What came up: June 2025

June 2025 is the latest series the board has released publicly (AQA is expected to release the June 2026 papers after the summer 2027 exams).

The most recent series, question by question. Use it to see which topics carried the essays and which were examined only through short questions; the essays page shows how far back each title was last set.

AS Paper 1 (60 marks)

Essays: Educational policy, marketisation and globalisation, Differential educational achievement: class, gender and ethnicity (Q5)

QTopicMarksType
1Educational policy, marketisation and globalisation2Define
2Processes within schools: labelling, subcultures and the hidden curriculum2Brief explain
3Role and functions of education (functionalist, Marxist, New Right)6Outline
4Differential educational achievement: class, gender and ethnicity10Outline and explain
5Educational policy, marketisation and globalisation, Differential educational achievement: class, gender and ethnicity20Essay
6Methods in Context: research methods applied to education, Research methods: questionnaires, interviews, observation, experiments, documents and official statistics, Primary and secondary data, quantitative and qualitative data20Methods in context

AS Paper 2 (180 marks)

Essays: Research methods: questionnaires, interviews, observation, experiments, documents and official statistics, Positivism, interpretivism and social facts, Theoretical, practical and ethical issues in research (Q2); Socialisation and the agencies of socialisation (Q7); The family, social structure, the economy and state policies (Q12); Medicine, the health professions and the globalised health industry (Q17); Responses and solutions to poverty: the state and welfare providers, The nature, existence and persistence of poverty (Q22)

QTopicMarksType
1Theoretical, practical and ethical issues in research4Outline
2Research methods: questionnaires, interviews, observation, experiments, documents and official statistics, Positivism, interpretivism and social facts, Theoretical, practical and ethical issues in research16Essay
3Conceptions of culture: subculture, mass, folk, high, popular and global culture2Define
4Self, identity and difference2Brief explain
5Conceptions of culture: subculture, mass, folk, high, popular and global culture6Outline
6Identity and age, disability, ethnicity, gender, nationality, sexuality and class10Outline and explain
7Socialisation and the agencies of socialisation20Essay
8Gender roles, domestic labour and power in the family2Define
9Marriage, divorce, cohabitation and family diversity2Brief explain
10Marriage, divorce, cohabitation and family diversity, Gender roles, domestic labour and power in the family6Outline
11Gender roles, domestic labour and power in the family, Marriage, divorce, cohabitation and family diversity10Outline and explain
12The family, social structure, the economy and state policies20Essay
13Health inequalities by class, gender, ethnicity and region2Define
14The social construction of health, illness, disability and the body2Brief explain
15Mental illness6Outline
16Health inequalities by class, gender, ethnicity and region, Inequalities in the provision of and access to health care10Outline and explain
17Medicine, the health professions and the globalised health industry20Essay
18The nature, existence and persistence of poverty2Define
19The distribution of poverty, wealth and income2Brief explain
20Work, worklessness and life chances6Outline
21The labour process: division of labour, technology and deskilling10Outline and explain
22Responses and solutions to poverty: the state and welfare providers, The nature, existence and persistence of poverty20Essay

Paper 1 (80 marks)

Essays: Role and functions of education (functionalist, Marxist, New Right) (Q4)

QTopicMarksType
1Educational policy, marketisation and globalisation4Outline
2Differential educational achievement: class, gender and ethnicity6Outline
3Processes within schools: labelling, subcultures and the hidden curriculum, Differential educational achievement: class, gender and ethnicity10Analyse
4Role and functions of education (functionalist, Marxist, New Right)30Essay
5Methods in Context: research methods applied to education, Research methods: questionnaires, interviews, observation, experiments, documents and official statistics, Theoretical, practical and ethical issues in research20Methods in context
6Positivism, interpretivism and social facts, Quantitative and qualitative methods and research design10Outline and explain

Paper 2 (320 marks)

Essays: Socialisation and the agencies of socialisation (Q3); Childhood and the changing status of children (Q6); The social construction of health, illness, disability and the body (Q9); The labour process: division of labour, technology and deskilling (Q12); Religion, social change and social stability, Ideology, science and religion (Q15); Aid, trade, industrialisation, urbanisation, environment and war, Development, underdevelopment and global inequality (modernisation and dependency theory) (Q18); The new media, The media, globalisation and popular culture (Q21); Class, status, power and life chances, Stratification and differentiation by class, gender, ethnicity and age (Q24)

QTopicMarksType
1Identity, production, consumption and globalisation, Identity and age, disability, ethnicity, gender, nationality, sexuality and class10Outline and explain
2Conceptions of culture: subculture, mass, folk, high, popular and global culture, Identity, production, consumption and globalisation10Analyse
3Socialisation and the agencies of socialisation20Essay
4Marriage, divorce, cohabitation and family diversity, The family, social structure, the economy and state policies10Outline and explain
5The family, social structure, the economy and state policies, Marriage, divorce, cohabitation and family diversity10Analyse
6Childhood and the changing status of children20Essay
7Medicine, the health professions and the globalised health industry, Health inequalities by class, gender, ethnicity and region, Inequalities in the provision of and access to health care10Outline and explain
8Mental illness10Analyse
9The social construction of health, illness, disability and the body20Essay
10The labour process: division of labour, technology and deskilling, Work, worklessness and life chances10Outline and explain
11Responses and solutions to poverty: the state and welfare providers, The nature, existence and persistence of poverty10Analyse
12The labour process: division of labour, technology and deskilling20Essay
13Secularisation and the global spread of religion, Religion and social groups: gender, ethnicity, age and class10Outline and explain
14Religious organisations: churches, sects, cults and New Age movements10Analyse
15Religion, social change and social stability, Ideology, science and religion20Essay
16Employment, education, health, demography and gender in development, Globalisation and development10Outline and explain
17Employment, education, health, demography and gender in development, Development, underdevelopment and global inequality (modernisation and dependency theory)10Analyse
18Aid, trade, industrialisation, urbanisation, environment and war, Development, underdevelopment and global inequality (modernisation and dependency theory)20Essay
19Ownership and control of the media, Media representations of age, class, ethnicity, gender, sexuality and disability10Outline and explain
20Media representations of age, class, ethnicity, gender, sexuality and disability, The media and audiences10Analyse
21The new media, The media, globalisation and popular culture20Essay
22Social mobility10Outline and explain
23Defining and measuring social class, Changing structures of inequality and the transnational capitalist class10Analyse
24Class, status, power and life chances, Stratification and differentiation by class, gender, ethnicity and age20Essay

Paper 3 (80 marks)

Essays: Crime, deviance, social order and social control, Crime by ethnicity, gender and social class (Q4); Theory and methods, value freedom and social policy (Q6)

QTopicMarksType
1Crime, deviance, social order and social control4Outline
2Globalisation, the media, green crime and state crime, Crime by ethnicity, gender and social class6Outline
3Crime control, surveillance, punishment and victims10Analyse
4Crime, deviance, social order and social control, Crime by ethnicity, gender and social class30Essay
5Primary and secondary data, quantitative and qualitative data, Theoretical, practical and ethical issues in research10Outline and explain
6Theory and methods, value freedom and social policy20Essay

This page regenerates when the next series is added.

Work with an AQA sociology tutor

Want next summer's papers gone through topic by topic? Message us.

Prefer email? Send an enquiry

If you are under 18, please include a parent's contact details. Enquiries go to enquiries@alevelsociologytutor.com and are deleted once handled. All tutoring is online.