Education Key Concepts: A–Z Glossary

Last Updated on November 3, 2026 by Karl Thompson

Definitions of the key concepts for the education topic in AQA A-level sociology, Paper 1 (7192/1), from the A-C economy to vocationalism. Each definition is short enough to use in a 4 or 6 mark answer, and each one links to the post where the concept is explained in full.

Most of these concepts come from the education module, but many are useful elsewhere in the course too. For the topic as a whole, see my sociology of education page.

Jump to: A · B · C · D · E · F · G · H · I · L · M · N · O · P · R · S · T · U · V

A

A-C economy

Gillborn and Youdell’s term for schools concentrating their resources on pupils just below the borderline of five A*–C grades at GCSE, because that was the measure schools were judged on, rather than on the most able pupils or those unlikely to reach it.

GCSEs are now graded 9–1 and schools are judged on different measures, such as the share of pupils reaching grade 4 or 5 in English and maths, but the same logic can apply to any borderline.

Revise it: Gillborn and Youdell: Rationing Education

Academies

State-funded schools that receive their funding directly from the government rather than through the local council, and are run by an academy trust. They don’t have to follow the national curriculum.

Revise it: Academies in England and Wales

Achieved status

Where individuals gain their social position through their own efforts, rather than that position being based on ascribed characteristics such as their ethnicity or their class background.

Revise it: Meritocracy and education

Ascribed status

Where an individual’s position in society is fixed by their birth or social characteristics. The clearest example in the UK is the monarchy: the monarch inherits the position by birth.

Revise it: Meritocracy and education

B

Banding

Grouping pupils by ability across all subjects, in broad bands. Streaming is a stricter version of the same thing; setting groups pupils by ability subject by subject.

Revise it: Setting and streaming

C

Canalisation

Channelling children towards toys, activities and interests seen as suitable for their gender. It starts in the family, and helps explain why boys and girls arrive at school with different interests that later shape their subject choices.

Revise it: Feminist perspectives on socialisation

Compensatory education

Education policies which provide additional money or resources for pupils facing cultural or material deprivation. The idea is that the extra help overcomes disadvantage and raises achievement.

Revise it: Compensatory education

Comprehensive school

A non-selective state school for all pupils, whatever their ability.

Revise it: Selection policies in education

Comprehensivisation

The replacement of the selective tripartite system with comprehensive schools, which began after Circular 10/65 in 1965. A small number of grammar schools remain.

Revise it: Social democratic perspectives on education

Core values

The fundamental ideas about how we should act in society which, according to functionalists, are taught to children in schools as part of secondary socialisation. Core values might include a belief in meritocracy, punctuality and politeness: the kind of values functionalists see as necessary to keep society working.

Marxists and postmodernists question whether shared core values exist, and whose interests they serve.

Revise it: The functionalist perspective on education

Correspondence principle

Bowles and Gintis’s (1976) idea that the norms and values pupils learn at school correspond to those they will need at work, preparing them for their future exploitation.

For example, pupils learn to put up with boring lessons to get good grades, focusing on the reward at the end rather than the joy of learning itself. This corresponds to putting up with dull work for the pay packet at the end of the month.

Revise it: Bowles and Gintis: the correspondence principle

Counter-school culture

A pupil group whose norms and values are in direct opposition to those of the school, such as valuing messing around and ‘having a laugh’ over working hard. Status within the group comes from breaking the school’s rules. The best-known study is Paul Willis’s (1977) Learning to Labour. See also subculture.

Revise it: Paul Willis: Learning to Labour

Cream-skimming

Where popular schools are able to select the most able and motivated pupils, who are disproportionately middle class, improving their results further. The opposite of silt-shifting.

Revise it: The 1988 Education Reform Act

Crisis of masculinity

The argument that the decline of traditional male manual jobs has left some working-class boys unsure of their role, which may lower their motivation at school.

Revise it: Explaining the gender gap in education

Cultural capital

Pierre Bourdieu’s term for the knowledge, attitudes, skills and tastes of the dominant culture, which middle-class families pass on to their children.

Bourdieu, usually classed as a neo-Marxist, used it to explain why middle-class pupils achieve more: they share the culture of the school, so they have an advantage from the start, and middle-class families are able to pass their position on to their children.

Revise it: Cultural capital and educational achievement

Cultural deprivation

The theory that some groups, particularly the working class, lack the norms, values, skills and knowledge needed to succeed in education. Cultural deprivation theorists pointed to language, parents’ attitudes to education and immediate gratification.

Critics argue the theory blames working-class families for their own disadvantage, and that their culture is different rather than deficient.

Revise it: The effect of cultural deprivation on education

Cycle of deprivation

Where one form of disadvantage leads to others, so that poverty continues, often across generations. For example, being poor means a poor diet, which means more sickness, which means more time off work, which means more poverty.

Revise it: Material deprivation and education

D

Deferred gratification

Delaying an immediate reward and working hard now in order to receive a greater reward in the future. The opposite of immediate gratification.

Revise it: The effect of cultural deprivation on education

Deterministic

An explanation is deterministic if it assumes people are shaped entirely by forces outside their control. Labelling theory is often criticised as deterministic, because it assumes a label always produces the same effect (the pupil accepts it), ignoring the fact that pupils respond to labels in different ways.

Revise it: Labelling theory and the self-fulfilling prophecy

Disconnected choosers

Parents, usually working class, who choose a school largely on practical grounds, such as how close it is, rather than researching the options. Part of the typology of choosers associated with Gewirtz, Ball and Bowe (1995). The opposite of skilled choosers.

Revise it: Unequal parental choice

Division of labour

Where work is broken down into many small, specialised tasks to improve efficiency. For functionalists, a complex division of labour is why education needs to teach specialist skills.

Revise it: Durkheim’s perspective on education

E

Education Action Zones

A New Labour policy from 1998: partnerships of schools in deprived areas, run by action forums with businesses and parents, with extra funding. Ofsted (2003) found that business sponsorship had limited success and the effects on results were mixed.

Revise it: Education policy under New Labour

Educational triage

Gillborn and Youdell’s term for schools sorting pupils into those who will pass anyway, those who could pass with help and those seen as hopeless cases, and concentrating resources on the middle group.

Revise it: Gillborn and Youdell: Rationing Education

Elaborated speech code

Bernstein’s term for language with a wide vocabulary and complex sentences, which is context-free and can express abstract ideas. Bernstein associated it with the middle class, and it’s the code schools use. The opposite of the restricted speech code.

Revise it: Bernstein: speech patterns and educational achievement

Endogenous privatisation

Privatisation in public education: bringing business methods inside the state sector, such as competition between schools, targets and performance pay, while the state still runs the schools. Marketisation is the main example. The term is Ball and Youdell’s. Compare exogenous privatisation.

Revise it: Neoliberalism and the privatisation of education

Equality of opportunity

Where everyone has an equal chance to get into the best schools and universities and to achieve good qualifications, competing on a level playing field without being held back by their class, ethnicity, gender or disability.

Revise it: Meritocracy and education

Ethnocentric curriculum

Ethnocentrism means seeing and judging things from the standpoint of one’s own culture. An ethnocentric curriculum treats one culture, usually white British or European culture, as the norm, for example by teaching history from a British rather than an Indian or African perspective.

Revise it: Ethnicity and differential educational achievement: in-school processes

Ethos

The culture of a school, including its expected norms of behaviour, its values and its aspirations for its pupils.

Revise it: The hidden curriculum and school ethos

Exclusions

Where pupils are removed from school for breaking school rules, either for a fixed period (a suspension) or permanently.

Revise it: Why do some children get excluded from school?

Exogenous privatisation

Privatisation of public education: private companies taking over services that used to be run by the state, such as exam boards, school improvement services and learning resources. The term is Ball and Youdell’s. Compare endogenous privatisation.

Revise it: Neoliberalism and the privatisation of education

F

Faith schools

Schools with formal ties to a particular religion. State faith schools follow the national curriculum but choose what they teach in religious studies, and many give priority in admissions to children of their faith.

Revise it: Faith schools in England and Wales

Fatalism

The belief that you can’t change your situation, so there’s no point trying. Barry Sugarman (1966) identified it as one of the values of working-class subculture that disadvantaged working-class pupils at school.

Revise it: The effect of cultural deprivation on education

Feminisation of education

The argument that schools have become more suited to girls, for example through more coursework and more female teachers, and that this helps explain why girls now outperform boys.

Revise it: Explaining gender inequality in education: in-school factors

Free schools

A type of academy, funded by the government but not run by the local council. They’re run on a not-for-profit basis and can be set up by groups such as charities, universities, faith groups, teachers and parents.

Revise it: Free schools: arguments and evidence for and against

G

Gender domains

The activities that boys and girls see as typically the territory of their gender, such as football for boys or dance for girls. They help explain gendered subject choice.

Revise it: Gender and subject choice

Globalisation

The increasing interconnectedness of people and societies across the world.

Revise it: Globalisation and education

Grammar schools

Selective state schools that admit pupils on academic ability, usually through a test at 11 (the 11-plus). They were part of the tripartite system and a small number remain.

Revise it: Grammar schools: arguments for and against

H

Habitus

Bourdieu’s term for the ways of thinking, tastes and expectations that people learn from their class background. Schools reward the middle-class habitus, so working-class pupils can feel that school, or university, is ‘not for the likes of us’.

Revise it: Cultural capital and educational achievement

Hidden curriculum

The norms and values that schools pass on informally, rather than through the subjects on the timetable: teacher attitudes and expectations, rules about punctuality and dress, and the school’s ethos.

Marxists argue the hidden curriculum works against working-class pupils; feminists argue it works against girls.

Revise it: The hidden curriculum and school ethos

Human capital

The skills and knowledge that make workers productive. Human capital theory (Schultz) sees spending on education as an investment that pays off in economic growth.

Revise it: Social democratic perspectives on education

I

Ideal pupil

The picture of a perfect pupil that teachers carry in their heads. Howard Becker’s (1952) research found that teachers judged pupils against this ideal, which middle-class pupils fitted most closely.

Revise it: Class differences in education: the role of in-school factors

Ideological state apparatus

Althusser’s term for institutions, such as education, that maintain capitalism by passing on ideas that make it seem normal and fair, rather than by force.

Schools do this directly, by what they teach and don’t teach, and indirectly, by mirroring the inequality of wider society (teacher–pupil relations, setting and streaming), so that pupils come to see inequality as normal.

Revise it: The Marxist perspective on education

Immediate gratification

Wanting a reward now rather than working for a bigger one later. Barry Sugarman (1966) saw it as part of working-class subculture. The opposite of deferred gratification.

Revise it: The effect of cultural deprivation on education

Independent schools

Private schools that charge fees rather than being funded by the state. They don’t have to follow the national curriculum.

Revise it: Arguments for and against private schools

Institutional racism

Discrimination which is built into the everyday workings of institutions, such as schools, rather than coming from individual prejudice.

Revise it: Are schools institutionally racist?

L

Labelling

Judging a person on the basis of surface characteristics such as their apparent social class, sex or ethnicity, and treating them accordingly.

In education the main labeller is the teacher. Interactionists argue that labels can become self-fulfilling prophecies. (‘Labeling’ is the American spelling.)

Revise it: Labelling theory and the self-fulfilling prophecy

League tables

Published tables of schools’ exam results, which allow schools to be ranked and compared. Secondary school tables have been published in England every year since 1992.

Revise it: Are league tables good for education?

Legitimation of class inequality

The Marxist argument that schools make class inequality seem fair by teaching the myth of meritocracy, so that working-class pupils blame themselves for failing rather than the system.

Revise it: The Marxist perspective on education

M

Marketisation

Making schools compete for pupils, as businesses compete for customers. It was the basic principle behind the 1988 Education Reform Act, which introduced parental choice (open enrolment), formula funding and, later, league tables.

Revise it: The 1988 Education Reform Act

Material deprivation

Where people can’t afford, or lack access to, basic material resources such as adequate food, housing and heating. It can affect achievement through poor diet and health, overcrowding and the hidden costs of schooling.

Revise it: Material deprivation and education

Meritocracy

A system in which what people achieve is based on their ability and effort. In education, it means qualifications reflect intelligence and hard work.

Marxists argue that meritocracy is a myth: achievement reflects class background, material and cultural capital, rather than ability or effort.

Revise it: Meritocracy and education

Motivation by external rewards

Being motivated by the end result rather than the activity itself. In education, it means working for exam results rather than the joy of learning. Part of the correspondence principle.

Revise it: Bowles and Gintis: the correspondence principle

Multicultural education

Education that raises awareness of the different cultures, traditions and religions in a society, usually to promote acceptance of diversity.

Revise it: Policies to combat racism in schools

Myth of meritocracy

The Marxist idea, associated with Bowles and Gintis, that schools are not meritocratic but teach pupils that they are, which legitimates inequality.

Revise it: Meritocracy and education

N

National curriculum

The subjects and content laid down by the government that council-run (maintained) schools must teach. It was introduced by the 1988 Education Reform Act. Academies and private schools don’t have to follow it.

Revise it: The 1988 Education Reform Act

New vocationalism

The expansion of work-related education and training schemes from the 1980s onwards, aimed at preparing young people for work.

Revise it: Evaluate sociological perspectives on vocational education

O

Ofsted

The Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills, which inspects schools in England and publishes reports. It was created by the Education (Schools) Act 1992 and began inspecting in 1993.

Since November 2025, schools have been given report cards graded across several areas on a five-point scale, from ‘exceptional’ to ‘urgent improvement’, rather than a single overall judgement.

Revise it: The education system in England

P

Parentocracy

Literally ‘rule by the parents’: where parents choose which school their children go to, and schools must compete to attract them.

Revise it: Unequal parental choice

Parity of esteem

The idea that different types of school, teaching different subjects, should have equal status. It was the stated aim of the tripartite system, and critics argue it was never achieved.

Revise it: Selection policies in education

Particularistic standards

In Parsons’s theory, the standards by which children are judged within the family, which apply to that particular child (sometimes called particularistic values). School teaches universalistic standards instead.

Revise it: Talcott Parsons’ perspective on education

Passive subservience

Accepting authority and doing what you’re told without questioning it. Bowles and Gintis argue schools produce it, preparing pupils to accept authority at work.

Revise it: Bowles and Gintis: the correspondence principle

Patriarchal ideology

Norms and values that make male domination seem natural, such as the idea that women should be the main carers for children because they give birth to them.

Revise it: The feminist perspective on education

Patriarchy

A system of male domination, in which men have advantages over women.

Revise it: The feminist perspective on education

Polarisation

Moving further apart. The term has two uses in education. Within schools, Lacey used it for the way pupils in different streams split into pro-school and anti-school groups. Between schools, it describes the gap growing between popular and unpopular schools under marketisation.

Revise it: Pupil subcultures

Postmodernisation

The changes associated with the move to a postmodern society, including globalisation, more consumerism, more individual choice and more diversity.

Revise it: Postmodernism and education

Privatisation

Where private businesses become involved in running or supplying education. Ball and Youdell distinguish two kinds: see endogenous privatisation and exogenous privatisation.

Revise it: Neoliberalism and the privatisation of education

Pupil premium

Extra funding given to schools for each disadvantaged pupil, introduced by the Coalition government in 2011.

Revise it: What is the pupil premium and how effective is it?

R

Reproduction of inequality

Where inequality is passed on from one generation to the next. Marxists argue that education reproduces class inequality.

Revise it: The Marxist perspective on education

Restricted speech code

Bernstein’s term for language with a limited vocabulary and simple sentences, which depends on shared context. Bernstein associated it with the working class. The opposite of the elaborated speech code.

Revise it: Bernstein: speech patterns and educational achievement

Role allocation

The functionalist idea that education sifts and sorts pupils into the jobs that suit their abilities, through the qualifications they gain. Society needs the most able people in the most important and demanding jobs, and education makes sure this happens.

Revise it: The functionalist perspective on education

S

Selection by mortgage

Where better-off parents buy or rent homes in the catchment areas of popular schools, which pushes up house prices there and makes those schools harder for poorer families to get into.

Revise it: Unequal parental choice

Self-fulfilling prophecy

Where a prediction comes true because people act as if it were true. In education, a pupil labelled as unlikely to succeed may give up trying, which makes failure more likely.

Revise it: Labelling theory and the self-fulfilling prophecy

Setting

Grouping pupils by ability separately in each subject, so a pupil can be in a top set for maths and a lower set for English.

Revise it: Setting and streaming

Silt-shifting

Where popular schools avoid taking less able pupils, who are disproportionately working class, so those pupils end up concentrated in less popular schools. The opposite of cream-skimming.

Revise it: The 1988 Education Reform Act

Skilled choosers

Parents, usually middle class, who use their economic and cultural capital to research schools and work the admissions system. From the typology associated with Gewirtz, Ball and Bowe (1995). The opposite of disconnected choosers.

Revise it: Unequal parental choice

Social capital

The networks of contacts that people can use to get ahead, for example parents who know how the admissions system works, or who can arrange work experience.

Revise it: Cultural capital and educational achievement

Social solidarity

The sense of belonging to a wider society. For Durkheim, education creates social solidarity by passing on a shared culture, for example through teaching a common history.

It’s also built through working together: team sports, school productions and whole-class projects. In functionalist theory, school is the first place most children feel this connection to a society beyond their family.

Revise it: Durkheim’s perspective on education

Streaming

Placing pupils in the same ability group for all subjects. Compare banding and setting.

Revise it: Setting and streaming

Subculture

A group whose norms and values differ from those of the mainstream. In schools, pupil subcultures can be pro-school or anti-school. See also counter-school culture.

Revise it: Pupil subcultures

Symbolic violence

Bourdieu’s term for the way schools treat the dominant (middle-class) culture as the legitimate one, so that working-class pupils’ culture is devalued and their failure looks like their own fault.

Revise it: Cultural capital and educational achievement

T

Tripartite system

The system introduced after the 1944 Education Act, which sorted pupils at 11 into grammar schools, secondary modern schools and technical schools.

Revise it: Education policies: a summary

U

Universalistic standards

In Parsons’s theory, the standards that apply equally to everyone in wider society, which children learn at school (sometimes called universalistic values). The opposite of particularistic standards.

Revise it: Talcott Parsons’ perspective on education

V

Value consensus

Agreement across a society about its basic values. Functionalists see education as one of the main ways it’s created.

Revise it: The functionalist perspective on education

Vocationalism

Work-related education or training. Vocational education is education or training aimed at a particular type of job or sector, such as construction, hair and beauty or engineering, as opposed to academic education, which is subject-based. Examples include many BTECs, T levels and apprenticeships; some courses mix the two.

Revise it: Evaluate sociological perspectives on vocational education

Using these concepts in the exam

Concepts earn marks on every question on Paper 1. In the 4 and 6 mark outline questions, naming the right concept is often the first mark of each point; in the 10 and 30 mark questions, using concepts accurately is part of what the mark scheme calls “conceptually detailed knowledge”. A definition on its own won’t get you far, though: the marks come from explaining how the concept applies to the question.

Signposting and Related Posts

This post was written to help A-level sociology students revise for the education section of AQA Paper 1 (7192/1).

• AQA A-level sociology Paper 1: every question type, with timings
• The 4 and 6 mark outline questions
• The 10 mark question with an item

Sociology of Education Revision Bundle

Please click here to return to the homepage – ReviseSociology.com