Explore society. Challenge assumptions. Understand the world.

Why choose Sociology

If you enjoy debating ideas, questioning society and exploring contemporary social issues, Sociology is for you. It develops critical thinking, research skills and global perspective, preparing you for higher education and a wide range of careers. A Level Sociology develops your understanding of contemporary UK society and the global context. You'll study social institutions, inequality, identity and change while developing analytical, evaluative and research skills.

• Critical thinking and analytical reasoning

• Research design and evaluation

• Communication, essay writing, and debate

• Understanding social data and evidence

University Courses: Sociology, Criminology, Social Policy, Psychology, Politics, Law, Education, Media, Anthropology.

Career Paths: Teaching, social work, journalism, law, public policy, human resources, marketing, research, civil service, NGOs, and international organisation.

These topics are studied by all students and form the backbone of the course:

• The role and functions of schools and their link to the economy and social structure

• Differences in achievement by social class, gender, and ethnicity

• School processes, subcultures, teacher-pupil relationships, and the hidden curriculum

• Educational policies, marketisation, selection, equality initiatives, and global influences

• Nature of crime, deviance, social order and control

• Patterns of offending and victimisation by social groups

• Contemporary issues: media, green crime, human rights and state crime

• Crime prevention, policing, and the role of the justice system

• Sociological research methods and research design

• Quantitative and qualitative data collection: questionnaires, interviews, observation, statistics

• Positivism vs interpretivism, ethical considerations, objectivity and value freedom

• Relationship between theory, research and social policy

Students will study two topics from the following groups:

Group	Topic	Overview
Group 1	Culture and Identity	Study how identities are shaped by culture, socialisation, age, gender, class, ethnicity, sexuality, and the influence of production, consumption, and globalisation.
	Families and Households	Explore family diversity, marriage, cohabitation, divorce, gender roles, childhood, and UK demographic trends including migration and ageing population.
	Health	Investigate health inequalities, access to healthcare, mental illness, and the role of medicine and the global health industry.
	Work, Poverty and Welfare	Examine poverty, wealth and income distribution, labour organisation, worklessness, and the impact of globalisation on life chances.
Group 2	Beliefs in Society	Study religion, ideology, secularisation, religious organisations (churches, sects, cults, New Age movements), and global influences on belief and social change.
	Global Development	Explore global inequality, underdevelopment, development strategies, transnational organisations, aid, trade, industrialisation, urbanisation, environment, and gender.
	The Media	Examine media ownership, globalisation, news presentation, popular culture, and representations of social groups.
	Stratification and Differentiation	Investigate social class, status, power, life chances, social mobility, and global changes in inequality.

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• 3 written exams, 2 hours each

• A mix of short-answer and essay questions

• No coursework

• Assessed on knowledge, application, and analysis/evaluation