Cambridge International AS & A Level Sociology (9699): Paper 3 Education 5.1-5.3 – Education, society and the curriculum – Practice Questions

These are original questions written for Marlbridge, for revision and practice on this content. They are not reproduced past-paper questions, and they do not replicate the exam’s exact structure, question count or mark tariffs – examination boards hold copyright in their own papers. Use these alongside the official past papers from your board or school.

These questions cover sections 5.1 (Theories about the role of education), 5.2 (Education and social mobility) and 5.3 (Influences on the curriculum) of the Cambridge International AS & A Level Sociology (9699) syllabus for examination in 2024, 2025 and 2026. The content is assessed in Paper 3 – Education, which has four compulsory questions and ends with an essay worth 26 marks. All places, data and policies below are fictional.

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Questions

1. Define the term “meritocracy”. [2]

2. Give three features of the hidden curriculum. [3]

3. Explain the difference between absolute and relative social mobility. [4]

4. Explain two ways in which, according to functionalists, education contributes to social solidarity. [4]

5. Read the source.

The government of Tarrenland (a fictional country) gives every family a voucher worth the cost of one school place. Parents may spend it at any state or private school. Schools that attract fewer pupils lose funding. Exam results for every school are published in a national table.

(a) Explain how New Right sociologists would support these reforms. [4] (b) Explain two reasons why social democratic sociologists might criticise these reforms. [4]

6. Study the table. The data are fictional.

Parental occupation group (Harwick, a fictional city)	School leavers surveyed	Entered university	Entered university (%)
Professional	300	189	63
Intermediate	400	164	41
Routine	500	90	18
All	1,200	443	36.9

(a) Using the table, calculate how many times as likely leavers from professional homes were to enter university than leavers from routine homes. Show your working. [2] (b) Explain what the data suggest about the claim that Harwick’s education system is meritocratic. [4] (c) Give two limitations of using these data alone to judge whether the system is meritocratic. [2]

7. “Schools today do little more than train young people to accept their place in the workforce.” Using sociological material, give two arguments against this view. [6]

8. Explain how the concept of cultural capital can be used to argue that the school curriculum is not neutral. [6]

9. Read the source.

Corvessa (a fictional island state) has three main ethnic groups. Its new national history course is taught only in the majority group’s language. Nearly all topics cover the majority group’s rulers and wars. The two minority groups appear mainly as people the majority group defeated.

Explain two ways in which this course is an example of an ethnocentric curriculum, and one argument that a national curriculum of this kind may still have a purpose. [6]

10. Evaluate Marxist views of the role of education. [14]

11. To what extent does success in education today depend on ability and effort rather than social background? [16]

12. Discuss the factors that influence the content of the curriculum. [12]

Answers

1. A system in which rewards, such as jobs and income, are based on ability and effort [1], not on social background such as class, gender or ethnicity [1]. [2] Examiner insight: Both halves are needed: “based on merit” alone repeats the word you were asked to define.

2. Respecting the authority of teachers [1]; punctuality and keeping to a timetable [1]; accepting competition and being ranked against others [1]. [3] Examiner insight: “Give” needs brief, distinct features; three versions of “obeying rules” score once.

3. Absolute mobility is the total amount of movement between social classes [1], for example rising numbers moving into professional jobs as those jobs expand [1]. Relative mobility compares the chances of people from different class backgrounds reaching the same position [1]. Absolute mobility can rise while relative mobility stays the same, as Goldthorpe found for Britain [1]. [4] Examiner insight: The fourth mark comes from showing how the two relate, not from a second definition.

4. Education passes on shared values, for example through a common curriculum and the nation’s shared culture [1], so pupils feel they belong to a wider society beyond the family (Durkheim) [1]. School acts as a society in miniature, where everyone follows the same rules [1], so pupils learn to cooperate with people who are not kin, which they will need in adult life [1]. [4] Examiner insight: Each way needs a point plus an explanation of how it builds solidarity; a bare list gets half marks.

5. (a) The New Right believes state monopoly breeds poor standards, so vouchers create a market [1]. Parents become consumers who can leave weak schools [1]. Losing funding gives schools a reason to raise standards, as Chubb and Moe (1990) argued [1]. Published tables give parents the information to choose, so competition drives improvement [1]. [4] (b) First, choice may favour parents with cultural skills and social contacts [1]; Gewirtz, Ball and Bowe (1995) found “privileged/skilled choosers” were mainly middle class, so the gap may widen [1]. Second, allowing vouchers at private schools may move money away from state schools [1], weakening the equal opportunity that social democrats think the state should guarantee [1]. [4] Examiner insight: Use the source’s features (vouchers, funding loss, results tables) in every point, or the application marks are lost.

6. (a) Professional: 189 ÷ 300 = 63%; routine: 90 ÷ 500 = 18% [1]. 63 ÷ 18 = 3.5 times as likely [1]. [2] (b) In a meritocracy, entry would depend on ability and effort, so class groups would have similar rates if ability were evenly spread [1]. Here the rate falls from 63% to 18% as parental occupation falls, a 45 percentage-point gap [1]. This suggests class background shapes success, supporting the Marxist “myth of meritocracy” [1]. However, a functionalist might say the data do not show ability, so the gap cannot by itself prove the system is unfair [1]. [4] (c) The data do not measure pupils’ ability or effort [1]; they come from one fictional city, so they may not represent the whole country [1]. [2] Examiner insight: Quote figures from the table in part (b); a general point about class with no data scores low.

7. Argument 1: Functionalists such as Durkheim argue schools also pass on shared values [1], building social solidarity, not only work habits [1]; so school does much more than prepare a workforce [1]. Argument 2: Willis (1977) found working-class “lads” resisted school values [1], so pupils do not simply accept their place [1]; this shows the training described in the quotation often fails [1]. [6] Examiner insight: Each argument must be clearly against the quotation and say why it weakens it; agreeing with the view scores nothing.

8. Cultural capital is the knowledge, tastes and language valued by the dominant class (Bourdieu) [1]. The curriculum often values the same things, such as formal language and classic literature [1]. Middle-class pupils bring this capital from home, so lessons feel familiar to them [1]. Working-class pupils may find the same content less familiar [1]. Exams then turn this home advantage into qualifications [1], so a curriculum that looks neutral helps reproduce class inequality [1]. [6] Examiner insight: Link cultural capital to the curriculum’s content; a general answer about parental attitudes belongs to a different section.

9. First, the course is taught only in the majority group’s language [1], so minority pupils face an extra barrier and may feel their language is second-rate, as Coard argued about West Indian children in British schools [1]. Second, nearly all topics centre on the majority group’s rulers [1], so minority groups appear mainly as the defeated, which may lower their sense of belonging [1]. However, functionalists might argue a common national story can build shared values and social solidarity [1], though it is a story told from one group’s view [1]. [6] Examiner insight: Pick out the source’s details (language, topics, how minorities appear); each point should name one.

10. The real exam marks extended answers with levels of response, not point by point; these are indicative creditworthy points. Marxists see education as serving the ruling class in capitalist society [1]. Althusser (1970) called school the dominant ideological state apparatus, passing on ruling-class ideas without force [1]. Bowles and Gintis (1976) argued school corresponds to work: hierarchy, extrinsic rewards and obedience [1]. The study they used, of 237 seniors at a New York State high school, found grades linked to punctuality and perseverance, not creativity [1]. They argued meritocracy is a myth that makes inequality look fair [1]. Bourdieu adds cultural reproduction: schools reward dominant-class culture [1]. Application: a school that rewards uniform and punctuality more than original ideas fits the correspondence principle [1]. Strength: evidence of class gaps in attainment supports reproduction [1]. Limitation: Willis (1977) showed pupils actively resist [1], although his lads still entered manual work, which partly supports reproduction [1]. Limitation: the correspondence principle may fit 1970s factory work better than today’s jobs that value creativity [1]. Functionalists argue schools pass on shared values that benefit everyone [1]. The New Right blames state control, not capitalism, for weak schools [1]. A possible judgement: Marxism explains persistent class inequality well but overstates how passive pupils are [1]. [14] Examiner insight: Evaluation must test Marxism itself; a separate description of functionalism with no comparison earns little AO3.

11. The real exam marks extended answers with levels of response, not point by point; these are indicative creditworthy points. Meritocracy means rewards based on ability and effort (Young, 1958) [1]. Equal opportunity can be formal (no legal barriers) or substantive (hidden barriers also removed) [1]. For: open exams and anti-discrimination laws allow pupils to succeed on merit [1]. Parsons argues schools use universalistic standards, so status is achieved [1]. Davis and Moore (1945) see exams as sifting the most able into key roles [1]. Wider access to higher education has increased absolute mobility [1]. Against: Goldthorpe found relative mobility stayed broadly stable, so class still matters [1]. Bowles and Gintis call meritocracy a myth [1]. Bourdieu argues schools reward middle-class cultural capital [1]. Gewirtz, Ball and Bowe (1995) show school choice favours privileged/skilled, mainly middle-class choosers [1]. Private schools and tutoring let some families buy advantage [1]. Dore (1976): qualification inflation means each credential is worth less [1]. The “Great Gatsby curve” suggests more unequal countries have less mobility [1]. Application: a named country’s selection system or fees could be used as an example [1]. Evaluation: systems differ between countries, so “today” needs care [1]. A possible judgement, which must follow from your evidence: systems are more open than in the past but not fully meritocratic [1]. [16] Examiner insight: “To what extent” needs a clear final judgement that follows from the evidence, not a sudden opinion in the last line.

12. The real exam marks extended answers with levels of response, not point by point; these are indicative creditworthy points. Knowledge is socially constructed: what counts as valuable is decided by people [1]. The new sociology of education, including Knowledge and Control, argued school knowledge is socially organised [1]. Power: governments set national curricula, as in England’s National Curriculum under the Education Reform Act 1988 [1]. Apple (1979) asks whose knowledge becomes “official” [1]. Status: academic subjects often rank above vocational ones [1]. Culture: an ethnocentric curriculum favours one group’s history and language (Coard, 1971) [1]. Economic demands: human capital theory leads governments to push science and vocational subjects [1]. Gender: Spender (1982) argued the curriculum left out women’s contributions [1]. The hidden curriculum also shapes what is learned [1]. Evaluation: functionalists see a shared curriculum as building solidarity [1]. Many curricula now include more diverse content, though critics question how deep the change goes [1]. A possible judgement: power links the other factors, because those with power decide which culture, status and economic needs count [1]. [12] Examiner insight: Cover each named factor from the question and then rank them; listing factors without weighing them stays in the lower levels.

Where marks are usually lost

• Giving one detailed point when the question asks for two or three.
• Ignoring the source in Questions 5 and 9, so answers read as general essays.
• In Question 6, not quoting figures, or confusing percentages with percentage points.
• Arguing for a view when the question asks for arguments against it.
• Describing theories in turn with no evaluation or comparison.
• Confusing absolute and relative mobility.
• Treating cultural capital as money.
• Ending an evaluate or to-what-extent essay without a reasoned judgement.

Next steps

• Check gaps in your knowledge with our diagnostics.
• Sharpen your evaluation skills with the Paper 1 socialisation and methods practice questions.
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Official syllabus

These questions are written for the Cambridge International AS & A Level Sociology (9699) syllabus for examination in 2024, 2025 and 2026. Check the latest version on the Cambridge International website; your teacher will confirm anything the syllabus does not print.