Humanities & social sciencesReviewed 26 Jun 2026

GCSE Sociology specification

GCSE Sociology is the systematic study of society and social life, exploring how social structures, processes and issues shape people's behaviour through topics such as families, education, crime and deviance and social stratification. Students learn sociological theories, concepts, evidence and research methods, and develop the ability to analyse and evaluate competing explanations of the social world.

How it's assessed
Untiered, linear (single tier; all assessments sat at the end of the course) on both AQA and Eduqas/WJEC.

Exam-only across both boards (no NEA or coursework). Assessment is two equally weighted written papers/components (50% each, 1h45 each, 100 marks each, total 200 marks / 3h30). Papers mix short recall, structured and extended-response questions covering AO1 (knowledge), AO2 (application) and AO3 (analysis/evaluation), and sociological research methods are assessed within the papers rather than as separate coursework.

High-level topics

The main areas of content and what a student is expected to know and do.

The sociological approach

Foundational ideas of sociology: key theories and perspectives (e.g. functionalism, Marxism, feminism, interactionism), the distinction between sociological and common-sense thinking, socialisation, culture, identity, values and norms.

AQA spec - The sociological approach
Families

Functions and diversity of family forms, changing family structures and relationships (marriage, divorce, cohabitation), conjugal roles and the distribution of power, and different sociological perspectives on the family. Compulsory on both boards.

AQA spec - Families
Education

The role and functions of education, differential educational achievement by class, gender and ethnicity, processes within schools (e.g. labelling, the hidden curriculum), and sociological perspectives on education. Compulsory on both boards.

AQA spec - Education
Crime and deviance

The social construction of crime and deviance, social control (formal and informal), patterns and explanations of crime by class, gender, ethnicity and age, and sociological theories of criminal/deviant behaviour. Compulsory on both boards.

AQA spec - Crime and deviance
Social stratification

Social differentiation, inequality and stratification by social class, gender, ethnicity and age; concepts of power, status, wealth, poverty and life chances; and theories explaining stratification. Compulsory on both boards.

AQA spec - Social stratification
Sociological research methods

Designing and evaluating social research: primary and secondary methods (questionnaires, interviews, observation, experiments, official statistics), sampling, the choice between quantitative and qualitative data, and concepts of reliability, validity, representativeness and research ethics. Assessed within the exam papers.

AQA spec - Sociological research methods
Sociological theory and key concepts

The major theoretical perspectives (functionalism, Marxism, feminism, interactionism/social action) and the concepts used to apply and evaluate them across every topic, including socialisation, culture, identity, power and social order. Threaded through all content areas.

AQA spec - The sociological approach (theories)

Exam boards

The awarding bodies that offer this qualification, how their papers are structured, and what's distinctive about each - with links to the official specification.

AQA
Spec 8192

AQA GCSE Sociology

Papers & assessment

2 written papers, 1h45 each, 100 marks each, 50% each. Paper 1 'The sociology of families and education' (also covers the sociological approach and relevant research methods); Paper 2 'The sociology of crime and deviance and social stratification' (also covers theory and relevant research methods). Untiered, linear; no NEA. Question types include multiple-choice, short and extended responses.

What's distinctive

Organises content by topic pairing - families + education in Paper 1, crime and deviance + social stratification in Paper 2 - with the sociological approach and named theorists/studies embedded throughout. All content is compulsory.

Specification

Specification (web) - landingSpecification at a glanceFull specification PDF

Past papers & mark schemes

Past papersMark schemesExaminer reports
Eduqas (WJEC)
Spec C200QS

WJEC Eduqas GCSE (9-1) Sociology

Papers & assessment

2 written components, 1h45 each, 100 marks each, 50% each (total 200 marks). Component 1 'Understanding Social Processes' (families and education, plus sociological theory, concepts, evidence and methods); Component 2 'Understanding Social Structures' (social differentiation, power and stratification, and crime and deviance, with applied research methods). All questions compulsory; research methods are assessed in both components (roughly 30–35 marks per series). Untiered, linear; no NEA.

What's distinctive

Frames content as 'social processes' (Component 1) vs 'social structures' (Component 2) rather than by topic name. Research methods are deliberately assessed across BOTH components, and the spec specifies a research-methods mark band (about 30–35 raw marks) in each series. Offered by Eduqas in England; WJEC offers Sociology for centres in Wales.

Specification

Eduqas specification (web) - landingWJEC specification (web) - landingFull specification PDF (Eduqas)Full specification PDF (WJEC-hosted)

Past papers & mark schemes

Past papersMark schemes
How the boards differ

GCSE Sociology is currently offered by AQA (8192) and by WJEC Eduqas (entry code C200QS - Eduqas for England, with WJEC providing the qualification for centres in Wales). The two boards cover the same core ground - families, education, crime and deviance, social stratification, sociological theory and research methods - and both are untiered, linear, exam-only (no coursework), with two equal 1h45 / 100-mark papers. The differences are mainly in framing and how methods are assessed. AQA splits content by topic pairs (families + education in Paper 1; crime and deviance + social stratification in Paper 2) and embeds the sociological approach throughout. Eduqas/WJEC organises content conceptually into 'Understanding Social Processes' (Component 1) and 'Understanding Social Structures' (Component 2), and explicitly assesses research methods across both components with a stated mark band (about 30–35 raw marks per series). For students and parents the choice is largely about presentation style - AQA's topic-led structure versus Eduqas/WJEC's processes-vs-structures structure - plus which board a school is centred with (WJEC for Wales, Eduqas/AQA for England).

Original sources

Straight from the awarding bodies - the specifications these summaries are drawn from.

AQA GCSE Sociology (8192)WJEC Eduqas GCSE (9-1) Sociology (C200)

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