Politics and Sociology
Entry requirements
A level
All subjects accepted. Two AS-levels considered in place of one A-level.
Access to HE Diploma
Pass Access to H.E. Diploma with 45 credits at Level 3, including 25 credits at Distinction.
Considered alongside other qualifications. Please contact the Admissions Team for further information: [email protected]
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
Pass Diploma with 28 points overall.
Qualification accepted. Please contact the Admissions Team for further information: [email protected]
Considered alongside other qualifications. Please contact the Admissions Team for further information: [email protected]
Considered alongside other qualifications. Please contact the Admissions Team for further information: [email protected]
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
Considered alongside other qualifications. Please contact the Admissions Team for further information: [email protected]
Qualification accepted. Please contact the Admissions Team for further information: [email protected]
Qualification accepted. Please contact the Admissions Team for further information: [email protected]
UCAS Tariff
We've calculated how many Ucas points you'll need for this course.
About this course
How does the political world shape the social order? It’s an immense question. But in this degree, you’ll learn how to break it down into usable parts by studying politics and sociology side by side.
Politics has been taught at Leicester since the 1940s and we have always been at the cutting edge of British political science. We were one of the first Sociology departments to be established in the UK, and we now have an international reputation, a wealth of experience in teaching and an enviable research pedigree.
Politics and Sociology are intrinsically linked as politics and policies often seek to address social issues. Over the course of your degree you will explore these links and be challenged to look at the world through new political and sociological perspective. You will also gain an understanding of the key aspects of political systems, both here in the UK and further afield.
There is no better city than Leicester to explore fundamental sociological concepts such as ethnicity, migration and social class. With a range of vibrant and diverse communities including Narborough Road, "the most diverse street in Britain", Leicester offers the perfect environment to develop your craft via observation, participation and guided reflection.
The first year of your degree ensures that you get a thorough understanding of the main areas of both politics and sociology. In your second and third years you will have more flexibility to shape the course of your degree through the huge variety of option modules that you will be able to choose from. These option modules reflect the research interests of academic staff, exposing students to the latest thinking. Our staff are engaged in cutting-edge research and we believe that good teaching flourishes in an intellectual environment informed by original research.
The development of transferable skills is a key feature of teaching here at Leicester. Our courses are designed to improve your skills in written communications, oral presentation, working as part of a team, independent learning, problem solving and information technology.
Modules
For more information on this course and a full list of modules, visit the course information page on our website
Assessment methods
For more information on the methods of assessment on this course, visit the course information page on our website
Tuition fees
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The Uni
University of Leicester
School of History, Politics and International Relations
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?
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.
Politics
Teaching and learning
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
Sociology
Teaching and learning
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
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.
Politics
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
The numbers of people taking politics degrees fell sharply last year and we'll keep an eye on this one - it can't really be because of graduates getting poor outcomes as politics grads do about as well as graduates on average. Most politics or international relations graduates don't actually go into politics - although many do, as activists, fundraisers and researchers. Jobs in local and central government are also important. Other popular jobs include marketing and PR, youth and community work, finance roles, HR and academic research (you usually need a postgraduate degree to get into research). Because so many graduates get jobs in the civil service, a lot of graduates find themselves in London after graduating. Politics is a very popular postgraduate subject, and so about one in five politics graduates go on to take another course - usually a one-year Masters - after they finish their degrees.
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.
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.
Politics
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
£26k
£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.
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.
£19k
£24k
£28k
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