Applying material from Item A, analyse two effects of increased parental choice on pupils’ experience of education.

How to get full marks for a 10 mark ‘item’ question in sociology A-level.

Last Updated on April 8, 2019 by Karl Thompson

Below is an example of an abbreviated (by me) marked response to a 10 mark ‘analyse with the item question’ which achieved a top band-mark, or 9/10.

The example is taken from the 2017 Education with Theory and Methods Paper (paper and mark schemes available from the AQA website) and the specific question is as follows:

The Question with Item 

A-level-sociology-10-mark-question-parental-choice

The Mark Scheme (top band only)

A-level-sociology-10-mark-scheme-top-band

Student Response:

Item A states that ‘there is now a wider range of school factors’ which leads to the introduction of academies and free schools. This increases parental choice as parents can choose to send their children to this wider range of schools. This wider range schools has improved pupils’ experience of education because it means that pupils have a more personalised learning experience – e.g. personalised timetables that can include extra revision for example. The New Right argues that academies have  improved education because they have raised standards through competition, but Marxists argue this has mainly benefited the middle classes because they have the cultural capital to take advantage of the education system.

Additionally, the item states that ‘league tables on school performance are also publicly available’. This has increased parental choice because parents can use them and OFSTED to help make a decision about where to send their child. The New Right argue this changes pupils’ experience of education because schools have to raise standards to attract consumer parents. However, Marxists say this only benefits the middle classes as they have the economic capital which leads to cultural capital, they make a choice effectively. In contrast Gerwertz found that working class parents were disconnected choosers – they sent their child to local school, which means working class children have a negative experience of education because they end up going to the failing schools at the bottom of the league tables.

Examiner Commentary:

Mark: 9/10

Both paragraphs are conceptually detailed with analysis, evaluation and located in a theoretical context.

Thorough knowledge and understanding, evaluation and analysis, application needs to be more developed in paragraph one for maximum marks.

KT’s commentary:

Personally I thought the two paragraphs were a bit repetitive, but there you go.

If you like this sort of thing, you might also like to check out this 5/10 mark response to the same question.

Source:

A-level
SOCIOLOGY
Feedback on the Examinations
Student responses and commentaries: Paper 1 7192/1 Education with Theory and Methods
Published: Autumn 2017

2 thoughts on “Applying material from Item A, analyse two effects of increased parental choice on pupils’ experience of education.”

  1. you are amazing, thanks for caring about disadvantaged pupils, this website has helped me alot <3

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