A Level Sociology – Outline Questions (4 and 6 Marks, Education Paper 1)

Last Updated on November 3, 2026 by Karl Thompson

The first two questions on AQA A-level Sociology Paper 1 (7192/1) are short ‘outline’ questions: Question 01 asks you to outline two things for 4 marks, and Question 02 asks you to outline three things for 6 marks. The same two question types open the crime and deviance section of Paper 3.

This post explains how they’re marked, shows you a real answer marked by AQA’s examiners, lists every Question 01 and 02 AQA has set on Paper 1 since 2017, and finishes with some practice questions and answers.

How the questions work

The wording is always the same: Outline two… [4 marks] or Outline three… [6 marks]. What follows is usually ways, reasons, factors or criticisms.

The mark scheme for both questions follows the same pattern every year. This is Question 01 from June 2021:

Two marks for each of two appropriate ways clearly outlined, or one mark for each appropriate way partially outlined.

Other relevant material should be credited.

No marks for no relevant points.

Question 02 is the same, with three in place of two, and “ways” changes to whatever the question asks for (reasons, factors, criticisms). In other words, these are 1+1 questions: one mark for identifying a point, and one more for explaining it. So:

• 4 marks = 2 × (1+1). Six minutes.
• 6 marks = 3 × (1+1). Nine minutes.

Both questions test knowledge and understanding, and the 6-marker also tests application. Neither carries any marks for evaluation, so don’t criticise your own points, and don’t write an introduction or a conclusion.

The ‘outline’ half of each point earns the first mark. The second mark comes from saying how or why: how the factor affects achievement, how the policy produces inequality, how the function is performed. Students lose more marks by missing the +1 than by choosing the wrong points.

A real example: marked by AQA’s examiners

This is Question 02 from the June 2017 Paper 1, with a student’s answer as AQA’s examiners marked it.

Outline three ways in which factors within schools may shape gender differences in subject choice. [6 marks]

The mark scheme

Two marks for each of three appropriate ways clearly outlined or one mark for each appropriate way partially outlined, such as:

• peer group pressure (1 mark); leads to girls and boys choosing subjects which reflect stereotypical gender identities (+1 mark)
• career advice (1 mark); for example, girls are more likely to choose childcare courses, because childcare jobs are seen as female (+1 mark)
• subject counselling (1 mark); teachers may channel boys and girls into different subject choices in relation to their own gender stereotypes (+1 mark)
• learning resources may include gender stereotypes (1 mark); for example, science may be represented as a mainly male activity
• gender of teachers (1 mark); for example, males may pick science as a subject because the teachers are more likely to be men (+1 mark).

Other relevant material should be credited.

No marks for no relevant points.

The marked answer

What I make of it

This is an excellent example of just how specific you need to be to get the marks:

• For the first point, it may look like the candidate has got 1+1, but they haven’t, because they haven’t really explained a specific effect of GIST. The explanation is too vague!
• The second point, about the national curriculum, clearly gets the marks because it has a very specific explaining sentence tagged on.
• The last point, about labelling, clearly has no explanation.

NB: this is a good example of how you should ‘present’ your answer. Separate the three points clearly, and say ‘one way’, ‘another way’. Even better, use three bullet points for the three points.

Question: What would you do to get the two ‘missing’ +1s? Comments below please!

Every Question 01 and 02 on Paper 1, 2017–2025

These are the real questions, in AQA’s exact wording. Where a post on this site answers one, the question links to it.

Question 01 (4 marks)

Paper	Question
June 2025	Outline two ways in which globalisation has affected schools in the UK.
June 2024	Outline two advantages of vocational education.
June 2023	Outline two similarities between the functionalist and Marxist views of education.
June 2022	Outline two ways in which schools may promote competition between pupils.
June 2021 (sat November 2021)	Outline two ways in which globalisation may have had an influence on educational policies in the UK.
June 2020 (sat November 2020)	Outline two factors external to schools that may affect social class differences in educational achievement.
June 2019	Outline two criticisms of schools selecting pupils by ability.
June 2018	Outline two reasons why marketisation policies may produce inequality of educational achievement between social classes.
June 2017	Outline two cultural factors that may affect ethnic differences in educational achievement.

Question 02 (6 marks)

Paper	Question
June 2025	Outline three reasons for social class differences in who goes to university.
June 2024	Outline three reasons why parental choice may be limited when selecting a school for their child.
June 2023	Outline three criticisms of marketisation policies in education.
June 2022	Outline three ways in which the education system may be seen as patriarchal.
June 2021 (sat November 2021)	Outline three reasons why some working-class boys join anti-school subcultures.
June 2020 (sat November 2020)	Outline three functions that the education system performs for society.
June 2019	Outline three ways in which the characteristics of schools may be similar to the characteristics of workplaces.
June 2018	Outline three reasons for gender differences in educational achievement.
June 2017	Outline three ways in which factors within schools may shape gender differences in subject choice. (The marked answer above.)

Two more examples, from AQA’s specimen paper, are worked through on my Paper 1 overview.

Practice questions with answers

These four are practice questions in AQA’s format, not past paper questions. Under each one I’ve named the nearest real AQA question. In the full answers, (ID) marks the ‘identify’ part of each point (1 mark) and (EX) marks the explanation (+1 mark).

Outline two ways in which material deprivation may affect educational achievement (4 marks)

Nearest real questions: “Outline two factors external to schools that may affect social class differences in educational achievement” (June 2020), and “Outline two material factors that may affect social class differences in educational achievement” (AQA specimen paper).

Suggested points. You need to add in the explanations as to HOW these factors have a negative effect on educational achievement.

• Smaller, overcrowded houses
• Poor diets and higher levels of sickness
• Fewer or no educational books, toys or computers at home
• Parents can’t afford to support children in education after 16
• Less access to nursery facilities
• Working-class pupils are more likely to have part-time jobs
• Schools in working-class areas may have fewer resources than schools in middle-class areas
• Selection by mortgage
• Can’t afford private tutors

Suggested full answers (outlining and explaining two ways)

• (ID) Low income means families will live in smaller houses, which could mean there is no private study space, or children may even have to share bedrooms. (EX) This means there is no quiet space for children to do homework, which could result in them falling behind at school.
• (ID) Children from low-income households are more likely to have poor diets, the low nutritional content of which could result in higher levels of sickness. (EX) This could result in them having time off school, which could have a detrimental effect on their education.

For the theory behind these, see my post on material deprivation and education.

Outline two ways in which cultural deprivation may affect educational achievement (4 marks)

Nearest real question: “Outline two factors external to schools that may affect social class differences in educational achievement” (June 2020). Cultural factors are external to schools too.

Suggested full answers (outlining and explaining two ways)

• (ID) Working-class pupils are more likely to have immediate gratification (wanting to work straight after school to earn money immediately). (EX) This explains working-class underachievement because working-class pupils are more likely to want to earn money as soon as they finish their GCSEs, which means they are less likely to stay on in further education.
• (ID) The working classes are more likely to be fatalistic, which is where people resign themselves to the fact that they can’t improve their lot in life. (EX) This explains working-class underachievement because they think they are inevitably going to go into working-class jobs, so don’t try hard at school as there is no point.

For where these ideas come from, and the criticisms of them, see my post on cultural deprivation and education.

Outline three reasons why girls are now generally out-performing boys in education (6 marks)

Nearest real question: “Outline three reasons for gender differences in educational achievement” (June 2018).

Suggested full answers (outlining and explaining three ways)

• (ID) Coursework: GCSEs, first examined in 1988, included a large amount of coursework. (EX) This is often argued to have helped girls, who were more likely than boys to be organised and persistent over a long piece of work. Most GCSE coursework was removed in the reforms that began in 2015, so this reason does more to explain why the gap opened than why it continues today.
• (ID) Changes in the family, such as more divorce, (EX) have given girls a greater incentive to gain useful qualifications, as they cannot now expect to be full-time housewives permanently provided for by their husbands.
• (ID) Changes in the labour market, such as greater numbers of women working and more opportunities for promotion, (EX) have given girls more role models and the inspiration to achieve qualifications with which to pursue a career.

For more on this, see my post on explaining the gender gap in education.

Outline three reasons why girls are less likely to choose science subjects than boys (6 marks)

Nearest real question: “Outline three ways in which factors within schools may shape gender differences in subject choice” (June 2017, the marked answer above). There’s a full answer to this practice question on my post on why girls are less likely to choose science subjects.

Suggested points. You need to add in the explanations in most cases.

• Teachers’ sexist ideas channelling girls into ‘girls’ subjects’
• Science taught in a male way using male examples (engines), putting girls off
• Differential parental encouragement
• Boys more likely to play with technical toys
• Fewer girls in textbooks
• Fewer female science teachers
• Boys dominate the classroom by dominating practical equipment

Suggested full answers (outlining and explaining three ways)

• (ID) Teachers may have stereotypical ideas that girls would struggle in male-dominated subjects such as physics, (EX) and they may try and put them off, steering them towards other, more traditionally feminine subjects such as English, meaning fewer girls end up doing science subjects.
• (ID) Science subjects are often taught using masculine examples: for example, physics textbooks might use cars to illustrate the laws of motion. (EX) This might put girls off doing physics because they have no interest in the masculine examples used to teach these subjects.
• (ID) Girls are more likely to be socialised into discussing their feelings, (EX) and thus they might be more likely to choose subjects such as history and English where you need to discuss things more, rather than sciences where there is less discussion and ‘one right answer’.

For the full picture, see my post on gender and subject choice.

KT’s Commentary

These are the cheapest marks on the paper, and the marked answer above shows exactly how students throw them away. Two of its three points name something sensible, and only one of them says what that thing actually does. The examiner can’t give you the +1 for an explanation you meant to write.

A good habit is to make the second sentence of each point start with “This means…” or “This leads to…”. If you can’t finish that sentence specifically, you haven’t got the second mark yet.

And keep it short. Six minutes for the 4-marker and nine for the 6-marker. Everything you write beyond that comes out of the 30-mark essay.

Sociology of Education Revision Bundle

Signposting and Related Posts

This post has been written for students sitting AQA A-level sociology Paper 1, specification 7192/1.

• More 4 and 6 mark practice questions, on the perspectives on education, with a marking exercise
• AQA A-level sociology Paper 1: every question type, with timings
• The 10 mark question with an item
• Exam advice, short answer questions and essays for all three papers

Sources

Questions and mark schemes: AQA A-level Sociology 7192/1, Paper 1 Education with Theory and Methods, question papers and mark schemes, June 2017 to June 2025. Marked answer: AQA, A-level Sociology, Feedback on the Examinations, Student responses and commentaries: Paper 1 7192/1 Education with Theory and Methods, published Autumn 2017. AQA’s past papers are available from the AQA past paper finder. AQA material is reproduced for educational purposes.

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