Eduqas A-Level Sociology Component 3 Section A: Power and Stratification, a complete overview

Section A of Eduqas A-Level Sociology Component 3 (Power and Stratification) is the compulsory core of the paper, worth 60 marks. It is the second of the A-level's two themes, social differentiation, power and stratification, alongside socialisation, culture and identity. This page maps the five dot points, the perspectives that run through them, and how the paper is assessed.

What Section A covers

• Theories of stratification. The functionalist (Davis and Moore), Marxist (class and exploitation), Weberian (class, status and party), feminist and postmodernist accounts of inequality.
• Patterns and trends in social inequality. The distribution of wealth and income, absolute and relative poverty and its measurement, social mobility, and the cultural versus structural debate over why poverty persists.
• Class and status inequality. How class is defined and measured, the embourgeoisement, underclass and death-of-class debates, and the impact of class on life chances.
• Gender and ethnic inequality. The gender pay gap, the glass ceiling and segregation, feminist explanations of patriarchy, ethnic inequalities in work, income and housing, and explanations of racism.
• Age, disability and life chances. Age inequality and ageism, the medical versus social model of disability, and intersectionality, the way the dimensions of inequality combine.

The perspectives that run through Section A

• Functionalism sees stratification as functional and inevitable (Davis and Moore).
• Marxism sees it as class exploitation rooted in the ownership of the means of production.
• Weber offers a multi-dimensional model (class, status, party).
• Feminism adds gender and patriarchy as a dimension of stratification.
• Postmodernism argues class is fragmenting as identity and consumption matter more.

The unifying idea is life chances (Weber) and intersectionality: the dimensions of inequality combine, with class running through them all.

How the paper is assessed

Component 3 is a 2 hour 30 minute paper worth 120 marks and 40 per cent of the A-level. Section A (60 marks) is compulsory; Section B is one optional substantive topic (such as Crime and deviance). The assessment objectives are weighted AO1 45 per cent, AO2 35 per cent and AO3 20 per cent. Eduqas uses the command words Explain, Analyse and Evaluate, and the longer Evaluate essays are marked by levels of response.

How to revise Power and Stratification

1. Build a theories grid. Map functionalist, Marxist, Weberian, feminist and postmodernist accounts with their thinkers.
2. Master the poverty material. Absolute versus relative poverty, measurement, mobility, and the cultural versus structural debate.
3. Know each dimension. For class, gender, ethnicity, age and disability, learn the patterns, the perspectives and the named concepts.
4. Apply intersectionality. Show how the dimensions combine, with class running through them.
5. Use Eduqas papers. Rehearse the Explain, Analyse and Evaluate questions with the board's own past papers and mark schemes.