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Government, Policy and Society with Quantitative Methods

Entry requirements


A level

A,A,B

Required subjects: A Levels: Mathematics at B, or AS Mathematics at A. GCSEs: English at C or 4.

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme

37

37 points with 666 at HL. Required subjects: HL: Mathematics at 5. SL: English at 5 and Mathematics at 6 (if not at HL).

Scottish Higher

A,A,A,B

AAAB by end of S5 or AAAA by end of S6. BBB must be achieved in one year of S4-S6. Required subjects: Highers: Mathematics at B. Higher Applications of Mathematics is not accepted in place of Higher Mathematics. National 5s: English at C.

UCAS Tariff

126-136

We've calculated how many Ucas points you'll need for this course.

About this course


Course option

4years

Full-time | 2024

Subjects

Statistics

Social policy

Government, Policy and Society with Quantitative Methods is based on social policy: the study of societies and the way they change through policy-making. It will equip you with advanced quantitative skills that allow you to engage at a high level with evidence-based policy-making.

Social policy is relevant to many areas of everyday life, including:

* housing

* employment

* income

* health

* education

This programme is designed for students interested in:

* the content of social policy

* the process by which policy is made

* the impact of policy on society

You will study these topics at local, national and global levels. You will examine the ways in which public policies, social institutions and market forces affect how contemporary societies operate, and how they are affected by debates about social justice.

**Q-Step support and funding**

This programme receives support and funding from the UK-wide Q-Step initiative. This means you will benefit from small class sizes and be able to develop your skills in close proximity to experts.

There is also plenty of support available if you are less confident with maths.

Tuition fees

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

Channel Islands
£9,250
per year
England
£9,250
per year
EU
£26,500
per year
International
£26,500
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Republic of Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£1,820
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

The Uni


Course location:

Central area campus

Department:

School of Social and Political Science

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.

78%
Statistics
76%
Social policy

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.

Statistics

Teaching and learning

74%
Staff make the subject interesting
82%
Staff are good at explaining things
78%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
69%
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

82%
Library resources
93%
IT resources
94%
Course specific equipment and facilities
57%
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?

34%
UK students
66%
International students
41%
Male students
59%
Female students
92%
2:1 or above
6%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

A*
A
A

Social policy

Teaching and learning

80%
Staff make the subject interesting
76%
Staff are good at explaining things
80%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
53%
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

79%
Library resources
87%
IT resources
88%
Course specific equipment and facilities
57%
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?

71%
UK students
29%
International students
22%
Male students
78%
Female students
89%
2:1 or above
8%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

A
A
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.

Statistics

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.

£24,000
med
Average annual salary
98%
high
Employed or in further education

Top job areas of graduates

28%
Business, finance and related associate professionals
17%
Business, research and administrative professionals
11%
Information technology and telecommunications professionals

The business and research sectors worry that the UK hasn't got enough people with good statistics skills, and as stats are at the heart of so much of the economy, and we only have a few hundred graduates a year in the discipline, this type of degree can be very useful and versatile. The finance industry is very popular with this group, and they're far more likely to be working in London than most other graduates. And who can blame them — statistics graduates starting work in London were earning an average of nearly £29k just six months after leaving university. There is also demand from the Scottish finance sector in Edinburgh and Glasgow - particularly in banking and insurance. But a good statistician can find work almost anywhere that data can be analysed - which, in an online world, is almost anywhere - and many industries struggle to find enough statisticians to fulfil demand, so stay flexible and you can find a variety of options.

Social policy

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.

£20,000
high
Average annual salary
87%
low
Employed or in further education

Top job areas of graduates

15%
Sales, marketing and related associate professionals
11%
Business, research and administrative professionals
10%
Other elementary services occupations

Just over 1,600 students graduated in social policy in 2015, which makes it one of the smaller social studies subjects. This is a popular subject at Masters level — 750 Masters in social policy were awarded last year - and so a lot of the more sought-after jobs in management and research tend to go to social policy graduates with postgraduate degrees. For those who leave university after their first degree, then jobs in social care (especially community and youth work) and education, the police, marketing and human resources and recruitment are popular — along with local government, although there are fewer of those jobs around than in the past. This degree is a bit less reliant on London for jobs than other similar subjects, so if you'd like to work outside the capital, it might be worth considering - although the jobs still tend to be in big cities.

What about your long term prospects?

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

Statistics

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

£24k

£24k

£31k

£31k

£41k

£41k

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.

Social policy

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

£27k

£27k

£31k

£31k

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