How do you achieve a top grade in A Level sociology?

With any A Level subject, it is obvious that in order to achieve a good grade, you must have the ability to recite the main principles of the topic. In sociology, you must be able to demonstrate your knowledge of Functionalism, Feminism(s), Marxism, Neo-Marxism and Post-Modernism. In addition to this, most sociology A Level exam boards require for you to recite the names of appropriate theorists and their theories for multiple different topics, meaning unfortunately, it is a matter of revision. However, revision is the easy part. In order to achieve a top grade of an A or an A* at A Level, you must be able to demonstrate that not only do you KNOW the theory, but that you UNDERSTAND the theory. You can demonstrate this in several ways, firstly, by applying the given theory to a real life example or current event, for example; explaining the way in which ideology is socially constructed using the recent Brexit campaign to apply the theory. Secondly, you can show your understanding of a theory by criticizing it, this can be a general criticism, such as ‘Functionalism is overly deterministic’ or you can use another theory as your criticism, for example ‘Durkheim claims that sociology is an objective science and is therefore, value free, however Becker argues that objectivity is impossible when we are surrounded by personal and political influences’. Lastly, in some cases it may be appropriate for you to comment on the significance of a theory in terms of its influence on other theories in the field, for example, ‘modernist theory paved the way for the development of the post-modernist approach’. You must be able to show your ability to analyse theory and demonstrate critical thinking in order to achieve top marks.