Marketisation of education | AQA A-Level Sociology

Aug 14

19 min read

Updated: 3 days ago

For Specification 7192

AQA A-Level Sociology | Free Revision Notes

Estimated study time: 50 minutes

exam questions by topic 👇

Marketisation of education A-Level Sociology revision examines the significance of marketisation as an educational policy and how its impact can be assessed in relation to schools, pupils, parents, educational opportunity and outcomes. AQA explicitly requires students to study the significance of policies of marketisation, alongside selection and privatisation, for the structure, role, impact, experience of and access to education. This lesson builds on access and selection within education [Selection and educational policy] and prepares you for changes involving private participation in education [Privatisation of education].

Learning Objectives 🎯

By the end of this revision page, you should be able to:

Explain what the supplied sources establish about marketisation in education.
Explain why marketisation is sociologically significant as an educational policy.
Examine how marketisation policies may affect schools, pupils and parents.
Analyse the possible impact of marketisation on educational access and experience.
Distinguish equality of educational opportunity from equality of outcome when evaluating policy.
Evaluate sociological interpretations of the impact of marketisation.

These objectives correspond to Lesson 16 of the supplied AQA A-Level Sociology Plan.

Revision Notes 📚

Marketisation of education A-Level Sociology revision overview

AQA requires students to understand the significance of educational policies including:

selection
marketisation
privatisation
policies intended to achieve greater equality of opportunity or outcome

These policies must be examined in relation to the:

structure of education
role of education
impact of education
experience of education
access to education

Students must also understand the impact of globalisation on educational policy.

The supplied lesson plan additionally requires students to examine how marketisation may affect schools, pupils and parents, and to evaluate its impact on educational opportunity and outcomes.

What does marketisation mean?

The AQA specification explicitly identifies marketisation as required educational-policy content, but the supplied specification does not define the term or identify the particular policies, mechanisms or reforms that constitute marketisation.

Why is marketisation significant?

AQA does not require marketisation simply to be named.

Students must understand its significance.

This means asking what consequences marketisation policies may have for education.

A useful framework is:

marketisation policy

↓

possible change in educational structure or organisation

↓

possible effects on schools, pupils and parents

↓

possible effects on access and educational experience

↓

possible effects on educational opportunity and outcome

The precise effects cannot be assumed. They require sociological evidence.

Policy description versus policy analysis

A common difference between weaker and stronger Sociology answers is the move from describing a policy to analysing its consequences.

A descriptive answer might simply state:

Marketisation is an educational policy.

An analytical response asks:

How does it affect educational structures?
What consequences does it have for schools?
What does it mean for pupils' experiences?
Are parents affected?
Does access change?
Are opportunities distributed differently?
Are educational outcomes affected?
Do all social groups experience the effects in the same way?

These questions reflect the dimensions that AQA expects students to consider when studying educational policy.

Marketisation and the structure of education

AQA requires marketisation to be examined for its significance to the structure of education.

This means sociologists should consider whether marketisation policies change how education is institutionally organised.

A broad structural relationship might be:

educational policy → institutional structure → educational experience

Marketisation and the role of education

AQA also requires educational policy to be examined in relation to the role of education.

This links marketisation back to sociological explanations of what education does within society [The role and functions of education].

Relevant sociological questions include:

Does marketisation alter how education performs its wider role?
What is the intended purpose of the policy?
Do different sociological perspectives interpret that purpose differently?
Are the policy's actual consequences consistent with its intended role?

The specification provides the area for analysis but does not give a particular theoretical answer.

Marketisation and the impact of education

Impact is another term explicitly used by AQA.

This encourages students to examine what changes once marketisation policies are introduced.

When evaluating impact, distinguish:

policy intention

from:

actual social outcome

These are not necessarily identical.

A policy may be intended to achieve a particular result, while sociological research may identify different or additional consequences.

📌 Exam point: Never assume that because a policy is intended to produce an effect, it necessarily succeeds in doing so.

Marketisation and schools

The lesson plan requires students to examine how marketisation may affect schools.

A source-bound approach should consider broad questions such as:

Does marketisation alter the institutional context in which schools operate?
Does it affect how schools are organised?
Does it change relationships between different educational institutions?
Does it influence the role schools perform?
Do different schools experience the policy differently?

Marketisation and the organisation of teaching and learning

Marketisation is a policy, while the organisation of teaching and learning is a process within schools.

AQA treats these as separate specification areas.

However, policy and school processes may be connected.

A sociologist might investigate:

marketisation policy → educational structure → organisation within schools → pupil experience

This provides a natural link with school-level organisation of education [The organisation of teaching and learning].

The connection should be demonstrated with evidence rather than assumed.

Marketisation and pupils

The supplied lesson plan also asks students to examine how marketisation affects pupils.

This fits directly with the specification because AQA requires policy to be considered in relation to:

educational experience
access
impact

Potential sociological questions include:

Does marketisation affect pupils' access to education?
Do pupils experience education differently as a result?
Are opportunities affected?
Are educational outcomes affected?
Are all pupils affected in the same way?

Again, these are questions for investigation rather than answers supplied by the specification.

Marketisation and educational experience

AQA explicitly requires students to consider the experience of education when studying educational policy.

A useful analytical chain is:

marketisation policy → educational context → pupil experience

Possible links could then be investigated with other Education content:

educational experience ↔ teacher-pupil relationships

educational experience ↔ pupil identity

educational experience ↔ pupil subculture

However, the specification does not identify a particular effect of marketisation on any of these processes.

Marketisation and pupil identities

Policy may potentially affect the educational contexts in which pupils develop identities.

A sociologist could therefore investigate:

policy → educational experience → pupil interpretation → identity

This links with how pupils form educational identities [Pupil identities].

However, pupils should not be treated as passive.

Different pupils may interpret the same educational arrangements differently.

This introduces the distinction between social structure and social action.

Marketisation and parents

The supplied lesson plan specifically requires students to consider the effects of marketisation on parents.

Marketisation and access to education

Access to education is explicitly named by AQA as one dimension through which marketisation and other educational policies should be understood.

Access raises questions such as:

Who can participate in particular educational opportunities?
Does policy alter access?
Are all pupils affected equally?
Is access connected with wider social inequalities?

A useful sequence is:

marketisation policy → possible change in access → possible change in educational experience

Whether access becomes more or less equal cannot be established from the supplied specification alone.

Marketisation and educational opportunity

The third learning objective asks students to evaluate the impact of marketisation on educational opportunity.

AQA separately requires policies aiming to achieve greater equality of opportunity or outcome.

This makes educational opportunity an important evaluation criterion.

Ask:

Are educational opportunities distributed equally?
Does marketisation change opportunities?
Do some groups gain different opportunities from others?
What evidence supports any claim of change?

The direction of the effect is not given in the source.

Equality of opportunity

At the broadest level, equality of opportunity concerns whether individuals have comparable opportunities to access and participate in education.

This can be connected directly to AQA's requirement to consider access to education.

Marketisation might therefore be evaluated by asking:

What happens to educational opportunities and access under marketisation policies?

The specification does not state that marketisation necessarily increases or decreases equality of opportunity.

Equality of outcome

AQA distinguishes equality of outcome from equality of opportunity.

This distinction matters.

Two pupils might potentially have access to an educational opportunity while still experiencing different educational outcomes.

When evaluating marketisation, students should therefore consider separately:

opportunity

and:

outcome

This prepares for policies designed to address educational inequality [Equality of educational opportunity and outcome].

Opportunity and outcome should not be confused

A policy may affect access without automatically producing equal outcomes.

Likewise, a difference in outcomes does not by itself demonstrate unequal access.

A strong policy evaluation therefore asks:

What happens to access?
What happens to opportunity?
What happens to experience?
What happens to outcome?
What evidence connects these effects to marketisation?

This prevents vague statements about "equality".

Marketisation and social differentiation

One of AQA's two compulsory core themes is:

social differentiation, power and stratification.

Marketisation can therefore be evaluated by considering whether its consequences vary between social groups.

Earlier Education lessons require students to study differences by:

social class
gender
ethnicity

A sociologist might therefore investigate whether marketisation affects these groups differently.

The specification does not provide the findings.

Marketisation and social class

AQA requires students to understand education's relationship with class structure and differential educational achievement by social class.

This makes class a relevant dimension when evaluating marketisation.

Possible questions include:

Do social classes experience marketisation equally?
Are educational opportunities affected differently?
Does access vary?
Are different outcomes associated with the policy?

Marketisation and gender

AQA also requires differential educational achievement by gender.

Gender can therefore be considered when investigating the impact of educational policy.

However, the specification does not provide:

gender-specific marketisation effects
named evidence
particular outcomes

These should not be invented.

Marketisation and ethnicity

The same applies to ethnicity.

Evidence is required before reaching a conclusion.

Marketisation and power

Power is part of AQA's compulsory core themes.

Educational policy can therefore be analysed by asking:

Who is able to shape educational arrangements?
Who experiences the consequences of policy?
Does policy affect groups equally?
How does power relate to access and opportunity?

This is a legitimate sociological lens on marketisation.

However, the specification does not identify a particular group as gaining or losing power through marketisation.

Marketisation as social structure

AQA requires students to understand the significance of social structure.

Marketisation can be examined structurally because educational policy can create institutional arrangements within which:

schools operate
pupils experience education
parents act

A broad structural model is:

educational policy → institutional arrangements → opportunities and constraints

The strength of a structural explanation is that it recognises that educational experiences are not simply the result of individual decisions.

Marketisation and social action

AQA also requires students to understand social action.

Schools, pupils and parents may interpret and respond to policy rather than reacting in one automatic way.

A social-action model adds:

policy arrangements → interpretation → action

This means the same policy context may potentially produce different responses.

A complete analysis may therefore combine:

structure + social action

rather than assuming one mechanically determines the other.

A combined model of marketisation

A broad source-supported framework is:

educational policy

↓

marketisation

↓

institutional opportunities and constraints

↓

experiences of schools, pupils and parents

↓

interpretation and social action

↓

possible educational consequences

Consensus interpretations

AQA requires students to understand consensus theories.

When applying a broad consensus perspective to marketisation, students might ask:

How is the policy intended to contribute to the role of education?
How does it relate to the organisation of the education system?
What wider social purpose might supporters believe it serves?

Conflict interpretations

AQA also requires students to understand conflict theories.

A broad conflict interpretation may direct attention towards:

unequal consequences
power
social differentiation
stratification
differences in educational opportunity

A sociologist using this perspective might ask whether marketisation affects social groups differently.

Again, the supplied source provides the theoretical category, but not a named conflict explanation of marketisation.

Comparing broad sociological interpretations

Interpretation	Main focus supported by the specification	Useful evaluation question
Consensus	Organisation and social role of education	Does the interpretation give enough attention to inequality?
Conflict	Power, differentiation and unequal outcomes	Does it fully explain the role and organisation of policy?
Structural	Institutional effects of educational policy	Does it make schools, pupils and parents appear too passive?
Social action	How people interpret and respond to policy	Does it give enough attention to wider policy constraints?

These broad perspectives remain within AQA's requirement to understand consensus, conflict, structural and social-action theories.

Marketisation and selection

The previous lesson examined selection as educational policy [Selection and educational policy].

AQA lists selection and marketisation separately.

Therefore:

selection ≠ marketisation

They may form part of the same wider educational-policy topic, but the specification treats them as distinct concepts.

Students should avoid using the two terms interchangeably.

Marketisation and privatisation

AQA also identifies privatisation separately from marketisation.

Therefore:

marketisation ≠ privatisation

The next lesson examines private involvement within education [Privatisation of education].

Marketisation and globalisation

AQA requires students to examine the impact of globalisation on educational policy.

Marketisation forms part of the wider educational-policy area, but the supplied specification does not state how globalisation specifically influences marketisation.

This relationship is explored later in international influences on educational policy [Globalisation and educational policy].

Intended consequences of policy

When evaluating marketisation, distinguish between what a policy is intended to achieve and what evidence shows actually happens.

A policy may have stated objectives.

Sociologists should then examine:

intention → implementation → outcome

The final outcome should not be assumed from the intention.

This distinction is particularly important in policy questions.

Unintended consequences

Educational policies may also have consequences that differ from, or extend beyond, their stated purpose.

The specification does not give particular unintended consequences of marketisation, but sociological evaluation should remain open to examining whether observed effects differ from policy intentions.

A useful question is:

Does the evidence show that marketisation actually produces the consequences attributed to it?

Evaluating effects on schools

When evaluating an argument about schools, ask:

What aspect of school organisation is claimed to change?
Is there evidence that it changes?
Is the change directly connected with marketisation?
Are all schools affected similarly?
Could another educational policy be responsible?

Without this evidence, claims about school effects remain unsupported.

Evaluating effects on pupils

For pupils, consider:

access
educational opportunity
educational experience
educational outcome

Then ask whether evidence demonstrates a causal relationship with marketisation.

For example:

different pupil outcomes

do not automatically demonstrate:

marketisation caused those outcomes

Evaluating effects on parents

The same principle applies to parents.

A claim that marketisation changes parental behaviour requires evidence showing:

what behaviour changed
why it changed
how it is connected with marketisation
whether all parents respond similarly

Evidence versus explanation

AQA requires students to examine both the evidence of and the sociological explanations for substantive content.

This distinction is particularly useful for policy.

Evidence

May show:

changes in educational structure
differences in access
patterns of educational opportunity
experiences reported by pupils or parents
educational outcomes

Explanation

Attempts to establish:

why these changes occurred
whether marketisation produced them
through what mechanism
why groups may be affected differently

So:

evidence of change ≠ proof that marketisation caused the change

Association and causation

Imagine evidence shows that educational outcomes changed following a policy change.

This demonstrates a temporal relationship, but not necessarily causation.

Other processes might also change during the same period.

A sociologist therefore needs to consider:

alternative explanations
research design
how the policy's impact was measured
whether the evidence isolates marketisation as the cause

This links directly to AQA's requirement to integrate research design and its strengths and limitations throughout substantive Sociology.

Researching marketisation

AQA requires students to apply sociological research methods to education.

Required sources of data include:

questionnaires
interviews
participant observation
non-participant observation
experiments
documents
official statistics

Different methods could investigate different aspects of marketisation.

Documents and educational policy

Documents could potentially provide evidence about:

formal policy
stated aims
institutional arrangements

This may help establish what a policy intends to do.

However:

policy document ≠ evidence of actual outcome

A sociologist also needs evidence concerning how policy operates in practice.

Official statistics

Official statistics may potentially provide quantitative evidence about:

access
educational participation
educational outcomes

They could help identify patterns before and after policy changes or differences between groups.

However, numerical patterns alone may not explain:

how schools respond
pupils' experiences
parents' interpretations
causal mechanisms

Interviews

Interviews could potentially provide evidence about how:

pupils experience educational arrangements
parents understand changes
people within schools interpret policy

This can provide information about meaning and experience.

However, accounts given in interviews still need to be evaluated as sociological evidence.

Questionnaires

Questionnaires could collect information from larger numbers of participants about:

experiences
attitudes
responses to educational policy

They may make group comparisons possible.

However, what they reveal depends on:

the questions asked
who responds
how concepts are measured

Observation

Observation may potentially reveal how educational processes operate within schools after a policy has been introduced.

However, observing what happens within one educational setting does not automatically establish that marketisation caused the observed behaviour.

Researchers still need an appropriate design for investigating causation.

Quantitative and qualitative evidence

AQA requires both quantitative and qualitative methods.

Quantitative evidence may help identify:

patterns
differences
outcomes

Qualitative evidence may help explore:

meanings
interpretations
experiences

A fuller evaluation of marketisation may therefore need evidence addressing both:

What changed?

and:

How was the change experienced and interpreted?

Research design

The design of research, including its strengths and limitations, must be an integral part of topic study.

When evaluating evidence about marketisation, ask:

What policy was actually being studied?
How was marketisation defined?
What period was examined?
Which schools or pupils were included?
How was access measured?
How was opportunity measured?
How were educational outcomes measured?
Were parents' experiences directly investigated?
Could another policy explain the findings?
Can the findings be generalised?

These questions help distinguish strong evidence from weak assumptions.

Contemporary UK society

AQA states that the central focus should be UK society today, while comparative and global dimensions should be considered where relevant.

This means evidence about marketisation should be evaluated in relation to:

when the research was conducted
whether the policy still operates in the same way
which educational institutions were studied
whether findings are relevant to contemporary UK education

The supplied specification contains no contemporary marketisation statistics or named research studies.

Evaluating marketisation and educational opportunity

When evaluating educational opportunity, a useful framework is:

Access

Do pupils have different access to education?

Opportunity

Are educational possibilities distributed differently?

Experience

Do pupils encounter different educational experiences?

Outcome

Are different educational outcomes associated with the policy?

Social differentiation

Are social groups affected differently?

Evidence

How strong is the evidence linking these patterns to marketisation?

This gives an organised way to build evaluation.

Evaluating marketisation and educational outcomes

An outcome-based evaluation needs particular care.

AQA requires differential educational achievement by:

social class
gender
ethnicity

Therefore, if marketisation is claimed to affect outcomes, sociologists may investigate whether:

different social groups show different outcomes
the pattern existed before the policy
other school processes may contribute
differences in access are relevant
marketisation is actually the causal factor

Does marketisation increase equality?

The supplied specification does not answer this question.

A sociologist would need evidence before concluding that marketisation:

increases equality
reduces equality
leaves equality unchanged

Therefore, in an examination, the correct approach is to evaluate competing claims using evidence rather than treating one outcome as inevitable.

Does marketisation improve educational outcomes?

AQA's requirement is to understand the significance of marketisation, not to accept that it has one predetermined effect.

Students should assess:

what outcome is being measured
whose outcome is being considered
what evidence supports the claim
whether causation has been established
whether consequences vary between social groups

What the supplied sources support

The supplied specification and lesson plan support study of:

marketisation as educational policy
its significance for the structure of education
its significance for the role and impact of education
its significance for educational experience
its significance for access to education
possible effects on schools, pupils and parents
educational opportunity and outcomes
equality of opportunity and outcome
socialisation, culture and identity
social differentiation, power and stratification
consensus and conflict
social structure and social action
research methods and research design

Applying this knowledge in an examination ✍️

A strong paragraph should analyse marketisation through its consequences rather than simply describing it as an educational policy.

For example:

Point: Marketisation may affect educational opportunity.

Explanation: AQA requires marketisation to be considered in relation to access to and experience of education.

Development: If marketisation alters the way educational opportunities are structured, pupils may experience different forms of access.

Analysis: Sociologists could then investigate whether those differences contribute to unequal educational experiences or outcomes.

Evaluation: However, a difference in outcomes does not by itself demonstrate that marketisation caused it. Social class, gender, ethnicity and other educational processes may also be relevant.

For higher-level analysis, distinguish:

policy intention

from:

evidence of actual impact

and:

structured opportunities

from:

individual responses to those opportunities.

Key Words 🔑

Key word	Student-friendly definition	How it may be used in an exam
Marketisation	An educational-policy area explicitly required by AQA whose significance must be examined in relation to educational structure, role, impact, experience and access	Identify the policy concept being evaluated
Educational policy	Policies affecting how education is structured and experienced	Place marketisation within the wider policy topic
Access to education	Pupils' opportunities to enter or participate in education	Evaluate whether policy affects educational access
Educational experience	What pupils encounter while participating in education	Analyse possible effects of marketisation on pupils
Educational opportunity	Opportunities available to pupils through education	Evaluate whether opportunities differ under a policy
Equality of opportunity	Equality in opportunities to access or participate in education	Assess marketisation in relation to educational access
Equality of outcome	Equality in educational results or consequences	Distinguish policy effects on outcomes from effects on initial opportunities
Social differentiation	Social distinctions between different groups	Examine whether policy consequences vary between groups
Social structure	Patterned institutions and relationships organising social life	Explain how policy may structure educational opportunities
Social action	Meaningful actions and interpretations by individuals	Explain why schools, pupils or parents may respond differently to policy

Common Mistakes ⚠️

Mistake: Giving an unsupported detailed definition of marketisation

Why this is incorrect: The supplied specification names marketisation but does not define its particular mechanisms.

How to improve: Use an additional approved source before introducing specific features, reforms or examples.

Mistake: Assuming marketisation automatically increases or decreases inequality

Why this is incorrect: The supplied specification does not state the direction of marketisation's impact.

How to improve: Treat this as an empirical question and evaluate the evidence.

Mistake: Confusing marketisation with selection

Why this is incorrect: AQA lists the two separately.

How to improve: Use previous policy on educational access [Selection and educational policy] when discussing selection, and keep marketisation conceptually distinct.

Mistake: Confusing marketisation with privatisation

Why this is incorrect: AQA also lists privatisation separately.

How to improve: Treat private participation in education [Privatisation of education] as a separate policy area unless evidence supports a relationship between the two.

Mistake: Focusing only on schools

Why this is incorrect: The lesson plan requires students to consider schools, pupils and parents, while AQA requires policy to be assessed through educational experience and access.

How to improve: Evaluate the consequences for several groups.

Mistake: Ignoring equality of opportunity and outcome

Why this is incorrect: These are explicitly identified by AQA as important educational-policy issues.

How to improve: Evaluate access and opportunity separately from final outcomes.

Mistake: Assuming policy intention equals policy success

Why this is incorrect: What a policy aims to achieve and what sociological evidence shows may differ.

How to improve: Use:

policy intention → evidence of actual impact → evaluation

Mistake: Assuming a change in educational outcomes proves marketisation caused it

Why this is incorrect: Other policies and social processes may contribute to the pattern.

How to improve: Evaluate causation and consider alternative explanations.

Mistake: Treating pupils and parents as passive

Why this is incorrect: AQA requires students to understand social action as well as social structure.

How to improve: Consider how individuals may interpret and respond differently to the circumstances produced by educational policy.

Exam-Style Questions ✍️

Question 1

Identify two educational policies, other than marketisation, that AQA specifically requires students to study.(2 marks)

Question 2

Outline two reasons why marketisation is sociologically significant as an educational policy.(4 marks)

Question 3

Explain two ways in which marketisation policies may affect pupils' educational experiences.(6 marks)

Question 4

Read Item A and answer the question that follows.

Item A Educational policies may alter the structure of education and the opportunities available to pupils. The consequences of these changes may not be experienced in the same way by all social groups.

Applying material from Item A, analyse two ways in which marketisation may affect educational opportunity.(10 marks)

Question 5

Read Item B and answer the question that follows.

Item B Marketisation may have consequences for schools, pupils and parents. Some sociological interpretations focus on the structure created by educational policy, while others emphasise the ways individuals respond to their circumstances.

Applying material from Item B, analyse two reasons why both social structure and social action may be useful when examining marketisation.(10 marks)

Question 6

Evaluate the view that the most important issue when assessing marketisation is its impact on equality of educational opportunity.(20 marks)

Question 7

Read Item C and answer the question that follows.

Item C Sociologists disagree about how educational policies should be evaluated. Some focus on their contribution to the organisation and role of education. Others focus more strongly on power, social differentiation and unequal consequences.

Applying material from Item C and your knowledge, evaluate sociological interpretations of marketisation in education.(30 marks)

Answers and mark scheme

Question 1

Award 1 mark each for:

selection
privatisation

Policies intended to achieve greater equality of opportunity or outcome may also be credited as another policy area explicitly named by AQA.

Question 2

Possible answers include:

Marketisation may be significant for the structure of education.
It may affect the role or impact of education.
It may affect pupils' educational experiences.
It may affect access to education.
It can be evaluated through equality of opportunity or outcome.
It may have implications for social differentiation and inequality.

Credit two clearly outlined reasons.

Question 3

Possible explanations include:

Access

Marketisation may alter educational arrangements that affect pupils' access to opportunities. If access changes, pupils may enter different educational contexts and therefore have different experiences.

Educational structure

Policy may alter the institutional settings in which pupils participate in education. These arrangements may shape pupils' everyday experiences.

Pupil identity

Different educational experiences may be interpreted by pupils and become relevant to their identities.

Teacher-pupil relationships

If marketisation alters educational contexts, sociologists may investigate whether these changes influence the settings in which teacher-pupil relationships develop.

Credit two developed explanations.

Question 4

A strong answer should apply Item A.

Possible route 1: access

Item A refers to "opportunities available to pupils".
AQA requires marketisation to be considered in relation to access to education.
If marketisation alters access, educational opportunities may also be affected.
Sociologists could then evaluate whether access is equally distributed.

Possible route 2: social differentiation

Item A states that consequences may differ between social groups.
This links to AQA's core theme of social differentiation, power and stratification.
Sociologists might investigate whether marketisation has different implications for pupils according to class, gender or ethnicity.
Evidence would be needed to demonstrate the direction and size of any effect.

Question 5

Social structure

Item B refers to "the structure created by educational policy".
Structural approaches emphasise the way policy creates institutional opportunities and constraints.
Marketisation may therefore shape the circumstances within which schools, pupils and parents operate.

Social action

Item B refers to how individuals "respond".
A social-action approach recognises that pupils, parents or people within schools may interpret the same policy circumstances differently.
Policy therefore does not necessarily produce one identical response.

A strong answer should show how the two perspectives may complement one another.

Question 6

A successful response should focus on whether equality of opportunity is the most important way of assessing marketisation.

Arguments supporting the view could include:

AQA explicitly requires policy to be evaluated in relation to access.
Equality of opportunity is an explicit educational-policy issue.
Changes in access may influence pupils' later educational experiences.
Differences in opportunity may connect with social differentiation, power and stratification.

Evaluation could consider other dimensions that AQA also explicitly requires:

equality of outcome
educational experience
educational structure
the role of education
the overall impact of policy
consequences for schools
consequences for pupils
consequences for parents

A strong answer should also ask:

What evidence shows that opportunity changed?
Do different social groups experience the policy differently?
Does a change in opportunity produce a change in outcome?
Can any observed difference actually be attributed to marketisation?

A reasoned conclusion might argue that equality of opportunity is central because marketisation must be assessed in relation to access, but it would be too narrow to use opportunity as the only measure. A complete sociological evaluation should also consider educational experience, outcomes, structure and differences between social groups.

Question 7

A successful 30-mark response should evaluate marketisation as one of AQA's required educational policies. The specification requires marketisation to be considered for its significance to the structure, role, impact, experience of and access to education.

Relevant source-supported content includes:

marketisation
educational structure
role and impact of education
educational experience
access to education
equality of opportunity and outcome
effects on schools, pupils and parents
social differentiation, power and stratification
socialisation, culture and identity
consensus and conflict
social structure and social action
research evidence and research design

A useful essay structure could be:

establish marketisation as an educational-policy area
analyse its possible significance for educational structure
consider effects on pupils and educational experience
consider effects on schools
consider effects on parents
evaluate educational access and opportunity
distinguish equality of opportunity from equality of outcome
apply social differentiation and power
compare broad consensus and conflict interpretations
compare structural and social-action interpretations
evaluate the evidence used to establish marketisation's impact
reach a reasoned judgement

Strong evaluation should ask:

What exactly does the marketisation policy involve?
What is its stated purpose?
What evidence shows its actual impact?
Are schools affected in the same way?
How are pupils' experiences affected?
What evidence exists about parents?
Does access change?
Does equality of opportunity change?
Do educational outcomes change?
Are social classes, genders or ethnic groups affected differently?
Does the evidence demonstrate causation?
Is the evidence relevant to contemporary UK education?

A strong conclusion might argue that marketisation should not be evaluated through one assumed consequence. Its sociological significance depends on evidence concerning how particular policies alter educational structures, how schools, pupils and parents respond, and whether access, opportunity and outcomes change. Competing interpretations may place different emphasis on organisation, inequality, power or social action, so the evidence used to establish these effects is crucial.