← Sociology syllabus

EnglandSociology

Component 1: Socialisation and Culture (Section C, Education)

5 dot points across 5 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

Why do working-class pupils tend to achieve less, and how far is the cause inside or outside school?

Component 1 Section C (Education): social class differences in educational achievement, including external factors (material deprivation, cultural deprivation, cultural capital) and internal factors (labelling, the self-fulfilling prophecy, streaming and pupil subcultures).
An Eduqas A-Level Sociology Education guide to social class and achievement. Covers external factors (material deprivation, cultural deprivation, Bourdieu's cultural capital, language codes) and internal factors (labelling, the self-fulfilling prophecy, streaming and the A-to-C economy), with the debate over whether the cause lies inside or outside school.
15 min answer →

How has education policy changed, and what have marketisation and selection done to equality?

Component 1 Section C (Education): educational policy, including the tripartite system, comprehensivisation, marketisation and parental choice (the 1988 Education Reform Act), selection and the impact of policy on equality of opportunity and on different social groups.
An Eduqas A-Level Sociology Education guide to policy. Covers the tripartite system, comprehensivisation, marketisation and parental choice (the 1988 Education Reform Act, league tables, formula funding), selection (cream-skimming, the A-to-C economy), and the impact of policy on equality of opportunity for different social groups.
14 min answer →

Why do girls now outperform boys, and why do achievement and experience vary by ethnicity?

Component 1 Section C (Education): gender differences in achievement (the changing position of girls and boys, and subject choice) and ethnic differences in achievement, including external and internal explanations and the experience of different ethnic groups in school.
An Eduqas A-Level Sociology Education guide to gender and ethnicity. Covers the reasons girls now outperform boys (feminism, changing ambitions, the decline of male jobs, laddish subcultures) and gendered subject choice, plus external and internal explanations of ethnic differences in achievement and the experience of ethnic groups in school.
15 min answer →

How do pupils respond to school, and what does the hidden curriculum teach?

Component 1 Section C (Education): processes within school, including the hidden curriculum, teacher labelling and the self-fulfilling prophecy, streaming and setting, and pupil identities and subcultures (pro-school and anti-school responses).
An Eduqas A-Level Sociology Education guide to in-school processes. Covers the hidden curriculum, teacher labelling and the self-fulfilling prophecy, streaming and setting, differentiation and polarisation, and pro-school and anti-school pupil subcultures (Willis, Lacey, Ball), with the interactionist view of school the paper rewards.
14 min answer →

What is the role of education in society, according to functionalists, Marxists and others?

Component 1 Section C (Education): perspectives on the role and purpose of education, including functionalist views (Durkheim, Parsons, Davis and Moore), Marxist views (Althusser, Bowles and Gintis, Willis) and the New Right, with their criticisms.
An Eduqas A-Level Sociology Education guide to the role of education. Covers functionalist views (Durkheim on solidarity, Parsons on meritocracy, Davis and Moore on role allocation), Marxist views (Althusser's ideological state apparatus, Bowles and Gintis's correspondence principle, Willis's lads), and the New Right, with criticisms.
15 min answer →