AS/A Level GCESociology - H181 H581

The new Sociology specification (H181/H581) comprises of four units rather than six.

There will no longer be any assessment through coursework in the specification.

The specification itself contains detailed guidance notes to provide teachers with more steer as to what content needs to be taught in each unit and topic area.

Research methods will be integrated into the substantive content of the specification, allowing them to be considered in context rather than as a separate entity.

Unit 1 (G671) of the specification will use pre-released material issued to centres prior to the examination.

Specimen Assessment Materials will be available to exemplify how this pre-released material will work. It will be a synopsis of sociological research related to the core AS-level themes of socialisation, culture and identity. It will be approximately two sides of A4 in length and contain details of the research process and/or methods used. It may be qualitative, quantitative or mixed methodology research.

It will be released to centres approximately 2 weeks before the examination.

Research methods will now be assessed in the context of core sociological themes, making the learning of this aspect of sociology more authentic to the actual research process. The same ethical and methodological issues will need to be considered, and the context within which research is being conducted is fundamental to this.

"Candidates are encouraged to carry out their own small scale research projects as a way of enhancing their understanding of methodology, substantive topic areas and the core themes." (new GCE Sociology Specification, page 9)

Both units 2 and 3 (G672 and G673) of the new specification will offer candidates a choice of four topics to study. In both cases, at least one topic must be covered.

For unit 2, there will be two questions per topic and two questions from one or more topics must be answered.

For unit 3, again two questions must be answered, but there will be a choice of three questions per topic.

Yes. Synoptic assessment takes place in both A2 units in the new specification.

Examples may include:

• an examination question that assesses a candidate's understanding of the links between sociological theories, methods and substantive topics, and which draws on the candidate's own small-scale research experiences.
• an examination question that presents candidates with a research topic that is related to the core themes and requires them to use their theoretical and methodological understanding to create and justify a research proposal.
• a stimulus question based on at least one prose passage and/or numerical data making connections between different parts of the course - the question would assess candidates' understanding of these connections in the context of sociological thought and research methods.

Yes. In response to centre demand, OCR will be publishing past papers for live specifications on the website. These will be free of charge. Question papers from the latest series will be available to download from OCR Interchange only.

OCR is working in partnership with individual publishers for different subject groups. Comprehensive resources are being developed by these Publishing Partners and others to support the specification and complement the support available from OCR.

Schemes of work and lesson plans can be downloaded for each qualifcation. The materials are available in PDF format, and  Word format. Teachers can adapt the materials for their own use.

Yes, the A* grade is calculated arithmetically based on the units used for aggregation, irrespective of whether or not they are re-sits.