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BA Social Policy and Sociology

Start date
September 2025
Duration
3 years
UCAS code
LL43
Course Type
Undergraduate, Joint Honours combined
Fees

For 2025/26:
£9,535 (UK students) 
£24,470 (International Students) 
More detail on Fees and Funding.

The BA Social Policy and Sociology Joint Honours degree at Birmingham, will give you a broad grounding in the major approaches to two disciplines and provide you with an excellent opportunity to explore the social changes reshaping the world today.

This Joint Honours degree will provide you with the knowledge and skills to critically engage with key issues facing contemporary societies including globalisation; the changing nature of work and the family; gender roles and sexuality; multiculturalism; the impact of the media and information technologies; and new forms of politics. In addition to these 'big picture' social theories we place a strong emphasis on developing social science research skills with valuable research methods training in each year.

Hands-On Learning with Placement Year

In your second year, you’ll receive tailored support from our placements team and the School of Social Policy and Society, including one-to-one advice on CVs, interviews, and career planning. Support is also available through the College of Social Sciences Careers Network team.

During your Placement Year, you’ll apply your academic knowledge in real-world settings, enhancing your final-year studies. Assessment may include a skills journal, reports, essays, and poster presentations.

The Placement Year is conditional upon you achieving at least 50% or more in Year 1. You can return to the three-year programme if you decide not to do a placement.

I chose to study Sociology and Social Policy at Birmingham because I loved the variety of modules that were available. You can tailor your degree to your personal choices and study the things you are most interested in.

Sophie, Graduate, BA Social Policy and Sociology

Modules

First year 

In your first year you will be introduced to degree level social policy and sociology through six core modules. These modules are designed to support the progression to more independent forms of study later in your degree. This year will also introduce you to the basics of research design and methods.

Compulsory

  • Introduction to Social Policy
  • Social Problems and Social Policy: Social Science in Action Part 1
  • Social Problems and Social Policy: Social Science in Action Part 2
  • Introduction to Social Divisions
  • The Sociological Imagination
  • Crime, Justice, and Society
  • Social Research I (Part 1)
  • Social Research I (Part 2)

Second year 

The second year of your degree builds on these foundations by developing your understanding of social policy and sociology. You will also receive more advanced methods training in data analysis which will help prepare you for your final year dissertation. 

Compulsory

  • Policy Analysis
  • Social Research 2
  • Modern Sociological Theory

You must choose one of the following modules

  • 'Sociology of Race' and Ethnicity - A Global Perspective
  • Gender and Sexuality
  • Poverty, Class and Inequality

You will choose your remaining credits from a range of optional modules, such as:

  • Education, Policy and Social Justice
  • Poverty, Class and Inequality
  • Terror, Threat and Security
  • Media and Society
  • Gender and Sexuality
  • Youth, Crime and Justice
  • Enterprising Solutions to Social Problems
  • Histories of Criminal Justice and Empire
  • Housing, Home and Place: issues in Policy
  • Social Psychology
  • 'Sociology of Race' and Ethnicity - a global perspective

Final year 

The focus of the third year is your independent, supervised dissertation which brings together your research skills on a project defined by you. Your final year also allows you to specialise in the areas of social policy and sociology that interest you most. Our teaching staff, who are active researchers, run options in their own specialist fields.

If you want to take advantage of a unique opportunity to be supported with a work placement opportunity as part of your final year, this course includes the opportunity to undertake a 'Professional Development' module as part of your optional module choices.

Compulsory

  • Dissertation (Social Policy and Sociology)
  • Contemporary Social Theory 

You will choose your remaining credits from a range of optional modules, such as:

  • Prospects for Social Policy in the UK
  • Harmful Societies: Crime, Social Harm and Social Justice
  • Divided Publics?
  • Genocide and Mass Atrocities
  • Crime and the City
  • Technology & Society
  • Quantitative Data Analysis
  • Professional Development
  • Sociology of Success and Spectacle
  • Children as Citizens
  • Drugs: Society, Politics and Policy
  • Migration, Mobility, and Difference

Unless indicated otherwise the modules listed for this programme are for students starting in 2025.

Please note: The modules listed on the website for this programme are regularly reviewed to ensure they are up-to-date and informed by the latest research and teaching methods. On rare occasions, we may need to make unexpected changes to compulsory modules; in this event we will contact offer holders as soon as possible to inform or consult them as appropriate.

Fees

The University will charge the maximum approved tuition fee per year. If your offer is for 2025 year of entry, we expect that the tuition fee for your first year of study will be £9,535. If Parliament agrees on an increase in tuition fees, the University will increase fees for each year of study normally in line with these changes and will communicate any change in the fees to you without delay. If you are applying for 2026 year of entry, you will be advised of the annual tuition fee closer to the time. Visit our tuition fees page for more information.

Learn more about fees and funding.

International students

Full-time Band 1 (Classroom): £24,470

Scholarships

At Birmingham we ensure that fears about finance do not constrain prospective students from considering university and that excellence is rewarded.

The University offers a range of additional financial support for students studying at Birmingham in the form of bursaries, grants and scholarships.

Learn more about our Scholarships and Bursaries.

How To Apply

Apply through UCAS at www.ucas.com using code: LL43.
Learn more about applying.

University of Birmingham's UCAS code number is B32.

Standard offer

International Requirements



Number of A levels required:
3
Typical offer:
ABB
General Studies:
Not accepted

BTEC Extended Diploma, Diploma and Subsidiary Diploma are all considered.

Learn more about entry requirements.

Alternative offers through our Pathways to Birmingham programmes and our Contextual Offer scheme

Students who are eligible and successfully complete a Pathways to Birmingham programme will receive special consideration from admissions tutors and an alternative offer (typically two grades below the standard offer). In addition, our Contextual Offer Scheme recognises the potential of students whose personal circumstances may have restricted achievement in school or college. If you are eligible to benefit from the contextual offer scheme, you will receive an offer which is one grade lower than the standard offer.

International Students

Standard English language requirements apply .
Learn more about international entry requirements.

Depending on your chosen course of study, you may also be interested in one of our foundation pathways, which offer specially structured programmes for international students whose qualifications are not accepted for direct entry to UK universities. Further details can be found on Birmingham International Academy web pages.

A Joint Honours degree programme involves the study of two subjects to Honours degree level. If you study a subject as a Joint Honours programme, you work at exactly the same level and to the same academic standard as students taking that subject in a Single Honours programme. The Social Policy and Sociology degree at Birmingham will present a balanced view of the subject. You will be given a broad grounding in the major approaches to both disciplines culminating in a final year dissertation where you research and write an extended piece on a topic of your own choice, with the support of an expert supervisor. 

How will I be taught?

We pride ourselves on the quality of our teaching. Our staff are active researchers who want to share their enthusiasm for sociology and social policy with you. We believe teaching and learning should be both rigorous and enjoyable, and seek to involve students in continually developing our activities. 

From the outset you will be encouraged to become an independent and self-motivated learner. We want you to be challenged and will encourage you to think for yourself.

Your learning will be facilitated through a blend of teaching, learning and assessment methods, and you will experience teaching through a mixture of lectures, seminars, workshops and tutorials.

Learning settings

Your learning will take place in a range of different settings, from scheduled teaching in lectures and small group tutorials, to self-study and peer group learning (for example preparing and delivering presentations with your classmates). 

Personal tutors

You will be assigned your own personal tutor who will get to know you as you progress through your studies. They will provide academic support and advice to enable you to make the most of your time here at Birmingham.

Support

We have dedicated wellbeing officers who provide professional support, advice and guidance to students across a range of issues. They can meet with you to discuss extensions, disabilities, reasonable adjustments, extenuating circumstances, or talk through any problems you might be experiencing, and help you access wider support on campus and beyond.

Our Academic Skills Centre also offers you support with your learning. The Centre is a place where you can develop your mathematical, academic writing, and general academic skills. It is the Centre's aim to help you to become a more effective and independent learner through the use of a range of high-quality and appropriate learning support services. These range from drop-in sessions to workshops on a range of topics including note taking, reading, writing and presentation skills.

Contact hours

For all undergraduate modules students usually attend 1 lecture and 1 seminar per week.

Internships and work experience

We have developed a range of internships and funded work experience placements that will enhance both your professional and personal skills whilst giving you the practical experience that is required by almost all graduate employers. In addition to funding and support, we offer unique opportunities to help you to rise above the competition, with global internships and placements available.

Assessment Methods

Studying at degree level is likely to be very different from your previous experience of learning and teaching. You will be expected to think, discuss and engage critically with the subject and find things out for yourself. We will enable you to make this transition to a new style of learning, and the way that you are assessed during your studies will help you develop the essential skills you need to make a success of your time at Birmingham.

You will be assessed in a variety of ways, and these may be different with each module that you take. You will be assessed through coursework which may take the form of essays, group and individual presentations, and formal exams.

Where can your social policy degree take you?

 

In the latest Complete University Guide league table for 2025, Birmingham is ranked 13th out of 130 institutions surveyed. Studying at the University of Birmingham will boost your employability prospects - we are the first choice for leading graduate employers searching for graduate recruits (High Fliers Research 2024).

Your Birmingham degree is evidence of your ability to succeed in a demanding academic environment. Employers target Birmingham students for their drive, diversity, communication and problem-solving skills, their team-working abilities and cultural awareness, and our graduate employment statistics have continued to climb at a rate well above national trends. If you make the most of the wide range of services you will be able to develop your career from the moment you arrive.

Careers Network

Preparation for your career should be one of the first things you think about as you start university. Whether you have a clear idea of where your future aspirations lie or want to consider the broad range of opportunities available once you have a Birmingham degree, our Careers Network can help you achieve your goal.

Our unique careers guidance service is tailored to your academic subject area, offering a specialised team (in each of the five academic colleges) who can give you expert advice. Our team source exclusive work experience opportunities to help you stand out amongst the competition, with mentoring,  global internships and placements available to you. Once you have a career in your sights, one-to-one support with CV’s and job applications will help give you the edge. In addition, our employer-endorsed award-winning Birmingham Award recognises your extra-curricular activities, and provides an accredited employability programme designed to improve your career prospects.

Careers Fair

We also offer voluntary work which complements your studies by helping you gain practical experiences in occupational settings while contributing back to society. This can bring new skills that will be useful throughout your future and can make a positive impact on your learning whilst at university. Volunteering enables you to develop skills such as communication, interpersonal skills, teamwork, self-confidence and self-discipline, all of which can be transferred into your studies.

Visit the University of Birmingham Careers pages for further information on how we are Connecting you to your future.

Career opportunities

There are a number of job paths for you to take after graduating. There are graduate schemes in managing welfare services in health care, the third sector and local government which can be popular choices with our graduates. Since a degree in Social Policy is based upon how policy is made it is a great degree for working in the civil service, local government or for think tanks. Our graduate also gain students many transferable skills such as critical thinking, written and verbal communication and team work which give them the flexibility to go into a wide range of employment opportunities:

  • Campaigns Manager – The Princes Trust
  • Culture Change Officer – Birmingham City Council
  • Domestic Violence Advocate – Women’s Aid
  • Policy Manager – Social Work England
  • Management Consultant – Deloitte UK
  • Marketing Professional – BT
  • Programme Manager – National Lottery
  • Senior Policy Advisor – Cabinet Office
  • Service Manager – Solihull Community Housing

Opportunities to secure a career that is right for you can be enhanced not only through experiences that are available to you on your degree programme, but also through our specialist Careers Network.