About this A Level Sociology Course

Sociology is the study of society and its members; specifically, how members of society are affected by social institutions and, in turn, how members of society affect social institutions. This relationship between social institutions and members of society is what sociologists focus on when studying social change, what causes change and the consequences of social change.

Our A Level Sociology course prepares learners for their examinations with AQA and covers all of the topics needed to prepare for your exams. These include multiple social systems, the psychology of social situations, economic impacts, education, the media and crime. With so many different aspects which interlink within our daily lives, sociology is even more relevant in the 21st century than it has ever been.

Study Time:	200 hours
Enrolment length:	24 months
Course Format:	Online
Entry Requirements:	None Specific

To get the full AQA Sociology A Level, students must enter themselves as a private candidate for the exam.

Method

All of our students are given access to our online campus through their own personal login and password. Once logged in you can access your course materials, lessons, resources and assignments in your own time. Assignments are uploaded through your account and the process is easy intuitive. Our online campus includes:

• 24/7/365 access to all of your course materials- all lessons, assignments and resources are available from the moment you enrol
• Instant access to your course after you enrol- start studying immediately!
• Integrated chat and messaging systems so that you can contact your tutor
• Online assignment uploads to save time in returning marks and feedback.
• Links to further resources and information available on courses
• Self-led learning on all courses- study in your own time and work through your assignments at your own pace
• Safe e-portfolio of your work is kept under lock and key on our secure servers
• Progress bar to show the work you have completed and how many tasks you still have to complete on your course
• Detailed help centre with step-by-step instructions on getting the most from your course and how to upload assignments and contact your tutor

Support

The most important tool that all of our students have at their disposal is their tutor. When studying for a course with us you are assigned a personal tutor with in-depth knowledge and experience in your chosen subject.

You are strongly advised to make use of your tutors expertise and ask questions about the course content. Your assignments are marked by your personal tutor and detailed feedback is given. As well as this your tutor will provide you with pointers and advice on where you can improve- this helps you to get the most from your courses and constantly improve your skills.

A Level Sociology Course Content

Included in this A Level Sociology course are the following units:

Unit 1: Introduction to Sociology

This is an introductory unit which will introduce you to the different perspectives within sociology that you will be using throughout your A-level course.

Unit 2: Education

• The role and functions of the education system
• Educational achievement of social groups (i.e., social class, gender and ethnicity)
• Internal and external factors and how these impact educational achievement
• The significance of educational policies.

Unit 3: Families and Households

• The relationship of the family, with reference to the economy and to social policies
• Changing patterns of marriage and the diversity of contemporary family and household structures
• Gender roles, domestic labour and power relationships within the family in contemporary society
• Changes in the status of children in the family and society
• Demographic trends in the United Kingdom since 1900.

Unit 4: The Media

• The new media and their significance for an understanding of the role of the media in contemporary society
• The relationship between ownership and control of the media
• The media, globalisation and popular culture
• The processes of selection and presentation of the content of the news
• Media representations of age, social class, ethnicity, gender, sexuality and disability
• The relationship between the media, their content and presentation, and audiences.

Unit 5: Crime and Deviance

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

Unit 6: Theories and Methods

• Quantitative and qualitative methods of research; research design
• Sources of data, including questionnaires, interviews, participant and non-participant observation, experiments, documents, and official statistics
• The distinction between primary and secondary data, and between quantitative and qualitative data
• The relationship between positivism, interpretivism and sociological methods; the nature of ‘social facts’
• The theoretical, practical and ethical considerations influencing choice of topic, choice of method(s) and the conduct of research
• Consensus, conflict, structural and social action theories
• The concepts of modernity and postmodernity in relation to sociological theory
• The nature of science and the extent to which sociology can be regarded as scientific
• The relationship between theory and methods
• Debates about subjectivity, objectivity and value freedom
• The relationship between sociology and social policy.

Qualification

The AQA A Level Sociology qualification is available both in the UK and internationally and is seen as a global standard for knowledge in sociological theory. The course is accredited with AQA, an industry leader with decades of expertise in academic qualifications.

For more information regarding AQA, click on the AQA tab further up this page.

Assessments

On this A Level Sociology course you are required to enter yourself for the AQA examinations. This means that you will need to contact an AQA centre local to you in order to sit your exam and pay any fees that are required for this. Exam fees can vary between centres but are much cheaper when organised early so we advise to book your exams long before the actual examination date.