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A level sociology help!!!!

Hi everyone.
I am in year 12 and do history, politics sociology and an EPQ. I recenetly got my mocks back and I achieved an A* in both history and politics, and I have already recived an A* for my EPQ (i finished this a couple of months ago). I would really like to apply to Cambridge, i went to a summer school recenetly and loved it.

But my sociology is stopping me. I have had 5 different sociology teachers and since March i have had no teacher and no lessons. I did a mock on it but we have no teacher to mark it. I am really really scared for the actual a level as i feel like sociology is going to let me down even though i am doing really well in my other subjects. Sociology is going to stop me from having a future :/

I really need at least an A for sociology. Does anyone have any tips for me on what i should do to catch up this summer and how i could teach myself the content?
Reply 1
good luck for cambridge!! honestly i found the textbook to be really concise and useful - if youre doing AQA definitely get both of those!! remembering sociologists' names is very important and using keywords/key terminology in your answer (but tbh i always struggled with the names of sociologists.) - i found quizlet to be useful for matching up key terms but because sociology is such a content heavy subject there's only so much quizlet is useful for. theteachersociology on youtube and tiktok was very useful for my a levels, she teaches content and exam technique clearly and her videos are really engaging too so very much recommend :smile: sorry to hear your teacher has let you down big time, is there any way for your class to get special consideration for not having any lessons? it sounds as though you've been horrendously disadvantaged.
I did my A levels last year and got an A* in sociology. I had a similar situation in another subject so I understand how hard it must be for you
I completely agree with all the above, especially using quizlet,and would also add
- blurting helps to see if you can recall the content without prompts
- create essay plans summarising the key questions and core debates within each topic
- make sure you know the theory spectrum really well so you can easily apply it to any question
- don't try to remember every single piece of information- just select enough to learn that would mean you would be able to answer both the key question in the topic as an essay and any possible 10 markers that could emerge (my tip here would be to pick the sociologists that are in the most detail so you don't have to remember as many points, it makes analysis easier and once you remember the starting point of the sociologist it will be easier to remember their next point than it would a brand new point)- I used the star function in quizlet to condense what I wanted to learn
If you'd like, I could message you links that give access to my quizlets and I could share the essays and shorter questions which I completed in lockdown (sorry I can't give the in person essays as I no longer have them but I still have a number of resources that were completed during periods of online learning
Hope this helps and I am happy to answer as many questions as you'd like to try and help you
Reply 3
Original post by SB1234567890
I did my A levels last year and got an A* in sociology. I had a similar situation in another subject so I understand how hard it must be for you
I completely agree with all the above, especially using quizlet,and would also add
- blurting helps to see if you can recall the content without prompts
- create essay plans summarising the key questions and core debates within each topic
- make sure you know the theory spectrum really well so you can easily apply it to any question
- don't try to remember every single piece of information- just select enough to learn that would mean you would be able to answer both the key question in the topic as an essay and any possible 10 markers that could emerge (my tip here would be to pick the sociologists that are in the most detail so you don't have to remember as many points, it makes analysis easier and once you remember the starting point of the sociologist it will be easier to remember their next point than it would a brand new point)- I used the star function in quizlet to condense what I wanted to learn
If you'd like, I could message you links that give access to my quizlets and I could share the essays and shorter questions which I completed in lockdown (sorry I can't give the in person essays as I no longer have them but I still have a number of resources that were completed during periods of online learning
Hope this helps and I am happy to answer as many questions as you'd like to try and help you

Thank you so so much, please could you send me the quizlets?

Ive been making mind maps and i think they are helping but i really need to stay on top of it.
Reply 4
Original post by eggsyb
good luck for cambridge!! honestly i found the textbook to be really concise and useful - if youre doing AQA definitely get both of those!! remembering sociologists' names is very important and using keywords/key terminology in your answer (but tbh i always struggled with the names of sociologists.) - i found quizlet to be useful for matching up key terms but because sociology is such a content heavy subject there's only so much quizlet is useful for. theteachersociology on youtube and tiktok was very useful for my a levels, she teaches content and exam technique clearly and her videos are really engaging too so very much recommend :smile: sorry to hear your teacher has let you down big time, is there any way for your class to get special consideration for not having any lessons? it sounds as though you've been horrendously disadvantaged.


Thank you!!!!! I got a CGP combined textbook so hopefully that will help. Thanks for recommending the yt channel, shes so good!
I think our teachers will let the unis that we apply for know but cambridge is strict with only A/A*s

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