A refreshed Sociology A Level for today’s students
22 October 2024
Tom Genillard, Sociology and Criminology Subject Advisor
In this blog, I will be discussing the recent changes we have made to our A Level Sociology refreshed qualification (H582). The course has now been submitted to Ofqual, and we are planning for first teach in 2025. The changes are all based on extensive teacher feedback and external stakeholder involvement. By listening to and responding to your suggestions, we have made truly beneficial updates to the content and assessment of A Level Sociology.
Why are we making changes now?
Our H580 qualification has been delivered in schools since 2015 and, as sociology is such a dynamic subject, we felt it was due for a review and update. This was supported by feedback from teachers, who told us that improvements could be made that would advantage both teachers and students.
Working in collaboration with teachers and specialists
Throughout this process, we have valued and considered every piece of insight from teachers. Not only did this influence our decision to refresh the course initially, but it has shaped many features in the refreshed qualification. Many of you have shared your views with us – in surveys, focus groups and one-to-one meetings – and we really appreciate your time and effort.
We’ve also spoken to higher education specialists from a range of different HEIs and members of The British Sociological Society and The Sociological Review Foundation. We are very confident about the quality of the qualification and its suitability for students and teachers.
Working in collaboration with Ofqual
Throughout this process, we’ve been working closely with Ofqual, and we continue to do so. Their specialists have shared feedback on our qualification, which has allowed us to improve it over time.
This does mean that, as we go through the development journey, we have had to update and refine our draft documents. It is therefore vital that you have signed up for email updates, so you can be informed when the latest versions are ready to view online and, of course, receive updates on new resources and events straight away.
Our most recent draft submitted specifications and SAMs can be found on our sociology page.
Five key changes
Below, I have highlighted the five key changes you wanted to be addressed by this refresh, and how we have responded to them to improve the qualification. I’ve also included tweaks we’ve made to our draft specification and sample assessment materials, based on ensuring they meet teachers' needs and regulatory guidelines.
1. A uniformed and consistent assessment experience
To improve the experience for students, we have taken measures to reduce cognitive load during the exam, and to reduce the amount of time teachers will need to spend on exam technique in lessons. Our model is based on these seven key principles:
- identical papers across the AS Level and again across the A Level
- same combination of questions in terms of marks
- maximum tariff reduced to 24 marks
- 5 question tariffs
- uniformed question stems and consistent structure across all papers
- source material limited to 200 words.
Our exams will follow a consistent structure year on year, allowing teachers to prepare students thoroughly and helping them understand what each question requires. They can then feel fully prepared for any challenges the exam papers present.
2. More freely accessible teaching resources
We want to make sure all our teachers have access to plenty of teaching resources. So, we’ve teamed up with third party content creators and have some really exciting resources and events lined up. These include:
- key term glossaries for each component from The Hectic Sociology teacher and OCR sociology teachers.
- an up-to-date curriculum planner that suggests how much time should be spent on each topic, throughout a school year
- a fully adaptable Scheme of Work (SOW) for each component, including all optional topics. This will include teaching resources, independent study tasks and video clips for each lesson to make sure you have a workable SOW to use from the first date of teaching the course. These are being produced by The Sociology Guy
- BBC video clips and full documentary library from the Education Recording Agency
- exam question walkthrough videos
- short interview videos with famous sociologists talking about their research.
There’s a lot more planned, and we’ll make sure we support teachers in every aspect of planning and delivery – whether you’re a current OCR centre or switching over from another exam board.
3. An accessible assessment for learners
Teachers told us they wanted to see a more consistent approach to the types of question asked and the number of marks allocated. As a result:
- we have carefully selected 5 command terms, which will be used across all three papers. These are outline, explain, evaluate, discuss and one question that includes both explain and discuss
- question types will have a consistent mark scheme layout across all papers, such as the 24-mark ‘discuss’ questions in component 02 and 03
- we have limited sources to just one per paper. The mark schemes will highlight exactly how the source should be used to increase learners’ application skills
- sources will be limited to 200 works maximum. This will support students’ time management in the exam.
By having a consistent and familiar exam structure we aim to give students confidence when they enter the exam hall, while also reducing the amount of exam technique that needs to be delivered in lesson time.
4. A contemporary and inclusive sociology specification
We want our course to engage learners and spark their sociological thought and debating skills. This is why we have removed some outdated content as well as taken steps to start to decolonising the curriculum. We also wanted to reduce the amount of content on the specification overall, allowing students to focus on critically analysing concepts and theoretical standpoints.
We’re keeping popular content we know students and teachers enjoy, such as the globalisation and digital media compulsory topic and the reduced theory and methods section of the course (compared to other exam boards).
Our range of optional areas like crime, the media and youth subcultures, are contemporary and also give centres the opportunity to pick the topics that are best suited to their cohort of students.
Example highlights:
- non-binary and trans identities
- urban music subcultures
- modern crime prevention strategies.
5. Clearer opportunities for students to be awarded for using their synoptic knowledge in the assessment
We’ve made our specification clearer as to how and when students can, and should, use their synoptic knowledge. One question on each paper will now allow students to answer using any knowledge they have gained during the course, including research methods. Our mark schemes will outline how full marks can be achieved for each of these questions and will be written in a student and teacher-friendly way.
Next steps
We continue to work with Ofqual to ensure our new A Level Sociology (H182/H582) is accredited ready for first teach September 2025, and that it is the best possible qualification for you and your students.
Stay connected
We will continue to keep you updated as we go through this process, so please make sure you:
If you are considering teaching any of our qualifications, use our online form to let us know, so that we can help you with more information.
About the author
Tom is overseeing sociology as well as the exciting upcoming criminology AAQ. Previously, he was a teacher for 11 years which included various roles in teaching and middle management leading to his last role, as Head of Human Sciences. In his spare time, he enjoys playing sport, watching crime documentaries and playing with his two sons.