Last Updated on November 2, 2026 by Karl Thompson
The 10-mark ‘applying material from Item A’ question is Question 03 on AQA A-level Sociology Paper 1 (7192/1), Education with Theory and Methods. This post explains how the question works and how it’s marked, shows you a real student answer marked by AQA’s examiners, and lists every Question 03 AQA has set since 2017.
The same format of 10-mark question also appears in both sections of Paper 2 and on Paper 3, so the advice below applies there too. For the other type of 10-mark question (the ‘outline and explain’ question with no item), see my post on how to answer 10 mark questions.
How the question works
The question always uses the same wording: Applying material from Item A, analyse two… It’s followed by a short item, usually three or four sentences, and it’s worth 10 marks, so you have 15 minutes (a minute and a half per mark).
Both of your points must come from the item. The item is written with two hooks in it, and those hooks are your two paragraphs. The mark scheme’s top band asks for “two developed applications of material from the item”. Two strong points of your own that ignore the item won’t get there.
Evaluation does count on this question. Of the 10 marks, 3 are for knowledge and understanding (AO1), 4 are for application (AO2) and 3 are for analysis and evaluation (AO3). So each paragraph needs to say something about how far your point holds, not just describe it. That’s different from the ‘outline and explain’ 10-marker on Theory and Methods, where the mark scheme rewards analysis rather than evaluation.
The mark scheme
These are the level descriptors from the June 2017 paper, the same question as the marked answer further down this post. The levels follow the same pattern every year; only the topic changes.
8–10 Answers in this band will show good knowledge and understanding of relevant material on two effects of increased parental choice on pupils’ experience of education.
There will be two developed applications of material from the item, eg increased pressure on pupils to improve the school’s league table position; different types of school offer a different curriculum to their pupils.
There will be appropriate analysis/evaluation of two effects, eg existence of different types of school may accentuate social class differences in opportunities available to pupils; not all parents are equally able to exercise choice of school and how this affects pupils’ experience.
4–7 Answers in this band will show a basic to reasonable knowledge and understanding of one to two effects of increased parental choice on pupils’ experience of education.
There will be some successful application of material from the item, eg how parents can choose a school for their children that reflects their religious or cultural preference; how league tables may force pupils to study particular subjects.
There will be some analysis/evaluation.
1–3 Answers in this band will show limited knowledge and understanding of one to two effects of increased parental choice on pupils’ experience of education.
There will be limited application of material from the item. Some material may be at a tangent to the question, eg on schools selecting pupils.
There will be limited or no analysis/evaluation.
0 No relevant points.
Sources may include the following or other relevant ones: Chubb and Moe, Ball, Whitty, David, Gewirtz, Thompson, Trowler, Bartlett.
Notice the difference between the top two bands. A 4–7 answer applies the item “with some success”; an 8–10 answer develops two applications and analyses or evaluates both. Most answers that fall short do so because the second paragraph is thinner than the first.
A real example: marked by AQA’s examiners
This is the June 2017 Paper 1 Question 03, with a student’s answer as AQA’s examiners marked it.
Read Item A below and answer the question that follows.
Item A
Since the 1980s, a major aim of government policy has been to increase parental choice in education. There is now a wider range of school types, and league tables on school performance are also publicly available.
Increased parental choice has had many effects on pupils’ experience of education.
Applying material from Item A, analyse two effects of increased parental choice on pupils’ experience of education. [10 marks]
The two hooks are in the first paragraph of the item: a wider range of school types, and league tables on school performance. Each one is a paragraph.
The marked answer
The second picture is a continuation of the first: it’s the same answer on both.
What I make of it
A great example in the first paragraph of ‘how not to do it’.
Despite the rather scathing final commentary from the examiners, the second paragraph still gets five marks, and it does make three development points, so it’s got breadth rather than depth.
Hint: go deeper, develop further!
If you can’t be bothered to think of how you might improve it for yourself, click here for an example of a 9/10 answer, but if the first bit of this sentence applies to you, I don’t rate yer chances of ever getting more than middle mark band!
Question: What would you do to get another 5 marks? Comments below please!
How to structure each paragraph
Write two paragraphs of roughly equal length, one for each hook. For each one:
- Make the point, taken from the item. Quote or closely paraphrase the hook, so the examiner can see where it came from.
- Explain it. Say how it produces the effect, reason or way the question asks about.
- Develop it. Add a sociologist, a study, a concept or a piece of evidence, ideally from another part of the education topic.
- Analyse or evaluate it. Say how far it holds, or for whom. Does it affect all pupils in the same way? Does a different perspective see it differently?
Don’t write an introduction or a conclusion. Fifteen minutes doesn’t leave time for either, and neither earns marks.
Every Question 03 on Paper 1, 2017–2025
These are the real questions, in AQA’s exact wording. Where there’s a post on this site answering one, the question links to it. For each question’s Item A as well, see my Paper 1 10-mark question bank.
| Paper | Question 03 [10 marks] |
|---|---|
| June 2025 | Applying material from Item A, analyse two ways in which relationships and processes within schools may lead to gender differences in educational achievement. |
| June 2024 | Applying material from Item A, analyse two problems girls may experience as a result of relationships and processes in schools. |
| June 2023 | Applying material from Item A, analyse two ways that the hidden curriculum may help to reproduce the social class structure. |
| June 2022 | Applying material from Item A, analyse two ways in which relationships and processes within schools may lead to anti-school subcultures. |
| June 2021 (sat November 2021) | Applying material from Item A, analyse two ways in which teaching and learning in schools may affect the educational experiences of minority ethnic groups. |
| June 2020 (sat November 2020) | Applying material from Item A, analyse two ways in which marketisation policies have led to schools being run like businesses. |
| June 2019 | Applying material from Item A, analyse two ways in which processes within schools may affect pupils’ identities. |
| June 2018 | Applying material from Item A, analyse two ways in which the education system might serve the needs of capitalism. |
| June 2017 | Applying material from Item A, analyse two effects of increased parental choice on pupils’ experience of education. |
Relationships and processes within schools has come up five times in nine years (2019, 2021, 2022, 2024 and 2025). It’s the most-examined area on this question by some distance.
More practice 10-markers on this site
These posts answer 10-mark questions in the same format. None of them is a 2017–2025 Paper 1 question, so treat them as practice:
- Cultural capital and educational advantage
- Globalisation and education policy
- Marketisation and inequality of educational opportunity
- Gender differences in subject choice
KT’s Commentary
The single biggest thing that separates a 6 from a 9 on this question is the second paragraph. Students write a good first paragraph, run out of steam, and the second becomes a list. Plan both hooks before you start writing, and give them the same amount of time.
The second thing is using the item properly. When examiners mark this question they annotate where you’ve applied a hook from the item, so make it easy for them: name the hook in your first sentence. Lifting the item’s words without doing anything with them doesn’t count as application; you have to explain what the hook means for the question.
And don’t forget the evaluation. Three of the ten marks are for analysis and evaluation, and a one-line “however” at the end of each paragraph, done well, is often enough to move you up a band.
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Written by Karl Thompson, who taught A-level sociology for eighteen years and spent twelve as an AQA examiner, marking all three papers on the current specification.
Signposting and Related Posts
This post has been written for students sitting AQA A-level sociology Paper 1, specification 7192/1.
- AQA A-level sociology Paper 1: every question type, with timings
- The 4 and 6 mark outline questions on Paper 1
- How to answer 10 mark questions (both types)
- Exam advice, short answer questions and essays for all three papers
Sources
Item A, question and mark scheme: AQA A-level Sociology 7192/1, Paper 1 Education with Theory and Methods, June 2017, Question 03. Questions for 2018–2025 from the AQA question papers and mark schemes for each series. AQA’s past papers are available from the AQA past paper finder. AQA material is reproduced for educational purposes.
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.
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