30 mark sociology essay structure crime

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Crime & Deviance: AQA A Level Sociology Topic Essays

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A set of 10 exemplar Topic Essays for Crime & Deviance.

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This set of 10 essays demonstrates how to write a top mark band response to a range of questions for the Crime & Deviance topic, covering the entire specification.

Each essay has been written and checked by our experienced team of examiners and detailed examiner commentary has been provided on every essay.

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Essay Questions

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You will find a 20 mark question on all three papers of the A-Level exam, however, Methods in context question will be dealt with separately.

20 mark questions are essay style questions and should be answered in continuous prose and paragraphs. You should take around 25 – 30 minutes to answer these questions and contain between 3 and 4 paragraphs as well as an introduction and conclusion.

30 Mark Questions only appear on paper 1 and 3 for both Education and Crime and Deviance. 30 Mark questions are to be approached in the same way as the 20 markers, however, you ware expected to show a deeper level of knowledge and understanding (4-5 points), analysis and evaluation.

Command Words 

All essay questions use the same command words: 

Applying material from = Use the item explicitly in your answer. The examiner needs to see "the item" to show you have taken material from the item. 

Evaluate = Look at multiple arguments and come to a reasoned and definitive conclusion

Evaluation Stems

There are two types of essay that you can be asked, Argument or relative importance. You will need to identify which type it is by looking at the question and identifying the evaluation stem. There are four stems for argument essays and two for relative importance: 

ARGUMENT ESSAY STEMS

• The view 
• The contribution of 
• The usefulness of 

RELATIVE IMPORTANCE ESSAY STEMS

• Sociological explanations of 
• The reasons / causes / factors of

Planning your answers is an important step in practicing essay questions. There is no point writing out a full essay answer if you have no idea or are unsure on what it is you are being asked to do or what to include. 

The for and against sides of the content section are essentially two different essays. They do not have to correspond. You then choose which you one you are going to turn into your essay [answer].

Introduction

The introduction should give an overview to the examiner of what it is you are going to write about in the essay. It is also there to show the examiner that you understand the question and what it is asking you to do.

The introduction should contain three elements:

Context: 

This is the background information on the question and can come in three forms:

• Definition of key sociological terms.
• Trends in statistical subjects.
• Background of the theory or topic.

Content: 

In this part of the introduction you show the examiner that you have interpreted the question correctly by explaining the key points that you are going to cover in the essay.

For an   argument   essay this will be both the arguments for and against the view in the question. Whereas for a   relative importance   question this will be the reasons, factors or explanations you are going to discuss.

This a a single sentence which either states that you are going to argue for or against the view in the question, or which reason, factor or explanation is the most important.

The main body of the essay should be around 3 or 4 paragraphs for a 20 marker and 4 or 5 paragraphs in length for a 30 marker, meaning that there should be 4 or 5 points that come from both the item that you have been given as well as your own knowledge.

A nswer the Question

The first sentence of your paragraph should directly answer the question. Use the terms of the question to help make sure you are answering the question set. 

Argument Essay - Why have you come to your overall answer. Give a reason not a concept. 

Relative Importance - Identify the explanation, reason, cause or factor. 

R easons / Explanation 

Use your sociological knowledge to explain how and why this answers the question. This should be around 3-4 sentences where you teach the reader and convince them that your answer is the correct one. 

E valuation 

The evaluation section of the paragraph is where you show your understanding of the opposing argument to your answer. The evaluation should directly link to the point that you are making at the start of your paragraph. It must be shorter than your explanation. 

A pplication  

The application elements of your paragraph are floating and go where they fit. Application comes in a range of formats:

• Integrated use of the item [Paraphrase don't quote]
• Appropriately named sociologists
• Appropriately used sociological studies
• Contemporary real life examples
• Illustrative Examples 

L ink  

This is where you reiterate your answer. 

Argument Essay - What is your overall argument again. Not necessary for Assessment objectives but good literacy. 

Relative Importance - Why is this factor the most important / not the most important. This is ESSENTIAL to show you are answering the question and not just describing the topic. 

The conclusion should be about 2 or 3 sentences long and needs to answer the question directly, and explain why you have come to that answer. 

Do not evaluate or add anything you have not mentioned already. 

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AQA Sociology Revision - 30 Mark Questions technique planner

Subject: Sociology

Age range: 16+

Resource type: Worksheet/Activity

Last updated

22 August 2019

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Described by one student as a ‘game changer’, this resource has been designed to support students who struggle to access all of the AO marks available when writing a 30 mark essay. The resource includes a powerpoint with tasks, information, teacher notes and solutions, an optional heads and tails starter task, and an interactive workbook. The powerpoint includes an explanation of the meaning behind each of the AO descriptors. Working as an AQA examiner has helped me to understand what students need to write to access these marks. It is based on the Crime and Deviance part of the specification. The lesson contains a 30 mark exam question with an item, on the topic of Globalisation and Green Crime. The main purpose is to encourage the students to start including key phrases/statements/connectives that will ensure they meet all 3 of the AO descriptors. The workbook includes a phased activity (which could also be adapted for differentiation purposes) which provides a framework for the students to select the appropriate statements in order to achieve all of the criteria. There is an annotated solution for both of the interactive activities (and also a solution for the heads and tails activity) which means this resource is also suitable for non-specialists. The powerpoint has clear lesson instructions so that it will be easy to follow and deliver. The amount of time required to deliver this lesson can vary. If you wanted it to be over a double lesson you could make full use of the engaging starter task and heads and tails activity, and utilise all of the feedback on the powerpoint. It could be shortened by cutting that out and just focusing on the essay task. The plenary task of feeding back on the annotated essay is optional. A homework task could be to complete the essay. Beyond this, they could use the AO grid to support them in writing additional essays at home.

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Get this resource as part of a bundle and save up to 36%

A bundle is a package of resources grouped together to teach a particular topic, or a series of lessons, in one place.

AQA Sociology A-Level Revision Bundle

The focus of all of these resources is on improving examination technique. All of the resources do this through the delivery of content (on a range of Crime & Deviance/Theory related topics). There are a lot of examination style questions across all of these resources, with engaging activities aimed at helping them to gain marks across all AO descriptors. A lot of work has gone into preparing all of these resources and I am confident (hopeful!) that they will make a significant difference to outcomes. For non-specialists a range of teacher solutions and lesson notes are provided.

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Exams, Essays and Short Answer Questions

Table of Contents

Last Updated on May 10, 2024 by Karl Thompson

This page provides the following information:

An Overview of the Three Sociology Exam Papers

There are three exam papers for AQA A-level sociology.  All papers are two hours long, all papers have a total of 6 questions (the format of some of these repeat across papers), and all papers are marked out of a total of 80.

For more advice on each paper and examples of specific questions and answer, please scroll down! 

A Level Sociology Paper 1: Education with Theory and Methods

General advice for answering questions on paper 1, 10 mark ‘applying material from the item analyse questions’, 20 mark methods in context questions , 30 mark education essay questions , 10 mark theory and/ or methods outline and explain (no item) 10 mark questions, a level sociology paper 2: topics , families and households.

Examples of possible 10 mark questions for AQA A-Level sociology: families and households topic

Beliefs in Society (aka Religion)

Outline and explain two ways in which religion might promote social change

Outline and explain two arguments against the view that sociology is a science (10)

Applying material from the item, analyse two reasons for gender differences in the membership of religious organisations (10)

Evaluate the view that religious beliefs and organisations are barriers to social change (20)

Evaluate the pluralist view of the ownership and control of the media (20)

Global Development

Outline and explain two criticisms other theories of development might make of dependency theory (10)

Evaluate explanations of development and underdevelopment put forward by Dependency Theorists (20)

A Level Sociology Paper 3: Crime and Deviance with Theory and Methods

General advice on answering all questions, 4 and 6 mark ‘outline and explain questions’, 30 mark crime and deviance essays , as level sociology resources .

There are two 90 minute papers at the end of the AS year, and three two hour papers at the end of the A Level Year. Remember that if you do the AS qualification, your grades don’t count towards the A level, you are reassessed in a slightly different format on all of the first year material, along with all of the second year material as part of the A level exams at the end of the two years of study. 

Related Posts

Assessment Objectives in AS and A Level Sociology  – It’s useful to know how the marks are distributed in the exam – there are complex question by question breakdowns on the specification, but to simplify it – Knowledge and Understanding (of concepts, theories, research) is worth about 50% of the marks in the exam, the other 50% are for Application, Analysis and Evaluation. 

Sociology Revision Resources for Sale

Overall the bundle contains:

Sociology Teaching Resources for Sale

Included in the bundle is a clearly structured 50 page gapped student work-pack, six PowerPoints* to structure the 10 lessons, 10 detailed lesson plans outlining a range of learning activities you can use with students, a massive list of relevant contemporary resources with links, and numerous lesson activities including introductions, plenaries and links to some Socrative quizzes.

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