Paper 1 Questions and Answers (2026 – Updated) – 100% Solved
Applying material from Item A, analyse two ways in which the education may serve the needs of
capitalism. (10 marks) - ✔✔✔-Althusser: Education reproduces class inequality by transmitting
ideas from generation to generation and failing the working classes deliberately. "each new
generation of workers is forced to ... to survive".
Bowles and Gintis: Correspondence Principle, there are parallels between school and work as
they both have hierarchies, in which pupils and workers are always at the bottom. Makes them
passive and less likely to rebel at work. "not wanting to overthrow this unequal system".
Applying material from Item B and your knowledge, evaluate sociological explanations of social
class differences in educational achievement. (30 marks) - ✔✔✔-Material deprivation, Gibson
and Asthana - pointed out that there is correlation between low household income and poor
educational performance. Eg, high levels of sickness in poorer homes may mean more absence
from school and falling behind, less able to afford the hidden costs of education etc.
Labeling, Howard Becker, Labeling and the Ideal Pupil: Becker found that teachers tend to have
an "ideal pupil" which is traditionally middle class. This pupil speaks in the elaborated speech
code, is polite and well dressed - Rosenthal and Jacobson argued that positive teacher labelling
can lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy, in which the student internalizes the label given to them
and the label becomes true in practice.
Cultural capital - Middle class parents are better educated and can help their students with
homework. More familiar with the elaborated code so can better read school prospectuses etc.
Use their social capital to talk to their friends that are teachers to find out the best schools.
Diane Reay found that mothers make their cultural capital work for their children- her research
is based of 33 mothers in London primary schools, and she found that the m/c children
achieved better, despite w/c mothers working just as hard to help their children with homework
etc.
The organisation of teaching and learning: Banding and streaming disproportionately affects the
working classes - Stephen Ball found that following comprehensivisation, working class children
were more likely to be put in lower sets.
Pupil Subcultures: Willis' lads - the boys created an anti-school subculture. W/c children are
disproportionately more likely to join these subcultures as they are made to feel alienated by
their school systems.
Applying material from Item C and your knowledge of research methods, evaluate the strengths
and limitations of using participant observation to investigate pupil exclusions. - ✔✔✔-A few
Applying material from Item A, analyse two ways in which the education may serve the needs of
capitalism. (10 marks) - ✔✔✔-Althusser: Education reproduces class inequality by transmitting
ideas from generation to generation and failing the working classes deliberately. "each new
generation of workers is forced to ... to survive".
Bowles and Gintis: Correspondence Principle, there are parallels between school and work as
they both have hierarchies, in which pupils and workers are always at the bottom. Makes them
passive and less likely to rebel at work. "not wanting to overthrow this unequal system".
Applying material from Item B and your knowledge, evaluate sociological explanations of social
class differences in educational achievement. (30 marks) - ✔✔✔-Material deprivation, Gibson
and Asthana - pointed out that there is correlation between low household income and poor
educational performance. Eg, high levels of sickness in poorer homes may mean more absence
from school and falling behind, less able to afford the hidden costs of education etc.
Labeling, Howard Becker, Labeling and the Ideal Pupil: Becker found that teachers tend to have
an "ideal pupil" which is traditionally middle class. This pupil speaks in the elaborated speech
code, is polite and well dressed - Rosenthal and Jacobson argued that positive teacher labelling
can lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy, in which the student internalizes the label given to them
and the label becomes true in practice.
Cultural capital - Middle class parents are better educated and can help their students with
homework. More familiar with the elaborated code so can better read school prospectuses etc.
Use their social capital to talk to their friends that are teachers to find out the best schools.
Diane Reay found that mothers make their cultural capital work for their children- her research
is based of 33 mothers in London primary schools, and she found that the m/c children
achieved better, despite w/c mothers working just as hard to help their children with homework
etc.
The organisation of teaching and learning: Banding and streaming disproportionately affects the
working classes - Stephen Ball found that following comprehensivisation, working class children
were more likely to be put in lower sets.
Pupil Subcultures: Willis' lads - the boys created an anti-school subculture. W/c children are
disproportionately more likely to join these subcultures as they are made to feel alienated by
their school systems.
Applying material from Item C and your knowledge of research methods, evaluate the strengths
and limitations of using participant observation to investigate pupil exclusions. - ✔✔✔-A few
