Defining and measuring social class P2

Mark scheme, including the levels grid and indicative content

Examiner's comment

The nature of these questions means that students cannot rely on reciting knowledge. Questions will ask them to bring together aspects of their sociological knowledge in ways they have not done before. It is therefore important for students to allow time to think about how to answer the question. Students should be aware that there are two types of ten-mark questions. These have different requirements and different mark schemes. There are different marks available for the assessment objectives. The items for 10 mark “analyse” questions are written to give prompts or “hooks” for student answers. These must be used to access application marks. Answers can indicate use of hooks by quoting, by a reference in parentheses or by wording (e.g. “As the item says…”). Items end with a sentence restating the question; the hooks are in the preceding part of the item. Introductions and conclusions are not required for 10-mark questions, are unlikely to help students and take up time. It is helpful if answers are set out to clearly indicate the two answers, with wording such as “One way/reason is…” or by starting a new paragraph for the second point. Answers that give more than two answers are unlikely to develop two of them sufficiently. The most successful answers to 10-mark questions were focused, clearly stating a point that addressed the question and then developing it, using sociological concepts, evidence such as an example and, where appropriate, theory. Some answers showed difficulty in developing effective answers from the hooks. Examples of the convergence of different types of occupation and how that process might pose issues of categorisation for classifications such as the National Statistics Socio-economic Classification only featured in a minority of answers.

Notes from the mark scheme and report

• item hooks: blurring of manual/non-manual work (occupation as indicator) and rising affluence (blurring class lines)
• few linked this to classification schemes such as NS-SEC
• drift into class in general = 1–3

Mark scheme, including the levels grid and indicative content

Notes from the mark scheme and report

• no marks for evaluation in this question type
• two ways each developed, e.g. hazardous jobs raising morbidity and mortality, professional pay and benefits, insecure gig work, mobility opportunities
• descriptions of occupations = 1–3
• no examiners' report comment for this part

Mark scheme, including the levels grid and indicative content

Examiner's comment

Some students wrote introductory paragraphs and/or conclusions. These are not necessary, and are unlikely to gain additional marks; they also take up time. Some students made only one point in their answers, or three or more, rather than the two asked for. The word ‘two’ is put in bold in the question to try and draw students’ attention to this. Sometimes it was not clear how many points were being made. It is helpful for students to clearly indicate their two answers, with wording such as “One way is…” or by starting a new paragraph for their second point. Notably, some students wrote far more than was needed for a 10-mark response. The two types of 10-mark question, “outline and explain” and “analysis” types, are marked differently as the assessment objectives have different weightings. It is important that students are aware of this. For 10 mark “analyse” questions, the parts of the item being used should be clearly indicated, preferably by exact words being quoted. It is acceptable for two different points to be drawn from one part of the item, but answers which do not use the item cannot access the application marks. The best answers to 10-mark questions were focused, clearly stating a point and then developing it, and used sociological concepts, studies, evidence and theory as appropriate. This was reasonably well answered question for which a variety of responses were made. Most students were able to identify and use the reference included in the item and to go on to analyse two problems, for example those arising from ‘dual occupation households’ and people ‘moving between occupations’ or having ‘more than one occupation’.

Notes from the mark scheme and report

• item hooks: dual-earner households, people moving between or holding several occupations
• drift into class inequalities = 1–3
• AO split from AQA's standard grid for this paper (this year's mark scheme does not print it).

Mark scheme, including the levels grid and indicative content

Examiner's comment

Some students wrote introductory paragraphs and/or conclusions. These are not necessary, and are unlikely to gain additional marks, and they also take up time. Some students made only one point in their answers, or three or more, rather than the two asked for in the question. Sometimes it was unclear how many points were being made. It is helpful for students to clearly indicate their two answers, with wording such as “One way is…” or by starting a new paragraph for their second point. Evaluation is not a requirement for answers to 10 mark “outline and explain” questions. The marks awarded for the assessment objectives being targeted are different in the two types of ten mark questions, and students should be made aware of this. The best answers to 10 mark questions were focused, clearly stating a point and then developing it, using sociological concepts, evidence and theory where appropriate. In some questions students tended to focus on the first aspect of the question at the expense of the second. Students need guidance on how to approach these questions and how to best demonstrate their sociological understanding. The nature of these questions means that students cannot rely on reciting knowledge. These questions will ask them to bring together aspects of their sociological knowledge in a way that they are unlikely to have done before. Most responses went for migration causing an underclass and consumer goods either increasing or decreasing the gap between rich and poor. Overall there was limited evidence that ‘class structure’ was well understood. Migrants were variously seen as skilled or, more frequently, unskilled who thus added to the working or middle class. Some better answers discussed the formation of a transnational ruling class.

Notes from the mark scheme and report

• two developed applications from Item O (consumer society, economic migration), e.g. consumption replacing production as basis of class identity, migrant underclass
• drift into other effects of globalisation is a tangent
• 'class structure' poorly understood
• better answers discussed a transnational capitalist class
• AO split from AQA's standard grid for this paper (this year's mark scheme does not print it).

Mark scheme, including the levels grid and indicative content

Notes from the mark scheme and report

• top band e.g. class position shaped by factors beyond occupation, occupational status itself shaped by racism
• analysis of labour-market discrimination
• Marxist and Weberian ideas (racialised class fractions, underclass, dual labour market) creditable
• general class inequality = 1–3 band