IGCSE Sociology Tutoring, Cambridge International
IGCSE Sociology asks students to argue about things they feel they already understand — families, schools, crime, who gets ahead — and to support every claim with sociological evidence rather than opinion. Research methods run through the whole course and are tested by a compulsory question in every series, so a student who knows the topics but not the methods is giving away part of the first paper.
Short answer
IGCSE Sociology is offered online, one-to-one.
A private lesson runs 90 minutes and starts at USD 95 per lesson; lessons are booked singly or in packages.
No group class runs for this exam.
From USD 95 per lesson
- Structure shown for Cambridge International
- Live online lessons of 90 minutes
- From USD 95 per lesson
How IGCSE Sociology is assessed, board by board
This page covers one specification for this subject: Cambridge IGCSE Sociology (0495). It is set out below from the board's own document. If your school enters you with a different board, tell us on the intro call and we will work from that board's specification instead.
Cambridge International
Cambridge IGCSE Sociology (0495)
| Component | Share of grade | Length | Marks | Format |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paper 1: Research Methods, Identity and Inequality — Three questions, two answered; Question 1 is compulsory | 50% | 2 hours | 80 marks | structured questions and essay |
| Paper 2: Family, Education and Crime — Three questions, two answered | 50% | 1 hour 45 min | 80 marks | structured questions and essay |
- Research methods is compulsory and sits in Paper 1 alongside identity and inequality — it is not an optional topic and it carries marks in every series. Pearson’s International GCSE range does not include Sociology.
Checked on 22 September 2026
Cambridge International and Pearson Edexcel are the two IGCSE boards covered here. Some schools use OxfordAQA International GCSEs, which are examined differently again; if that is your board, tell us on the intro call and we will confirm tutor availability for your specification before you book.
What IGCSE Sociology covers
The syllabus areas most boards share. Which ones appear, in what order and on which paper differs by board and by specification code — your own specification is the final word. Topic names are left in English, as they appear on the paper.
Research methods
Positivist and interpretivist approaches · Sources of data and secondary evidence · Stages of research design and sampling · Quantitative and qualitative primary methods · Theoretical, practical and ethical issues in research
Identity: self and society
Socialisation and the social construction of identity · Agencies of socialisation · Social control and resistance to it · Influences on social identity
Social stratification and inequality
Stratification in open and closed societies · Life chances: age, gender, ethnicity and social class · Sociological theories of inequality · Attempts to reduce social inequalities · Globalisation, migration and inequality between societies
Family
Types of family and family diversity · The role of the family for the individual and society · How family life is changing
Education
Formal and informal education; types of school · The roles and functions of education · Differences in educational achievement and experience
Crime, deviance and social control
Crime, deviance and formal and informal social control · Measuring crime · Patterns of and explanations for crime and deviance · How crime is dealt with in different societies
Where IGCSE Sociology marks are usually lost
A research plan that never commits
The research-methods question ends by asking which primary method, which sample and which secondary evidence you would use to investigate a set topic, and why. Students lose marks by listing every method they know, or by writing about the topic itself — Cambridge states that no knowledge of the topic is needed. Each choice needs a reason tied to that topic and those people.
Opinion dressed up as sociology
Answers on family, education or crime often read like a conversation at home: plausible, but with no concept, study, perspective or statistic behind them. Marks go to sociological evidence and vocabulary — socialisation, life chances, labelling, functionalist, Marxist and feminist views — applied to the exact question. An example from the student’s own society is welcome, but it still has to be explained in sociological terms.
Debates argued from one side
The short essay that closes each identity, stratification, family, education and crime question asks for reasoned arguments on both sides of a debate, supported by sociological evidence. Many students build a strong case for one view and give the other a single line. Balanced, evidenced arguments on each side, kept tied to the exact wording of the question, are what lift an essay out of the middle.
How we teach IGCSE Sociology
A tutor starts with research methods, because the syllabus treats them as the foundation of every other topic and the first paper always tests them. Positivist and interpretivist approaches, sampling, questionnaires, interviews, observation, reliability, validity and ethics are drilled until a student can apply them to any topic in a few lines, and the research plan is practised on unfamiliar topics until it becomes routine. Source questions are worked on unseen extracts — tables as well as qualitative accounts — asking what the data shows and what is wrong with it. Each content topic is then built around its debates: is the family declining, does education reduce inequality, who gets labelled deviant. For each side the student keeps a short bank of studies, concepts and local examples, and essays are written against the clock and checked against Cambridge mark schemes.
There is no separate diagnostic, because there is no single test that stands in for two years of a school syllabus. The first lesson is the assessment: the tutor works through your recent marked work, past-paper questions from your own specification, and the units your school has already covered, and reads current level, gaps, exam technique and where school work stands. It is a normal paid lesson and it teaches as it assesses.
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