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Sociology (including foundation year)

Entry requirements


GCSE/National 4/National 5

English Language at grade C (grade 4) or above (or equivalent)

UCAS Tariff

32

About this course


Course option

4years

Full-time | 2024

Subject

Sociology

**Why study this course?**

Our Sociology (including foundation year) BSc is a four-year degree designed to lead to an undergraduate qualification in sociology if you don’t hold the necessary requirements or qualifications to enter the undergraduate degree. On graduation, you’ll receive the same title and award as students who started via the three-year route.

During your foundation year you will explore a broad range of current themes and social issues from an interdisciplinary perspective. You’ll develop academic study and professional skills for your future career and boost your confidence, especially if you have been out of education for some time. You will also take one module that is more closely related to sociology, so you’ll be able to prepare for in-depth undergraduate study of the subject in the following years.

**More about this course**

In your foundation year, you’ll gain skills that are necessary for academic study by exploring themes in social sciences. This year will cover a broad range of contemporary themes and social issues by examining issues from a range of disciplines in social sciences.

During the foundation year you will develop your academic skills. You will also reflect on a range of themes, such as self and society, as well as sociological theories, exploring how they relate to contemporary society. You’ll develop critical analysis skills that will help you construct well-reasoned arguments, both orally and in writing. Teaching you the principles of research will also play an important part of this foundation year. You’ll also learn how to plan, draft and improve on essay writing skills.

Throughout the duration of your degree you’ll be supported by your academic mentor and tutor, who’ll help you settle into university life and ensure you progress academically. There will also be opportunities to attend workshops to help you improve skills such as interview, essay writing and research.

The following three years will focus on more in-depth study of sociology. Learn more about the undergraduate degree programme on our Sociology BSc course page on UCAS.

Modules

Example Year 0 modules include:

Critical Thinking
Interventions for Change
Media, Crime and 'Race'
Reflecting on Self and Society
Researching Discrimination
Researching Inequality
Social Issues in Context: Text to Essay

Example Year 1 modules include:

Introduction to Social Policy
Researching Social Life
Social Problems and Social Issues
Sociological Imagination

Example Year 2 modules include:

Global Inequalities in the 21st Century
Interactive Research Methods
Self and Society
Sociology of Everyday Life
Crime, Media and Technology
Racism and Ethnicity
Youth, Crime and Violence
Youth, Resistance and Social Control

Example Year 3 modules include:

Living Theory
Sociology Dissertation
Gender and Sexuality
Homelessness and Housing Policy
Human Rights and Conflict
Inclusion and Special Educational Needs
Religion and the State
Sociology and Social Policy Work Placement

Assessment methods

You’ll be assessed by a variety of methods including portfolios, presentations, research reports, essays and written tests work placement portfolios and an explorative project. Assessments and feedback will be structured to improve your confidence and prepare you for academic study at undergraduate level and beyond.

Tuition fees

Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:

Channel Islands
£17,600
per year
England
£9,250
per year
EU
£17,600
per year
International
£17,600
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Republic of Ireland
£17,600
per year
Scotland
£9,250
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

The Uni


Course location:

Holloway

Department:

School of Social Sciences and Professions

Read full university profile

What students say


We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.

76%
Sociology

How do students rate their degree experience?

The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Sociology

Teaching and learning

83%
Staff make the subject interesting
85%
Staff are good at explaining things
76%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
65%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

71%
Library resources
71%
IT resources
72%
Course specific equipment and facilities
66%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

93%
UK students
7%
International students
17%
Male students
83%
Female students
63%
2:1 or above
23%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

B
C
A

After graduation


The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Sociology

What are graduates doing after six months?

This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.

£22,000
high
Average annual salary
99%
high
Employed or in further education
54%
high
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

We have quite a lot of sociology graduates, although numbers fell last year. But graduates still do pretty well. Most sociology graduates go straight into work when they complete their degrees, and a lot of graduates go into jobs in social professions such as recruitment, education, community and youth work, and housing. An important option for a sociology graduate is social work - and we're short of people willing to take this challenging but rewarding career. Sociology is a flexible degree and you can find graduates from the subject in pretty much every reasonable job — obviously, you don't find many doctors or engineers, but you do find them in finance, the media, healthcare, marketing and even IT. Sociology graduates taking further study often branch out into other qualifications, like teaching, law, psychology, HR and even maths, so don’t think a sociology degree restricts you to just one set of options.

What about your long term prospects?

Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.

Sociology

The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.

£20k

£20k

£23k

£23k

£24k

£24k

Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.

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Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):

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This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).

This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.

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This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for undergraduate students only.

You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.

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Post-six month graduation stats:

This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.

It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.

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Graduate field commentary:

The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show

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The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.

While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?

Have a question about this info? Learn more here