A Level - Sociology

Maidstone Grammar School for Girls (MGGS)

Buckland Road, Maidstone, Kent, ME16 0SF

GCE A/AS Level or Equivalent

Level 3

Available start dates

Tuesday, 01 September 2026

Maidstone Grammar School for Girls (MGGS)

2 Year(s)

Full time

Daytime/working hours

NULL

Please contact the provider directly to apply for this course.

Application Instructions

Applications Open - Friday 28th November 2025 - 8am

Applications Close - Friday 6th February 2026 - 12 midnight (Externals)

- Friday 12th December 2025 - 12 midnight (Internals)

Entry Requirements - Students must be 16 years of age by 31st August of the year of entry into Year 12. Admission to the Sixth Form will be as a result of applicants achieving:

● At least a grade 5 in either English Language or English Literature

● At least a grade 5 in Mathematics

● At least 6 GCSE subjects of grades 9-5

● The specific entry requirements for each of their chosen subjects. Please note that we adhere to our subject entry criteria strictly, and therefore, students who meet the minimum entry criteria but are not eligible for their chosen subjects will be offered an alternative programme of study

● Students will be expected to enrol on a two year, full time, planned programme of study (3 A Level subjects)

● Our standard offer is for 3 subjects. Students wishing to undertake 4 subjects must achieve 8 or more grades 9-7, including the above criteria for general Sixth Form entry requirements

How to Apply - Applications open 28th November 2025 on Kent Choices.

Course Summary

This subject will raise your awareness about how society functions and your place within it. It will expose you to lots of new perspectives used to analyse and evaluate society and its constituent institutions. It helps you develop a critical approach to understanding issues around culture, identity, religion, crime, families and social power based on a range of evidence, and develops higher order evaluative skills. It may well also help develop your understanding of your own personal and political ideologies and value system. Sociology is a good choice of subject for people who want a career in social work, nursing or medicine, but the subject is also useful in a number of other careers, like marketing, advertising, PR, journalism, law, teaching, the civil service and public sector more generally. Degree courses in Sociology and related fields such as Criminology are popular options

Course Details

The course will look in depth at the role in society of the family, education, beliefs and crime and deviance. Within each topic you will consider arguments from a number of different perspectives, including functionalist consensus theories; conflict theories such as Marxism and feminism; and postmodernism. You will also consider these theoretical viewpoints in their own right, and will gain an understanding of the range of techniques used in Sociological research. Certain core themes will be highlighted, including power and inequality, and globalisation. Sociology is a dynamic subject so you will need to keep abreast of the news and relate your knowledge to current events.

How will it be delivered and assessed?

There are three equally weighted written examinations: Education with Theory and Methods;

Topics in Sociology (Families and Households and Beliefs in Society); and Crime and Deviance with Theory and Methods. Each paper is two hours long and involves a mixture of shorter answers and full length essays.

Entry requirements

Grade 6 in GCSE English Language or GCSE English Literature.

General Sixth Form entry requirements

At least a grade 5 in either English Language or English Literature
At least a grade 5 in Mathematics
At least 6 GCSE subjects of grades 9-5

Your next steps...

If you wish to apply to join our Sixth Form please complete the application process through Kent Choices.

Additional information

https://www.mggs.org/joining-us/joining-our-sixth-form/sixth-form-prospectus/#

For more courses like this, check our courses page.