AS Unit 1
Acquiring Culture
- Culture and the Social Construction of Culture
- Socialisation and Its Agencies
- Socialisation and Identity
- Families and Households
- Youth Cultures
1 hour 15 minutes60 marks15%
WJEC A-Level Sociology, memorised fast.
Long notes are boring. Brain-hack the whole 601-5237-0 specification with active recall and actually remember it.
- Spec 601-5237-0
- 17 topics
- 192 subtopics
WJEC A-Level Sociology 601-5237-0
Culture and the Social Construction of Culture
Topic overviewCulture as a way of lifeNorms, values and beliefsRoles, status and role conflictAspects of culture: dress, language, food and musicHeritage and cultural tradition in WalesHigh culture, popular culture and global cultureNature, nurture and the social construction of cultureCultural diversity and sub-cultures
Socialisation and Its Agencies
Topic overviewPrimary and secondary socialisationRole models, imitation and sanctionsFamilies and primary cultural transmissionPeer groups as an agency of socialisationEducation as an agency of socialisationReligion as an agency of socialisationThe media as an agency of socialisationWork, resocialisation and total institutionsFormal and informal social control
Socialisation and Identity
Topic overviewPersonal and social identityTheories of identity: structural, interactionist and postmodernGender socialisation and gender identityMasculinity, femininity and change in gender identitiesSocial class and identityClass change, mobility and the underclassEthnicity and identityNationality, national identity and BritishnessWelsh identity and the Welsh language
Families and HouseholdsAcquiring Culture
Topic overviewDefining families and householdsFamily forms and family diversity in England and WalesEthnic, cultural and religious diversity in family lifeMarriage, cohabitation and singlehoodDivorce and separationFertility, birth rates and family sizeLife expectancy, ageing and the beanpole familyThe domestic division of labourPower, decision-making and domestic violenceChildhood and parent–child relationshipsFunctionalist and New Right theories of the familyMarxist and feminist theories of the familyPostmodernism, the life course and personal life
Youth CulturesAcquiring Culture
Topic overviewYouth and the social construction of adolescenceThe media and the formation of youth cultureEconomic change, consumption and the youth marketGlobalisation and youth cultureSocial class and youth subculturesGender and youth cultureEthnicity and youth cultureNational identity, Welshness and youth cultureNeo-tribes and the changing nature of youth cultureYouth deviance, delinquency and crimeAnti-school subcultures and the labelling of youthFunctionalist and Marxist theories of youth cultureFeminist, interactionist and postmodernist theories of youth culture
Research Methods: Primary and Secondary
Topic overviewQuestionnairesStructured interviewsUnstructured and semi-structured interviewsFocus groupsParticipant observationNon-participant and structured observationThe social surveyEthnographic methodsLongitudinal studiesExisting sociological research as secondary dataOfficial statistics and Welsh Government dataPersonal and public documents
Sampling, Ethics and Practical Issues
Topic overviewTarget populations, sampling frames and accessSimple random and systematic random samplingStratified random samplingQuota samplingSnowball and volunteer samplingPurposive and opportunity samplingInformed consent, deception and the right to withdrawAnonymity, confidentiality and privacySensitivity, vulnerability and protection from harmPractical constraints: operationalisation, time and cost
Key Concepts and Theories of Research
Topic overviewValidity in sociological researchReliability and replicationRepresentativeness and generalisabilityObjectivity, value freedom and biasEthics as a criterion for judging researchPositivism and the scientific study of societyInterpretivism and verstehenRealism and the critical realist approachChoosing an approach: theory and method in practice
EducationUnderstanding Society
Topic overviewThe role and function of education in societySocial class and differential attainmentGender and differential attainmentEthnicity and differential attainmentParticipation, choice and the marketisation of educationEducation policy in England and Wales since 1944Welsh-medium education and the Curriculum for WalesMaterial factors and educational attainmentCultural capital and cultural deprivationLabelling, streaming and pupil subculturesFunctionalist and New Right theories of educationMarxist theories of educationFeminist, interactionist and postmodernist theories of education
MediaUnderstanding Society
Topic overviewThe role and function of the media in contemporary societyModels of media effects: the hypodermic syringe and cultural effectsActive audiences: uses and gratifications and reception theoryMoral panics and folk devilsNew media, globalisation and the digital divideOwnership and control of the mediaMedia professionals, news values and agenda settingRepresentations of social class and ageRepresentations of genderRepresentations of ethnicity, nationality and disabilityMedia policy and regulation in Wales and EnglandPluralist and Marxist theories of the mediaFunctionalist, feminist and postmodernist theories of the media
ReligionUnderstanding Society
Topic overviewThe role and function of religion in contemporary societyReligion in Wales: chapel, nonconformity and the Welsh languageReligion as a conservative force and as a force for changePatterns of religious participation by social class and ageGender and religiosityEthnicity and religiosity in England and WalesChurches, denominations, sects and cultsNew religious movements and new age movementsFundamentalism and religion in a globalised worldSecularisation in England and WalesReligion and social policy in England and WalesFunctionalist, Marxist and neo-Marxist theories of religionWeberian, feminist and postmodernist theories of religion
Crime and DeviancePower and Control
Topic overviewDefining crime, deviance and social controlCrime and deviance as social constructsThe media, moral panics and the fear of crimeSocial class and crimeGender and feminist explanations of crimeEthnicity, policing and the criminal justice systemAge and crimePolice recorded crime and the dark figureVictim surveys and self-report studiesCrime, policing and social policy in WalesFunctionalist and subcultural theories of crimeMarxist and neo-Marxist theories of crimeInteractionism, labelling and postmodernist theories of crimeLeft realism, right realism and crime control policy
Health and DisabilityPower and Control
Topic overviewDefining health, illness and diseaseThe biomedical model and the social model of healthThe social construction of disabilityOfficial statistics and the measurement of healthSocial class and health inequalitiesGender and healthEthnicity and healthAge and healthArtefact, selection, cultural and material explanationsAccess to and provision of health care in England and WalesMedicalisation and the role of health professionalsHealth policy in England and WalesFunctionalist, Marxist and interactionist theories of healthFeminist and postmodernist views of health and disability
World SociologyPower and Control
Topic overviewDefining and measuring developmentGlobal inequalities in health and educationEmployment, poverty and the global division of labourPatterns of inequality in England and WalesPopulation, demographic change and developmentUrbanisation and marginalisationAid, debt and non-governmental organisationsGlobalisation and developmentTransnational corporations and world tradeModernisation theory and its criticsMarxist, dependency and world systems theoriesFeminist explanations of development
Applied Methods: Designing Sociological Research
Topic overviewChoosing a research topic and framing the aimHypotheses, operationalisation and indicatorsJustifying the chosen methodAnticipating problems with the chosen method and their impactSelecting and justifying a sampleAnticipating problems with the sample and their impactEthical issues in a research designPractical issues in a research designPresenting collected data
Social Inequality: Evidence and Patterns
Topic overviewMeasuring social class in BritainThe distribution of income and wealthWork and pay: occupational inequalityClass inequality: the evidenceGender inequality: the evidenceEthnic inequality: the evidenceAge inequality: the evidenceDisability and inequalityPower and political inequalityPoverty and social exclusionInequality in Wales: the evidence base
Theories and Explanations of Inequality and Stratification
Topic overviewSocial stratification: the core conceptsFunctionalist explanations of inequalityMarxist explanations of inequalityNeo-Marxist explanations of inequalityWeberian explanations of inequalityNeo-Weberian explanations of inequalityFeminist explanations of inequalityPostmodernist explanations of inequalityNew Right explanations of inequalityComparing and evaluating theories of stratification
What WJEC A-Level Sociology covers
WJEC A-Level Sociology (601/5237/0) is the Wales-regulated specification and is not available to centres in England; Eduqas Sociology is the England equivalent. It is four written papers and no coursework: Acquiring Culture and Understanding Society and Methods of Sociological Enquiry at AS, then Power and Control and Social Inequality and Applied Methods of Sociological Enquiry at A2. Three of the four units contain a choice, and a student sits only one option in each, so every option is served here as its own topic — pick the ones you were taught and the whole app follows your choice. The specification asks for Welsh examples throughout, from Welsh Government data sets and Welsh-medium education to patterns of health, poverty and religion in Wales.
WJEC GCE AS and A Level Sociology (Wales), qualification number 601/5237/0, first teaching 2015. Read the WJEC specification ↗
How it is assessed
AS Unit 2
Understanding Society and Methods of Sociological Enquiry
- Research Methods: Primary and Secondary
- Sampling, Ethics and Practical Issues
- Key Concepts and Theories of Research
- Education
- Media
- Religion
2 hours90 marks25%
A2 Unit 3
Power and Control
- Crime and Deviance
- Health and Disability
- World Sociology
2 hoursCompulsory questions and a choice of two essays25%
A2 Unit 4
Social Inequality and Applied Methods of Sociological Enquiry
- Applied Methods: Designing Sociological Research
- Social Inequality: Evidence and Patterns
- Theories and Explanations of Inequality and Stratification
2 hours 15 minutes100 marks35%
The full specification
17 topics, 192 subtopics. Open any topic to see what is inside it.
01Culture and the Social Construction of Culture8 subtopicsOpen topic
- Culture as a way of life
- Norms, values and beliefs
- Roles, status and role conflict
- Aspects of culture: dress, language, food and music
- Heritage and cultural tradition in Wales
- High culture, popular culture and global culture
- Nature, nurture and the social construction of culture
- Cultural diversity and sub-cultures
02Socialisation and Its Agencies9 subtopicsOpen topic
- Primary and secondary socialisation
- Role models, imitation and sanctions
- Families and primary cultural transmission
- Peer groups as an agency of socialisation
- Education as an agency of socialisation
- Religion as an agency of socialisation
- The media as an agency of socialisation
- Work, resocialisation and total institutions
- Formal and informal social control
03Socialisation and Identity9 subtopicsOpen topic
- Personal and social identity
- Theories of identity: structural, interactionist and postmodern
- Gender socialisation and gender identity
- Masculinity, femininity and change in gender identities
- Social class and identity
- Class change, mobility and the underclass
- Ethnicity and identity
- Nationality, national identity and Britishness
- Welsh identity and the Welsh language
04Families and HouseholdsAcquiring Culture13 subtopicsOpen topic
- Defining families and households
- Family forms and family diversity in England and Wales
- Ethnic, cultural and religious diversity in family life
- Marriage, cohabitation and singlehood
- Divorce and separation
- Fertility, birth rates and family size
- Life expectancy, ageing and the beanpole family
- The domestic division of labour
- Power, decision-making and domestic violence
- Childhood and parent–child relationships
- Functionalist and New Right theories of the family
- Marxist and feminist theories of the family
- Postmodernism, the life course and personal life
05Youth CulturesAcquiring Culture13 subtopicsOpen topic
- Youth and the social construction of adolescence
- The media and the formation of youth culture
- Economic change, consumption and the youth market
- Globalisation and youth culture
- Social class and youth subcultures
- Gender and youth culture
- Ethnicity and youth culture
- National identity, Welshness and youth culture
- Neo-tribes and the changing nature of youth culture
- Youth deviance, delinquency and crime
- Anti-school subcultures and the labelling of youth
- Functionalist and Marxist theories of youth culture
- Feminist, interactionist and postmodernist theories of youth culture
06Research Methods: Primary and Secondary12 subtopicsOpen topic
- Questionnaires
- Structured interviews
- Unstructured and semi-structured interviews
- Focus groups
- Participant observation
- Non-participant and structured observation
- The social survey
- Ethnographic methods
- Longitudinal studies
- Existing sociological research as secondary data
- Official statistics and Welsh Government data
- Personal and public documents
07Sampling, Ethics and Practical Issues10 subtopicsOpen topic
- Target populations, sampling frames and access
- Simple random and systematic random sampling
- Stratified random sampling
- Quota sampling
- Snowball and volunteer sampling
- Purposive and opportunity sampling
- Informed consent, deception and the right to withdraw
- Anonymity, confidentiality and privacy
- Sensitivity, vulnerability and protection from harm
- Practical constraints: operationalisation, time and cost
08Key Concepts and Theories of Research9 subtopicsOpen topic
- Validity in sociological research
- Reliability and replication
- Representativeness and generalisability
- Objectivity, value freedom and bias
- Ethics as a criterion for judging research
- Positivism and the scientific study of society
- Interpretivism and verstehen
- Realism and the critical realist approach
- Choosing an approach: theory and method in practice
09EducationUnderstanding Society13 subtopicsOpen topic
- The role and function of education in society
- Social class and differential attainment
- Gender and differential attainment
- Ethnicity and differential attainment
- Participation, choice and the marketisation of education
- Education policy in England and Wales since 1944
- Welsh-medium education and the Curriculum for Wales
- Material factors and educational attainment
- Cultural capital and cultural deprivation
- Labelling, streaming and pupil subcultures
- Functionalist and New Right theories of education
- Marxist theories of education
- Feminist, interactionist and postmodernist theories of education
10MediaUnderstanding Society13 subtopicsOpen topic
- The role and function of the media in contemporary society
- Models of media effects: the hypodermic syringe and cultural effects
- Active audiences: uses and gratifications and reception theory
- Moral panics and folk devils
- New media, globalisation and the digital divide
- Ownership and control of the media
- Media professionals, news values and agenda setting
- Representations of social class and age
- Representations of gender
- Representations of ethnicity, nationality and disability
- Media policy and regulation in Wales and England
- Pluralist and Marxist theories of the media
- Functionalist, feminist and postmodernist theories of the media
11ReligionUnderstanding Society13 subtopicsOpen topic
- The role and function of religion in contemporary society
- Religion in Wales: chapel, nonconformity and the Welsh language
- Religion as a conservative force and as a force for change
- Patterns of religious participation by social class and age
- Gender and religiosity
- Ethnicity and religiosity in England and Wales
- Churches, denominations, sects and cults
- New religious movements and new age movements
- Fundamentalism and religion in a globalised world
- Secularisation in England and Wales
- Religion and social policy in England and Wales
- Functionalist, Marxist and neo-Marxist theories of religion
- Weberian, feminist and postmodernist theories of religion
12Crime and DeviancePower and Control14 subtopicsOpen topic
- Defining crime, deviance and social control
- Crime and deviance as social constructs
- The media, moral panics and the fear of crime
- Social class and crime
- Gender and feminist explanations of crime
- Ethnicity, policing and the criminal justice system
- Age and crime
- Police recorded crime and the dark figure
- Victim surveys and self-report studies
- Crime, policing and social policy in Wales
- Functionalist and subcultural theories of crime
- Marxist and neo-Marxist theories of crime
- Interactionism, labelling and postmodernist theories of crime
- Left realism, right realism and crime control policy
13Health and DisabilityPower and Control14 subtopicsOpen topic
- Defining health, illness and disease
- The biomedical model and the social model of health
- The social construction of disability
- Official statistics and the measurement of health
- Social class and health inequalities
- Gender and health
- Ethnicity and health
- Age and health
- Artefact, selection, cultural and material explanations
- Access to and provision of health care in England and Wales
- Medicalisation and the role of health professionals
- Health policy in England and Wales
- Functionalist, Marxist and interactionist theories of health
- Feminist and postmodernist views of health and disability
14World SociologyPower and Control12 subtopicsOpen topic
- Defining and measuring development
- Global inequalities in health and education
- Employment, poverty and the global division of labour
- Patterns of inequality in England and Wales
- Population, demographic change and development
- Urbanisation and marginalisation
- Aid, debt and non-governmental organisations
- Globalisation and development
- Transnational corporations and world trade
- Modernisation theory and its critics
- Marxist, dependency and world systems theories
- Feminist explanations of development
15Applied Methods: Designing Sociological Research9 subtopicsOpen topic
- Choosing a research topic and framing the aim
- Hypotheses, operationalisation and indicators
- Justifying the chosen method
- Anticipating problems with the chosen method and their impact
- Selecting and justifying a sample
- Anticipating problems with the sample and their impact
- Ethical issues in a research design
- Practical issues in a research design
- Presenting collected data
16Social Inequality: Evidence and Patterns11 subtopicsOpen topic
- Measuring social class in Britain
- The distribution of income and wealth
- Work and pay: occupational inequality
- Class inequality: the evidence
- Gender inequality: the evidence
- Ethnic inequality: the evidence
- Age inequality: the evidence
- Disability and inequality
- Power and political inequality
- Poverty and social exclusion
- Inequality in Wales: the evidence base
17Theories and Explanations of Inequality and Stratification10 subtopicsOpen topic
- Social stratification: the core concepts
- Functionalist explanations of inequality
- Marxist explanations of inequality
- Neo-Marxist explanations of inequality
- Weberian explanations of inequality
- Neo-Weberian explanations of inequality
- Feminist explanations of inequality
- Postmodernist explanations of inequality
- New Right explanations of inequality
- Comparing and evaluating theories of stratification
How you work through it
Pick the mode that fits the time you have.
Try three questions
No account needed. Answer from memory first.
Your recallNot started
Key term
How does culture differ from society?
Key term
Explain why sociologists reject the idea that human behaviour is fixed by instinct.
Key term
Why does dress so often become a site of cultural conflict?
Spaced Repetition Schedule
How reviews are timed
Levo will automatically distribute all of your progress into a spaced repetition calendar. Once you’ve answered, it’s scheduled for you on the next day in the spaced repetition schedule. Over time, the gaps between your recall get bigger, from a day to three years, reinforcing memorisation over a long period of time.
Interval sequence
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What is inside Levo
Six ways to work the same material
Sociology revision questions
Common questions about revising WJEC A-Level Sociology. Tap any to open it.
How do you memorise WJEC A-Level Sociology?
By testing yourself, not rereading. Active recall, pulling each answer from memory then checking it, builds far stronger memory than highlighting notes. Levo runs the method for you across all 17 Sociology topics and brings each one back on a spaced schedule so it stays memorised.
What is the fastest way to revise Sociology for WJEC?
Skip the long notes and go straight to retrieval. Levo turns the 601-5237-0 specification into short questions you drill with rapid recall, cram whole papers in one sitting, and a readiness score tells you exactly what is left to learn.
What topics are on WJEC A-Level Sociology (601-5237-0)?
There are 17 topics, split across 192 subtopics, from Culture and the Social Construction of Culture, Socialisation and Its Agencies, Socialisation and Identity and more. Every topic is listed above, and each one opens to the subtopics inside it.
What do you get inside Levo for Sociology?
Six ways to work the same material. The 3-step method for learning a set, Cram for sorting a whole paper into what you know and what you do not, Blank Blitz for making key facts automatic, Build It for assembling full-mark answers, Test It for catching misconceptions, and Brain Breaks between sessions. A readiness score tracks how much of the subject you have memorised.
Is active recall better than rereading your notes for Sociology?
Consistently, yes. Rereading feels productive but fades quickly. Retrieving an answer from memory, the way Levo tests you, is what actually forms durable memory, and it shows you honestly what you do and do not know.
Does Levo cover the whole WJEC Sociology specification?
Every topic on the 601-5237-0 specification is covered, written from the published subject content. The full list is above, and each topic opens to its subtopics so you can see exactly what is there before you subscribe.
How can you encourage your teenager to revise?
Make it short, structured and low-pressure. Levo gives a clear daily plan, quick sessions rather than marathon ones, streaks that reward showing up, and an honest readiness score, so revision feels like progress instead of a chore. Parents can add an account and follow along.
Can you revise Sociology the night before an exam?
Yes. Cram mode is built for exactly that: fly through a whole paper, sort every topic into red, amber and green, then drill just the reds and ambers you do not know yet. It is the honest version of a last-minute session.
Every question in Sociology, on a schedule.
Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.
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