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Politics and Sociology

Entry requirements


A level

B,B,B

Overall: BBB Applicants taking an A level science subject with the Science Practical Endorsement are required to pass the practical element. We do not include General Studies or Critical Thinking.

Access to HE Diploma

D:27,M:18

Overall: QAA recognised Access to Higher Education Diploma with 45 Level 3 credits overall including 27 at Distinction and 18 at Merit.

Extended Project

A

Applicants taking the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) will receive our standard A level offer, plus an alternate offer of one A level grade lower, subject to achieving an A grade in the EPQ. The one grade reduction will not apply to any required subjects.

GCSE/National 4/National 5

GCSE English Language at Grade C(4) and Mathematics at Grade C (4) (or equivalent).

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme

32

Overall: 32 GCSE or Equivalent: English, HL4/SL4 (including MYP). Maths, HL4/SL4 (including MYP). Maths Studies, SL4.

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

DDM

Overall: DDM

Scottish Advanced Higher

B,B,B

Overall: BBB GCSE or Equivalent: English Language: Scottish National 5 - C Maths: Scottish National 5 - C

Scottish Higher

A,B,B,B,B

Overall: ABBBB GCSE or Equivalent: English Language: Scottish National 5 - C Maths: Scottish National 5 - C

Overall: Pass overall with BBB from a combination of the Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate and two A levels. Applicants taking an A level science subject with the Science Practical Endorsement are required to pass the practical element. We do not include General Studies or Critical Thinking in our offers.

UCAS Tariff

120-144

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

About this course


Course option

4years

Sandwich | 2024

Subjects

Politics

Sociology

**Why choose this course**
At a time of growing inequality, polarisation, and social and political unrest, how can political institutions address deeply rooted problems in society?

Our BSc Politics and Sociology course will let you discover and understand the interactions between social and political trends. Our course will introduce you to the most important social policy questions in the UK, around Europe, and the world, and explore how those who make decisions impact on others.

Along the way you’ll be able to address the social and political issues behind the biggest debates in contemporary society.

We are ranked 7th for Sociology and 9th for Politics in the UK in The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2023.

Our award-winning Professional Training placements prepare students for roles in industry.

We were shortlisted for University of the Year in The Times/Sunday Times Good University Guide 2023.

**What you will study**
Our BSc Politics and Sociology course will provide you with extensive knowledge of the interactions between ideology, policy-making, power and social structures. Looking at social policy from the perspective of political institutions, as well as the sociology of political structures, you’ll engage in a range of debates about the nature and impact of social problems.

Moreover, the study of policy-making in practice will provide you with an overview of opportunities and constraints affecting the way that policy is formed and implemented.

You’ll split your time equally between politics and sociology, developing a sound understanding of both disciplinary traditions and cultures.

Modules

To see the full range of modules for this course please visit our website – the link is under the Course contact details. You will also find full details of the programme, including programme structure, assessment methods, contact hours and Graduate prospects.

Extra funding

The University of Surrey offers a range of scholarships and bursaries to support our students, please visit https://www.surrey.ac.uk/fees-and-funding/scholarships-and-bursaries for more details.

The Uni


Course location:

Stag Hill

Department:

FASS - Department of 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.

87%
Politics
93%
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

87%
Staff make the subject interesting
91%
Staff are good at explaining things
91%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
87%
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

87%
Library resources
95%
IT resources
93%
Course specific equipment and facilities
91%
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?

83%
UK students
17%
International students
47%
Male students
53%
Female students
75%
2:1 or above
3%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

B
C
B

Sociology

Teaching and learning

85%
Staff make the subject interesting
98%
Staff are good at explaining things
88%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
88%
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

89%
Library resources
91%
IT resources
90%
Course specific equipment and facilities
90%
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
16%
Male students
84%
Female students
81%
2:1 or above
5%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

B
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.

£27,000
high
Average annual salary
94%
low
Employed or in further education
66%
med
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

19%
Sales, marketing and related associate professionals
8%
Business, research and administrative professionals
8%
Other elementary services occupations

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.

£22,850
high
Average annual salary
96%
med
Employed or in further education
39%
med
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

16%
Sales assistants and retail cashiers
14%
Protective service occupations
11%
Customer service occupations

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.

£23k

£23k

£29k

£29k

£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.

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.

£22k

£22k

£26k

£26k

£30k

£30k

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.

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.

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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