OCR's refreshed A Level in Sociology

After a comprehensive review of our A Level Sociology, during which we listened to feedback from teachers and worked with experts from different organisations, we’re planning some improvements.

We'll be updating our AS Level specification too.

We're working with Ofqual to have our new specifications accredited and ready for a first teach in September 2026*. In the meantime, you can:

sign up for our email updates to stay informed about the developments
explore our most recent draft specifications and sample assessment materials
speak to one of our team about our plans.

✅ We plan to keep the parts of our specification we know students love, such as globalisation and the digital social world, while adding unique new content. This includes exciting contemporary topics such as urban music subcultures, gender identities, and modern crime prevention strategies.

✅ We’re making our assessments more accessible, allowing students to focus solely on showcasing their knowledge during exams. Planned highlights include a consistent structure across all papers, reduced question types, reduced number of sources and a maximum tariff of 24 marks.

✅ We’ll be providing students with more opportunities to demonstrate their research methods skills and knowledge during exams, particularly in our ‘evaluate’ questions. This will help them to apply and consolidate their understanding of this vital sociological area.

✅ Thanks to our detailed specification, you will be clear on exactly what you need to teach.

✅ With our comprehensive support package, you can feel confident in teaching our qualification – from professional development courses and a dedicated subject advisor to teaching and learning resources.

Want to know more?

Request more information and a member of our team will be in touch to answer any questions you might have.

You can also read a more detailed explanation of the changes we're making in our blog.

*Please note, our AS/A Level Sociology qualifications have not yet been accredited by Ofqual. While our draft specifications and sample assessment materials have been published to enable teachers to have early sight, changes may be required as part of the accreditation process and the proposed first teach date may change. We can give no assurances these proposed qualifications will be accredited for September 2026 or remain as they currently are.

“I like the fact the questions are the same size and type for consistency. This will help my students understand what they need to do on each question. This is an excellent change.”
“The [specification] model is clear and unfussy”
“Mark Scheme is WAY clearer to mark - really good move!”
“This will be a great move with students and teachers.”
“This is a game changer… To be able to spend more time on teaching the content than the rubric is excellent.”

Feedback gathered during customer testing phase

Ahead of first teach, a host of planning and teaching resources will be available on our secure platform, Teach Cambridge. This will include:

sample assessment materials

curriculum planners

schemes of work.

To help with your assessment preparation, you will also be able to access resources such as:

assessment guides

candidate exemplars

practice papers.

Active Results – our free online results analysis service that allows you to review your students' exam performance

Access to Scripts – our free, on-demand service that allows you to download copies of students’ completed question papers to help decide whether to request a review of marking, and to support teaching and learning

ExamBuilder – our free question-building platform that helps you to build your own tests as our bank of past live-series questions grows.

As well as this, we're plan to hold a range of professional development courses, from getting started with us to exploring our exams and assessment materials.

You can learn more about Teach Cambridge, including gaining access, on our website. You can also sign up for a free two-week trial.

We’re looking for AS/A Level Sociology examiners to support us this summer. Joining our team is not only an exciting, paid professional development opportunity that’ll enhance your teaching skills, but it’ll also help your students achieve more, and provide you with unique insights into assessment design and requirements.

As an examiner, you'll mark completed exam papers against a mark scheme, working as part of a team and with a supervisor to guide you through the process. The marking window is usually 2-3 weeks long and falls between May and July.

New A Level in Sociology - first teach September 2026*

Introducing OCR's NEW A Level in Sociology for expected first teach September 2026*.

Why choose our A Level Sociology?

Subscribe to our email updates

Introducing our new and improved qualifications

Download our draft specifications

View our draft sample assessment materials...

AS Level sample question papers and mark schemes

A Level Sociology Switching Guide

Switch from AQA

OCR A Level Sociology Mapping Guide

Teaching our current A Level? Our handy draft mapping guide highlights what has changed, helping your transition.

A refreshed Sociology A Level for today’s students

Teacher feedback

Supporting you at every step

Our support and resources

Third-party support and resources

Frequently asked questions

We've developed some FAQs to help you gain a better understanding of our planned changes and what to expect.

Got a specific question? Fill in our form and a member of our team will be in touch to help.

Meet your subject advisor

Subject Advisor Tom Genillard is your go-to expert for all things sociology.

Read more about him, and learn how he can support you as you plan and deliver our new AS and A Level Sociology.

Sociology blogs

Teacher Networks

Start teaching with us

Ready to teach with us?

Request more information

Your expertise, their future: join our assessor team for sociology