography, RE or Sociology.

What will you study?

In Year 12

Education

Whilst studying this unit you will learn about:

• The role and functions of the education system, including its relationship to the economy and class structure.

• Differential educational achievement of social groups by class, gender and ethnicity

• Relationships and processes in schools, for example teacher/pupil relationships, pupil identities and subcultures, the hidden curriculum and the organisation of teaching and learning.

• The significance and role of educational policies to understand the structure, role impact and experience of and access to education

• The application of social research methods to the study of education

Families and households

Whilst studying this unit you will learn about:

• The relationship of the family to the social structure and social change, with particular reference to the economy and state policies

• Changing patterns of marriage, cohabitation, separation, divorce and childbearing and the life-course

• Gender roles, domestic labour and power relationships within the family in contemporary society

• The nature of childhood, and changes in the status of children in the family and society

• Demographic trends in the UK since 1900.

Research methods

Whilst studying this unit you will learn about:

• Quantitative and qualitative methods of research

• Sources of data

• The theoretical, practical and ethical considerations influencing choice of topic, choice of method(s) and the conduct of research.

In Year 13

Crime and deviance

Whilst studying this unit you will learn about:

• Different theories of crime, deviance, social order and social control

• The social distribution of crime and deviance by ethnicity, gender and social class, including recent patterns and trends in crime.

• Globalisation and crime in contemporary society; the media and crime; green crime; human rights and state crime.

• Crime control, surveillance, prevention and punishment, victims and the role of the criminal justice system and other agencies.

The media

Whilst studying this unit you will learn about:

• The new media and its significance in understanding the role of the media in contemporary society

• The relationship between ownership and control of the media mass

• The mass media, globalisation and popular culture

• The processes of the selection and presentation of the content of the news

• Media representations of age, social class, ethnicity, gender, sexuality and disability

• The relationship between the mass media, media content and presentation and how it impacts upon its audiences.

Theory and methods

Whilst studying this unit you will learn about:

• Research methods that sociologists use

• The relationship between positivism, interpretivism and sociological methods

• Consensus conflict, structural and social action theories

• The concepts of modernity and post-modernity in relation to sociological theory

• The extent to which sociology can be considered a science

What Super Curricular opportunities are there linked to this subject?

Speaker from BAFTA

Speaker from Pentonville prison

What can this course lead to?

Sociology is an A Level that is very respected by universities. It is a great choice of subject for people who are interested in the world and society around them and seek to explain these patterns. It is a good subject for those interested in following a career path in social work, nursing or medicine and a variety of other careers such as marketing, advertising, PR, journalism, law and teaching.