Year 12
The modules delivered during Year 12 are externally assessed via two examinations – the examinations are taken at the end of Year 12.

SCLY1 – Families & Households
Assessment: 1 hour examination
Unit weighting: 40% of AS and 20% of A2
Throughout the unit, learners will explore a range of key issues associated with families and households including; the relationship of the family to the social structure and social change (this has particular emphasis on the economy and state policies); the diversity of contemporary family and household structures; the nature and extent of changes within the family (such as gender roles, domestic labour and power relationships); The nature of childhood, and changes in the status of children in the family and society; demographic trends in the UK since 1900.

SCLY2 – Education and Sociological Methods
Assessment: 2 hour examination
Unit weighting: 60% of AS/30% of A2
The unit will begin through an examination of a range of key issues and debates associated with the sociology of education, including; sociological perspectives regarding the role and purpose of education; differential educational achievement of social groups by social class, gender and ethnicity in contemporary society; relationships and processes within schools, and the significance of educational policies.
Learners will then have the opportunity to gain an appreciation of the application of sociological research methods to the study of education, examining methodological issues such as; quantitative and qualitative methods of research (their strengths and limitations); research design; the distinction between primary and secondary data, and between quantitative and qualitative data and the theoretical, practical and ethical considerations influencing choice of topic, choice of method(s) and the conduct of research.

Year 13
The modules delivered during Year 13 are externally assessed via two examinations – the examinations are taken at the end of Year 13.

SCLY3 – Mass Media
Assessment: 1 hour 30 minute examination
Unit weighting: 20% of A2
This unit will explore a range of key issues associated with the mass media including; the relationship between ownership and control of the mass media; the mass media, globalisation and popular culture; the processes of selection and presentation of the content of the news; media representations of age, social class, ethnicity, gender, sexuality and disability; The relationship between the mass media, media content and presentation, and audiences; the new media and their significance for an understanding of the role of the media in contemporary society.

SCLY4 – Crime & Deviance and Sociological Theory & Methods
Assessment: 2 hour examination
Unit weighting: 30% of A2
The unit will begin with an examination of a range of key issues and debates associated with the sociology of crime and deviance, including; Different theories of crime, deviance, social order and social control; the social distribution of crime and deviance by age, ethnicity, gender, locality and social class (including recent patterns and trends in crime); Globalisation and crime in contemporary society (the mass media and crime, green crime, human rights and state crimes); crime control, prevention and punishment; victims, and the role of the criminal justice system and other agencies; the sociological study of suicide and its theoretical and methodological implications.
Learners will then have the opportunity to explore the connections between sociological theory and methods to the study of crime and deviance. Examining aspects of sociological theory such as; consensus, conflict, structural and social action theories; the concepts of modernity and post-modernity in relation to sociological theory; the nature of science and the extent to which sociology can be regarded as scientific; the relationship between theory and methods and the relationship between sociology and social policy.