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Politics and Social Policy with Foundation Year

Entry requirements


A level

D,D

Access to HE Diploma (60 credits) of which a minimum of 45 must be at Level 3 (48 UCAS point equivalence, minimum 45 credits at pass)

OCR Cambridge Technical Extended Diploma

PPP

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

MP

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

PPP

T Level

P

Core grade needs to be D or E

UCAS Tariff

48

Equivalent experience. We can consider applicants with other qualifications or relevant experience so if you do not have 48 UCAS points, please make sure you outline this experience within your personal statement. This can also be assessed through an alternative assessment route such as an academic essay.

About this course


Course option

4years

Full-time | 2024

Subjects

Politics

Social policy

**This is a 4 year degree course. Please ensure that when you apply for this course you choose Point of entry 1 in your UCAS Hub.**

This wide-ranging and work-focused course provides an interdisciplinary study of Politics and Social Policy. Students will engage in debates around what we mean by a socially fair and just society, and the policies a government should pursue to achieve one. The degree will also help to explain important global phenomenon including recent events like the war on terror and the impact of the international economic crisis

The degree will allow students to develop an understanding of contemporary social problems, such as poverty, inequalities in health, and underachievement in schools and the policies in place to address these issues. Alongside this students will investigate the institutions, processes and procedures through which interests are expressed, the theories we use in understanding political activity, and the factors motivating and legitimising it.

Teaching and learning is designed to support digital literacy. Students will acquire the skills necessary to gather evidence and apply theories to a range of social and political issues. Students are encouraged to share knowledge and be enterprising with their ideas. Global comparative perspectives are incorporated in the degree providing students with the opportunity to learn about society and politics in other countries.

The foundation year of this course is designed to offer applicants who do not have the required qualifications, a programme which will equip them with a robust toolkit of academic, digital and personal skills required for successful study in higher education. It also provides an understanding of, and insight into, a range of disciplines that underpin their chosen programme of study. In the foundation year students will develop their ability to gain the most out of structured in-class study, and also to manage and evaluate their own independent learning. This wide range of transferable skills is of immense value in both undergraduate study and graduate employment. Upon successful completion of the foundation year, students will have the opportunity to develop their knowledge and understanding of their subject area to degree level.

The Uni


Course location:

University of Wolverhampton

Department:

School of Social, Historical and Political Studies

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.

77%
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.

Politics

Sorry, no information to show

This is usually because there were too few respondents in the data we receive to be able to provide results about the subject at this university.


Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

98%
UK students
2%
International students
15%
Male students
85%
Female students
60%
2:1 or above
13%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

C
C
B

Social policy

Teaching and learning

72%
Staff make the subject interesting
84%
Staff are good at explaining things
79%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
77%
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

76%
Library resources
83%
IT resources
74%
Course specific equipment and facilities
71%
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?

98%
UK students
2%
International students
26%
Male students
74%
Female students
64%
2:1 or above
15%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

C
C
C

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.

£18,000
low
Average annual salary
92%
low
Employed or in further education

Top job areas of graduates

17%
Welfare and housing associate professionals
15%
Welfare professionals
9%
Childcare and related personal services

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.

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.

£18,000
med
Average annual salary
93%
med
Employed or in further education
36%
low
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

16%
Protective service occupations
7%
Other elementary services occupations
5%
Teaching and educational professionals

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.

Sorry, no information to show

This is usually because there were too few respondents in the data we receive to be able to provide results about the subject at this university.

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.

£19k

£19k

£20k

£20k

£26k

£26k

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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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:

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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.

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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