What comes up, paper by paper
Marks set on each topic area across the three A-level papers in each series, counted from the content each question assesses. Darker cells carry more marks; the right-hand column is the total since the first series. Paper 2 sets 40 marks on every one of its eight topics each series (students answer two), so those rows are steady; the interest is in Education, Crime and Deviance and Theory and Methods, where the balance between Papers 1 and 3 shifts.
| Topic | Jun 17 | Jun 18 | Jun 19 | Nov 20 | Nov 21 | Jun 22 | Jun 23 | Jun 24 | Jun 25 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Education | 56 | 84 | 96 | 80 | 96 | 56 | 60 | 60 | 60 | 648 |
| Methods in Context | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 180 |
| Theory and Methods (Papers 1 and 3; AS Paper 2 research methods) | 80 | 120 | 110 | 110 | 140 | 80 | 100 | 130 | 100 | 970 |
| Culture and Identity | 60 | 60 | 60 | 60 | 80 | 60 | 60 | 60 | 60 | 560 |
| Families and Households | 60 | 60 | 80 | 60 | 60 | 50 | 70 | 60 | 60 | 560 |
| Health | 50 | 50 | 70 | 70 | 50 | 40 | 70 | 40 | 60 | 500 |
| Work, Poverty and Welfare | 70 | 50 | 50 | 60 | 80 | 50 | 80 | 70 | 60 | 570 |
| Beliefs in Society | 70 | 60 | 50 | 70 | 50 | 80 | 70 | 60 | 70 | 580 |
| Global Development | 50 | 50 | 70 | 60 | 60 | 70 | 70 | 80 | 80 | 590 |
| The Media | 50 | 50 | 70 | 80 | 60 | 100 | 60 | 50 | 80 | 600 |
| Stratification and Differentiation | 60 | 80 | 70 | 70 | 70 | 60 | 70 | 60 | 70 | 610 |
| Crime and Deviance | 60 | 54 | 50 | 80 | 80 | 60 | 60 | 90 | 86 | 620 |
June 2025 is the most recent series AQA has published. AQA keeps each summer's papers secure for about a year (the June 2026 papers are expected after the summer 2027 exams), so the data here runs to the latest public series. November 2020 and November 2021 were the autumn series sat in place of the cancelled summer exams, using the papers printed for June 2020 and June 2021.
What came up in the latest papers · Every paper as a timeline
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