What will be changing and when?

We're making a few small amendments to some of our current AS/A Level Sociology exam questions, with the aim of improving the accessibility of our papers. They will impact:

• the wording of our questions, which will use more student-friendly language
• source lengths – now a maximum of around 300 words
• how and where command words appear in questions, so students can better understand what’s required of them in their responses.

These changes will apply to both the AS (H180) and A Level (H580) qualifications and will take effect from the summer 2027 exam series.

To support you to build these changes into your teaching plans, we’ve updated our existing sample assessment materials (SAMs) for the qualifications. These now include clear table explainers for each component, outlining what has been updated, and how each change will help make assessment more accessible and straightforward for all students.

You can find our updated SAMs on Teach Cambridge or our website:

Supporting you at every step

We want you to feel fully supported in delivering our qualifications – both now and in the future.

To help, we’re updating a number of our existing resources and creating brand new ones – many in collaboration with expert stakeholders. All available on Teach Cambridge, these include:

We also run professional development courses, and you’re invited to join any of our free face-to-face and online teacher networks. These are a great opportunity to meet other teachers, and share advice, support and ideas to help improve student outcomes

You can book a place at an upcoming Network event here or email us if you’re interested in hosting or want to find out more.

Stay up to date 

Keep an eye out for emails from us for more news about new/updated resources. We’ll also keep you informed about any future plans to redevelop our sociology qualifications. If you haven’t already, make sure you have signed up for our e-updates.