This article presents introductory considerations on a sociological outside description of the educational system. After this particular form of a sociological perspective has been determined, which, unlike pedagogical research, does not necessarily depend on the fact that its observations in the educational system can be connected, this distanced form of observation is shown by three examples: the question of the form of the educational system and its boundaries, the significance of the system for the inequality structure of modern society, and finally the form of uncertain action in educational processes.