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Politics and Sociology

Entry requirements


A level

A,B,B

Access to HE Diploma

D:30,M:15,P:0

Award of Access to HE Diploma in either Law, Business Management, Humanities or Social Sciences, with 45 credits at Level 3, including 30 at Distinction and 15 at Merit

GCSE/National 4/National 5

GCSE Maths grade 4/C

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme

33

Leaving Certificate - Higher Level (Ireland) (first awarded in 2017)

H2,H2,H2,H2,H3,H3

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)

DD

in a relevant subject + B at A Level

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)

DDD

in a relevant subject (relevant subjects include Applied Law, Business, Enterprise and Entrepreneurship, Personal and Business Finance, Environmental Sustainability, Applied Science or Applied Psychology)

Scottish Higher

A,A,A,B,B

Welsh Baccalaureate - Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate (first teaching September 2015)

B

+ AB in two A Level subjects

UCAS Tariff

128-153

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

About this course


Course option

3years

Full-time | 2024

Subjects

Politics

Sociology

This course combines political analysis with policy studies, looking at the big societal challenges and issues in the world and addressing these with both a political and sociological lens.

The politics part of the course introduces you to political theory and the big issues in contemporary politics. We'll teach you how to analyse political ideas, institutions and practices and introduce you to a variety of fascinating topics ranging from political economy, to human rights and gender.

In sociology, you'll learn the fundamentals of sociological analysis. You'll study modern industrial societies: patterns of social change, social interaction and the sociology of everyday life.

During your studies you will receive training in research techniques; you will apply these skills, along with knowledge you have gained throughout your taught modules, to carry out your own research project in your final year in a topic of your choice.

Tuition fees

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

England
£9,250
per year
International
£22,680
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£9,250
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

The Uni


Course location:

University of Sheffield

Department:

Politics

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.

63%
Politics
71%
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.

Politics

Teaching and learning

84%
Staff make the subject interesting
92%
Staff are good at explaining things
84%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
64%
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

68%
Library resources
85%
IT resources
79%
Course specific equipment and facilities
53%
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?

86%
UK students
14%
International students
54%
Male students
46%
Female students
93%
2:1 or above
7%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

A
A
A

Sociology

Teaching and learning

84%
Staff make the subject interesting
85%
Staff are good at explaining things
90%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
73%
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

84%
Library resources
91%
IT resources
87%
Course specific equipment and facilities
65%
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?

73%
UK students
27%
International students
24%
Male students
76%
Female students
87%
2:1 or above
8%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

A
B
B

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.

£22,000
med
Average annual salary
97%
med
Employed or in further education
63%
med
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

17%
Sales, marketing and related associate professionals
12%
Business, finance and related associate professionals
11%
Public services and other associate professionals

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.

£16,654
low
Average annual salary
97%
med
Employed or in further education
50%
med
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

18%
Sales, marketing and related associate professionals
9%
Welfare and housing associate professionals
8%
Public services and other associate professionals

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.

£21k

£21k

£27k

£27k

£32k

£32k

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

£19k

£23k

£23k

£29k

£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.

Explore these similar courses...

Lower entry requirements
Oxford Brookes University | Oxford
Politics and Sociology
BA (Hons) 3 Years Full-time 2024
UCAS Points: 104
Nearby University
University of York | York
Social and Political Sciences
BA (Hons) 3 Years Full-time 2024
UCAS Points: 136-147
Same University
University of Sheffield | Sheffield
Economics and Politics
BA (Hons) 3 Years Full-time 2024
UCAS Points: 136-159
Higher entry requirements
University of Exeter | Exeter
Politics and Sociology
BA (Hons) 3 Years Full-time 2024
UCAS Points: 136-160

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This is what the university has told Ucas about the criteria they expect applicants to satisfy; some may be compulsory, others may be preferable.

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This is the percentage of applicants to this course who received an offer last year, through Ucas.

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This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.

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Course location and department:

This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.

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Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):

We've received this information from the Department for Education, via Ucas. This is how the university as a whole has been rated for its quality of teaching: gold silver or bronze. Note, not all universities have taken part in the 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.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

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.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

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

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

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