Social Science
- BSc Social Science (non BPS) (L301)
- BSc Social Science (BPS Route) (L301)
The Social Science degree provides an opportunity for students to undertake an interdisciplinary degree of study. Students choose from a range of modules from across the social science disciplines - including sociology, psychology, anthropology, social policy, criminology and education. The Social Science degree is a very good way to obtain the maximum benefit from your time studying in one of the UK's largest and most successful centres of social science.
There are several dedicated interdisciplinary modules for the BSc degree, and students select an interdisciplinary topic as a specific area of enquiry to study in greater depth. Your chosen specialism will take a minimum of a quarter of your time in years two and three. The specialist areas reflect current research strengths in the School and include the following:
- Crime & Criminal Justice
- Gender & Society
- Health & Medicine
- Anthropological Studies
- Social Theory
- Psychosocial Studies
- Sociology of Education
- Science & Society
- European Public Policy
- Work, Labour Markets & Economy
You will choose your remaining modules from those taught across the School. Whatever combination you choose, we will help you to become a social scientist with knowledge of a range of disciplines and an understanding of how they can work together. In this way you will acquire knowledge and skills which you can combine in flexible ways to meet a variety of challenges in your subsequent career.
The School is one of the largest centres of social science research in the UK, with over half of all its research activity rated as either "world leading"or "internationally excellent" in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise. The School was ranked by the RAE at the top of UK universities for ‘Research Power’. This is a measure which combines research excellence and research capacity.
BSc Social Science (BPS Route)
You may follow the British Psychological Society (BPS) accredited specialist pathway through this degree. This programme is accredited as conferring eligibility for Graduate Basis for Registration (GBR) with the BPS, provided that the accredited psychology pathway is undertaken and the minimum qualification of Second Class Honours is achieved. This is the first step to becoming a chartered psychologist. This accreditation is essential to work in psychology professions, such as educational or clinical psychology. The advantage of our pathway is that you study psychology as well as other social sciences and adopt a social approach to psychology. This programme allows you to follow a specialism in psychology in a social context, so that you can see psychology as a truly social science and study the psychology of people in society. You will also be able to study other social issues alongside psychology. This is a good pathway to choose if you are interested in psychology but are also interested in other social science disciplines and topics.
The majority of modules studied on the BPS pathway are compulsory, so students enrolled on this route have less module choice than those following the non-BPS pathway. The BPS pathway is also recommended for students who have studied A Level psychology.