Social Anthropology
Entry requirements
A level
Accepted in place of A levels with the following grade equivalencies: D2 = A*; D3 = A; M2 = B. Combinations of A levels and Principle subjects are accepted. NB required subjects must be offered (see A level Section)
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
6,6,5 in Higher Level subjects.
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
BTEC Extended Diploma: DDD. BTEC Diploma: DD, plus B at A-level. BTEC Subsidiary Diploma: D, plus AB at A-level.
Accepted in place of a non-required A level with the equivalent grade.
UCAS Tariff
We've calculated how many Ucas points you'll need for this course.
About this course
Are you interested in contemporary social and cultural diversity? Social Anthropology gives you the tools you need to understand and analyse the contemporary world, in all its variety.
The BA Social Anthropology degree will allow you to explore alternative perspectives on topics such as:
migration
international development
religious tolerance
economic inequality
marginality
urban life
popular culture
family forms
gender and sexuality
Through cross-cultural comparison and in-depth study of particular societies and communities, you will learn to question taken-for-granted assumptions and to think differently about some of the biggest questions of our time.
Your degree will equip you with a grounding in social and cultural theory and provide opportunities for you to put your knowledge into practice through your own research projects. This practical focus begins from the first year, when you will apply an anthropological lens to the dynamic city of Birmingham, the UK's most ethnically-diverse city; it continues with more systematic and applied research methods training in your second year, and culminates in an individual dissertation project in your final year.
From Africa to Oceania, Europe to Asia and the Americas, anthropology teaching in the department is truly international. Our staff are all committed to long term, on the ground, research on matters of global importance and enjoy sharing their latest research with students through specialist optional modules and project supervision.
**Why study this course?**
**Exceptional student experience** - We provide opportunities for staff and students to get to know one another beyond the classroom. In recent years, for example, our first years have enjoyed a Sudanese food evening and second and third years have gone on trips to the Liverpool Slavery Museum and the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford.
**A global understanding** - As Europe's youngest and most culturally-diverse city, Birmingham is the perfect place to pursue a Social Anthropology degree. You also have the option to experience a different society first hand by studying abroad with one of our 300 international partners as well as being able to study a foreign language for free.
**Practical applications to the real world** - Alongside practical research experience, you will gain critical and transferable skills that open up a broad range of career opportunities. In your second year, you may choose to take the Professional Skills module which includes a work placement in a field such as marketing, curation or event management. As the fourth most targeted university by the UK's Top 100 employers (The Graduate Market 2022), our anthropology graduates and alumni are equipped with the skills to pursue successful careers in a wide range of sectors.
**Access to global collections** - Our on-campus facilities give you access to over 3000 learning resources including environmental and material culture teaching collections in the Classics, Ancient History and Archaeology Museum; the Eton Myers Collection and the Danford Collection of African art and artefacts. Students also have the option to volunteer with the Archaeology and Eton Myers Collections to gain invaluable work experience in research, curation, heritage handling, marketing and more.
**Taught by the very best** – You will study alongside some of the finest minds in Anthropology, and the relatively small (homely!) size of our department's community means that you will get to know our academics on a personal level. An internationally diverse staff will be supporting you with your own research interests throughout your degree.
**2nd Times Higher Education ranked the Department of African Studies and Anthropology 2nd in the country for its performance in the latest Research Excellence Framework exercise**
**Top 15 for Anthropology in the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2023**
**Top 15 for Anthropology in the Complete University Guide 2023**
Modules
First-year modules cover a broad span base of the subject and are designed to introduce you to ways of studying at university. By the final year, your the modules you take modules will become more specialised and reflect the research expertise of the academic staff. More detailed module information for this programme can be found on the ‘Course detail’ tab on the University of Birmingham’s coursefinder web pages.
Tuition fees
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The Uni
University of Birmingham
Department of African Studies and Anthropology
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.
How do students rate their degree experience?
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Anthropology
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Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
After graduation
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Anthropology
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.
Top job areas of graduates
This is a pretty flexible degree and a good one if you want to keep your options open. Just over 1,250 graduates completed anthropology degrees last year, and they were well spread out across a whole range of jobs — many industries have jobs that can be done by anthropology graduates and unlike a lot of degrees, there aren't many jobs we can point to and say ‘graduates from this degree do that job’. Management, marketing, housing and recruitment jobs are the most popular, though, and many graduates go into the education or social care sectors. Graduates are also rather more likely than average to work in London, or to go overseas to work. This is quite a popular subject at postgraduate level, and if you want to go into research, you'll need to think about postgrad study - and it's one of the few where numbers are on the up at the moment.
What about your long term prospects?
Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.
Anthropology
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
£25k
£29k
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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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:
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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?
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