Last Updated on October 26, 2026 by Karl Thompson
This is normally the first topic taught as part of the sociology of education module within A-level sociology.
Perspectives on the role of education covers the first bullet point on the AQA A-level sociology specification for education: the role and functions of the education system, including its relationship to the economy and to class structure.
Perspectives on education are assessed on AQA Paper 1 (7192/1): Education with Theory and Methods — one of the three papers outlined on my revision and exam advice page.
Use this checklist to make sure you’ve covered everything. Each sub-topic links to its own post.
Perspectives on Education: Main Sub-Topics
- The Functionalist perspective, including Durkheim and Parsons
- The social democratic perspective
- The Marxist perspective, including Bowles and Gintis and Paul Willis
- The New Right and neoliberal perspectives
- The postmodernist perspective
- The impact of globalisation on education
- The relationship between education, the economy and work
For all of these on one page, see the summary grid of sociological perspectives on education. For how functionalism and Marxism compare, see Functionalism vs Marxism.
Key concepts
You need to be able to define the following key concepts, explain which perspective each belongs to, and use them to evaluate one perspective against another.
- Ideological state apparatus
- Repressive state apparatus
- Ideological tool
- Dominant ideology
- Correspondence principle
- The hidden/informal curriculum
- Marketisation
- Parentocracy
- Voucher system
- Value consensus
- Role allocation
- Particularistic standards
- Universalistic standards
- Specialist skills
- Social solidarity
- Meritocracy
- National identity
- Human capital
For definitions of these key concepts please see my education key concepts page.
Real AQA exam questions on this topic
On Paper 1, the education section has four types of question: a 4-mark question asking you to outline two things, a 6-mark question asking you to outline three, a 10-mark ‘applying material from Item A, analyse two…’ question, and a 30-mark essay with an Item.
- June 2023, Q01: Outline two similarities between the functionalist and Marxist views of education. [4 marks]
- June 2020 (sat November 2020), Q02: Outline three functions that the education system performs for society. [6 marks]
- June 2017, Q04: Applying material from Item B and your knowledge, evaluate sociological explanations of the role of education in transmitting ideas and values. [30 marks]
- June 2024, Q04: Applying material from Item B and your knowledge, evaluate the usefulness of Marxist perspectives in understanding the role of education. [30 marks]
More practice questions
These are practice questions in the AQA format, not past paper questions.
- Outline two ways in which education might transmit the dominant ideology, according to Marxists. (4 marks)
- Outline two ways in which education might benefit males, according to feminists. (4 marks)
- Outline two similarities between the functionalist and New Right perspectives on education. (4 marks)
- Applying material from Item A, analyse two ways in which education might contribute to the maintenance of society as a whole. (10 marks)
- Applying material from Item A, analyse two ways in which the education system has changed in response to globalisation. (10 marks)
- Applying material from Item A, analyse two effects of increased parental choice on pupils’ experience of education. (10 marks)
- Applying material from Item B and your knowledge, evaluate the functionalist perspective on the role of education in society. (30 marks)
Signposting and other relevant posts
For links to further posts on perspectives on education, please see my sociology of education page.
For advice on how to answer short answer questions and the essay questions above, see the Paper 1 section of my page on revision and exam advice.
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