AQA GCSE Sociology: Families and Education — 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 available free from your board.

AQA GCSE Sociology (8192)’s live papers have consistently used the same five tariffs — 1, 2, 3, 4 and 12 — across the papers examined for this guide (the specification itself does not publish a closed list of tariffs; this is an empirical pattern from real past papers, not a quoted specification rule) — and each paper is divided into two lettered sections, one per topic, each opening with two multiple-choice questions. This paper follows that shape: Section A on Families, Section B on Education, each ending with an item-based question and a 12-mark extended-response question.

Related: Families and Education revision notes

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Section A: Families

1. Which sociologist is most associated with the concept of “stratified diffusion”?

A. Oakley B. Willmott and Young C. Parsons D. Zaretsky

[1]

2. Which of these is a function of the family identified by functionalists?

A. Reproducing patriarchy B. Primary socialisation C. The hidden curriculum D. Labelling

[1]

3. Identify two types of family other than the nuclear family. [2]

4. Explain three reasons for the increase in divorce since the 1960s. [3]

5. Explain two consequences of divorce for family structure. [4]

6. Item-based question. Item: A sociologist studying two households notes that in one, the couple share housework, childcare and decision-making roughly equally; in the other, the woman does almost all of the domestic work and emotional labour despite also working full-time, while the man makes most major financial decisions.

Using the item and your knowledge, explain two ways sociologists describe and explain the difference between these two households. [4]

7. Evaluate the view that the family remains a patriarchal institution despite claims that conjugal roles have become more equal. [12]

Section B: Education

8. Which sociologist is associated with the “correspondence principle”?

A. Durkheim B. Bowles and Gintis C. Halsey D. Willis

[1]

9. Which of these is an example of an internal, in-school factor affecting achievement?

A. Material deprivation B. Cultural capital C. Labelling D. Parental attitudes

[1]

10. Identify two external, out-of-school factors that can affect educational achievement. [2]

11. Explain the difference between the functionalist and Marxist views of the role of education. [3]

12. Explain two in-school factors that contribute to differential educational achievement by social class. [4]

13. Item-based question. Item: A group of working-class boys at a secondary school describe lessons as “pointless” and say that having a laugh with their mates matters more than getting good grades. Several have already decided they will follow their fathers into manual work after leaving school.

Using the item and your knowledge, explain how sociologists would describe and explain the boys’ attitude to school. [4]

14. Evaluate the view that factors inside school are more important than factors outside school in explaining class differences in educational achievement. [12]

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Answers

1. B — Willmott and Young. Their symmetrical family thesis rests on stratified diffusion: the idea that social changes spread downward from higher to lower social classes over time.

2. B — Primary socialisation.

3. Any two: extended — includes relatives beyond the nuclear family, either vertically (grandparents) or horizontally (aunts, uncles) [1]; reconstituted (blended) — a stepfamily formed when partners with children from previous relationships live together [1]; lone-parent — one parent living with dependent children [1]. (Also accept: same-sex family, single-person household, beanpole family.)

4. Any three, 1 mark each: changes in the law — the Divorce Reform Act 1969 allowed “irretrievable breakdown” and later reforms made divorce cheaper and simpler, so divorce became more accessible, not necessarily because marriages became less happy [1]. Changing social attitudes and secularisation — divorce carries far less stigma, and religious opposition has weakened, so couples are more willing to end an unhappy marriage [1]. Women’s economic independence — as more women work and can support themselves, they are less financially trapped in an unsatisfactory marriage [1]. Higher expectations of marriage — couples now expect emotional fulfilment and companionship, so are less tolerant of an empty-shell marriage [1].

5. Any two, 2 marks each: an increase in lone-parent families, most headed by women, which is associated with a higher risk of poverty [1] [1]. An increase in reconstituted families, as divorced people remarry or cohabit, creating step-relationships and more complex household structures [1] [1]. An increase in single-person households, contributing to a rise in the total number of households and to demand for housing [1] [1].

6. The item describes joint conjugal roles (the first household, sharing housework, childcare and decisions roughly equally) versus segregated conjugal roles with a triple shift (the second household, where the woman combines paid work with the bulk of domestic and emotional labour) [1] [1]. Willmott and Young’s symmetrical family thesis would explain the first household as evidence that conjugal roles are converging, spreading via stratified diffusion; feminists would point to the second household as evidence that symmetry is more apparent than real: Oakley found women still carried most domestic work (the dual burden), and Duncombe and Marsden added emotional work to paid work and housework (the triple shift) [1] [1].

7. Indicative content — award up to 12 marks by levels, using the level descriptors in AQA’s published mark schemes for 8192 (the specification itself contains none); look for a developed, evaluative argument rather than a checklist of points, so nothing below carries an individual mark value. For “patriarchal”: feminists point to the persistence of the dual burden and triple shift even where couples describe their roles as shared, and to unequal decision-making power over major financial matters. Against: the symmetrical family thesis (Willmott and Young) and its principle of stratified diffusion argue that joint conjugal roles have spread through the class structure over time, and postmodernists would add that family structures and role divisions are now a matter of individual choice rather than a fixed patriarchal pattern. Evaluation: strong answers weigh survey evidence on time spent on domestic labour against the risk that self-reported “sharing” understates real inequality, and consider whether apparent equality in decision-making about everyday matters coexists with continued male dominance over major financial decisions.

8. B — Bowles and Gintis.

9. C — Labelling.

10. Any two: material deprivation (housing, diet, equipment, study space) [1]; cultural deprivation/parental attitudes (language codes, attitudes to education) [1]. (Also accept: cultural capital, Halsey’s research on class-based inequality in achievement.)

11. Functionalists see education as meritocratic role allocation, sorting people fairly into jobs suited to their ability [1]; Marxists reply that this is a myth of meritocracy — the hidden curriculum and correspondence principle (Bowles and Gintis) instead reproduce class inequality by preparing pupils to accept their place in an unequal workforce [1] [1].

12. Any two, 2 marks each: labelling — teachers form expectations of pupils based partly on class and appearance, which can become a self-fulfilling prophecy as pupils live up or down to the label [1] [1]. Setting and streaming — working-class pupils are disproportionately placed in lower sets, which are taught a restricted curriculum by less experienced staff, limiting attainment [1] [1]. (Also accept: anti-school subcultures; Bernstein’s elaborated/restricted speech codes.)

13. The boys in the item are forming an anti-school subculture — Willis’s study of a group of working-class boys is the specification’s named example of exactly this pattern, finding that pupils denied status through academic success instead sought status from their peers by rejecting the school’s values, seeing manual work rather than qualifications as their realistic future [1] [1]. This is an in-school explanation of differential achievement (Willis writes from a Marxist perspective): rather than being caused directly by material deprivation, underachievement here is shown as the outcome of pupils’ own response to how school makes them feel about their prospects within it [1] [1].

14. Indicative content — award up to 12 marks by levels, using the level descriptors in AQA’s published mark schemes for 8192, so nothing below carries an individual mark value. In-school factors: labelling and the self-fulfilling prophecy, setting and streaming, and anti-school subcultures (Willis) can depress achievement independently of a pupil’s home circumstances. Out-of-school factors: material deprivation, cultural deprivation and cultural capital, and Halsey’s research on class-based inequality in achievement, show that a pupil’s chances can be shaped well before they enter the classroom. Ball is a useful bridge here, named on both sides of the divide — on parental choice and competition between schools as an external factor, and on teacher expectations as an internal one. Evaluation: strong answers argue the two categories interact rather than compete — for example, material deprivation outside school can contribute to the very behaviour that gets a pupil labelled inside it — so “more important” claims should be treated cautiously rather than settled definitively.

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Where marks are usually lost

• Saying divorce increased “because people are less religious” without explaining the mechanism.
• Confusing an increase in divorce with an increase in marital unhappiness.
• Describing the hidden curriculum as the subjects taught.
• Naming a general idea (anti-school subculture, class-based inequality) without the specific study the specification attaches to it (Willis; Halsey; Ball).
• Treating the New Right view as neutral description rather than a value-laden judgement about which family type is “ideal”.
• On the item-based questions, describing the item’s scenario without linking it explicitly to a named sociological concept or study.