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Advice for those starting A-level Sociology (AQA)?

I’m just starting this week as I am swapping from Media, which was getting too dark and graphic for me causing me anxiety. I didn’t pick Sociology originally because I wasn’t offered it at GCSE and I thought I should stick to subjects that I did in GCSE. Ideally, I wouldn’t be starting this late, but it is what it is.

I think the Sociology classes at my college have been looking at education recently, so I’ll need to catch up on that.

Does anyone have any advice? Essay structures? YouTube videos? Podcasts? Websites/social media accounts with resource sheets?
@always-anxious you've done education. Can you help.
General Advice
Paper 1=Education with Theory and Methods
Paper 2=Topics in Sociology (2 topics which your school chooses)
Paper 3=Crime and Deviance with Theory and Methods.
There are some graphic bits of Sociology like

Trigger Warning

Create a Sociology Glossary with Keywords and Flashcards for key Sociologists.

Reply 2

Hi , My name is Lizzie. I did Sociology at A Level and am currently doing so at University level. In terms of general advice catching up should be okay as education in my own opinion it fairly simple with not too many complex ideas.

To help catch up I recommend asking for resources from your college while using online resources such as Tutor4U, you shouldn't rely on these website but they can help you gain a better understanding of what you missed.

A good baseline essay structure for the essays in AQA is the PEELE paragraph ; point , example , explain , link , evaluate. In a ten mark essay each paragraph will be roughly 5 marks if you follow this structure.

Overall it is still early in the course , you will be able to catch up , don't be afraid to ask for help!
I hope this helped.
Lizzie :biggrin:
Original post
by pist4chio
I’m just starting this week as I am swapping from Media, which was getting too dark and graphic for me causing me anxiety. I didn’t pick Sociology originally because I wasn’t offered it at GCSE and I thought I should stick to subjects that I did in GCSE. Ideally, I wouldn’t be starting this late, but it is what it is.
I think the Sociology classes at my college have been looking at education recently, so I’ll need to catch up on that.
Does anyone have any advice? Essay structures? YouTube videos? Podcasts? Websites/social media accounts with resource sheets?

I recommend watching Tutor2U videos (on youtube) to catch up on any content you missed as they have content videos for all the topics in education. Also looking at past papers would be useful to understand what the exam papers look like and the structure/timings for each question (Geo Lover 7 has given some good general advice for the exams). For essay structures I recommend THETEACHERSOCIOLOGY (on youtube) as her videos are great for exam technique, especially for those longer answer questions (20/30 markers).

Feel free to ask any more questions and I'll try my best to answer :smile:
Original post
by always-anxious
I recommend watching Tutor2U videos (on youtube) to catch up on any content you missed as they have content videos for all the topics in education. Also looking at past papers would be useful to understand what the exam papers look like and the structure/timings for each question (Geo Lover 7 has given some good general advice for the exams). For essay structures I recommend THETEACHERSOCIOLOGY (on youtube) as her videos are great for exam technique, especially for those longer answer questions (20/30 markers).
Feel free to ask any more questions and I'll try my best to answer :smile:
Do you agree about the graphic part?
Original post
by Geo Lover 7
Do you agree about the graphic part?

I can understand how some content in sociology could be considered graphic as the subject does focus on real world issues which could lead to heavy topics being discussed. At the end of the day it depends on the individual and what they find graphic or not. If you are upset/concerned about any of the topics you learn in sociology (or in any subject for that matter) then you can always talk to your teachers. They should be understanding of any worries you might have.
(edited 1 year ago)
Original post
by always-anxious
I can understand how some content in sociology could be considered graphic as the subject does focus on real world issues which could lead to heavy topics being discussed. At the end of the day it depends on the individual and what they find graphic or not. If you are upset/concerned about any of the topics you learn in sociology (or in any subject for that matter) then you can always talk to your teachers. They should be understanding of any worries you might have.
I'm just saying because the OP left media cause the lessons were too dark and graphic.

Reply 7

Original post
by always-anxious
I can understand how some content in sociology could be considered graphic as the subject does focus on real world issues which could lead to heavy topics being discussed. At the end of the day it depends on the individual and what they find graphic or not. If you are upset/concerned about any of the topics you learn in sociology (or in any subject for that matter) then you can always talk to your teachers. They should be understanding of any worries you might have.


We were being shown murder scenes and horror film trailers, so I was always having to ask to leave lesson and I had anxiety about watching visually graphic content. I think if we are focusing on written scenarios and discussing them then I should be fine.

Reply 8

Original post
by Geo Lover 7
I'm just saying because the OP left media cause the lessons were too dark and graphic.


That’s because in lessons we were being showed a lot of horror trailers and murder scenes, so I spent more time out of class than in. It was getting excessive and stressful for me. As long as I don’t have to watch brutal violent/murder scenes or any creepy content then I shouldn’t have an issue.
Original post
by pist4chio
We were being shown murder scenes and horror film trailers, so I was always having to ask to leave lesson and I had anxiety about watching visually graphic content. I think if we are focusing on written scenarios and discussing them then I should be fine.

Yep sociology is more about writing and discussing topics. There's no need to watch anything graphic :smile:

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