Social Policy with Year Abroad BA

First year

Your first year is designed to help you find your feet and get up to speed with the subject. Modules in the first year offer an introduction to our key themes which shape our Social Policy degree.

To be able to take a year abroad you must have an average weighting of 55% by the end of this academic year.

Core modules

• Introduction to Social Policy
• Social Problems and Social Policy: social science in action Part 1
• Social Problems and Social Policy: social science in action Part 1
• Social Research I
• Social Research 2
• Philosophies of Welfare
• Introduction to Social Divisions
• Crime and Society

In your second year you will consolidate and build upon the knowledge base and skills gained in your first year. The focus here initially is upon developing your research and analytical skills so that you have the capabilities of both conducting your own small scale investigations of a social problem of your choice in your final year of study. Additionally this equips you with a range of practical skills and knowledge needed in the wider world of work after your degree.

During your second year you must apply for a place at an overseas institution. Full information will be provided during your study and you are supported in making this application. Allocation of places for international exchanges is done by the international office (university-wide competition), alongside this there are a number of Erasmus exchange schemes you can consider. The Year Abroad tutor will assist you and be able to offer advice during your studies.

core module:

• Social Research II
• Policy Analysis

Optional modules include:

• Comparative Social Policy
• Gender and Sexuality
• ‘Sociology of Race’ and Ethnicity – A Global Perspective
• Contemporary Issues in Housing Policy
• Managing Health and Social Care
• Terror, Threat and Security
• Punishment in a Global Context
• Education, Policy and Social Justice
• Self and Society
• Media and Society
• Global Societies

Your third year will be spent abroad at a university in the EU or elsewhere in the world. After completing your year abroad, you will return for your fourth and final year to the same BA degree programme. There are a wide range of countries and universities from which you can choose. As well as a range of European universities, you may also choose from a range of current institutional partners worldwide. These include countries in which a variety of languages are spoken, including universities at which courses are taught in English.

You will be required to choose from a range of modules provided by the host institution and which must be agreed by the exchange tutor. These modules should be equivalent to 120 credits.

By your final year you will be ready to conduct your own research project. Your core module is a choice between a research-based dissertation or an extended essay. Module options at this level will enable you to focus on additional areas of the research expertise of the School of Social Policy, further enabling you to benefit from research excellence and leading, contemporary research.

Core module

Social Policy, Sociology and Criminology Dissertation

Optional modules include:

• Prospects for Social Policy in the UK
• From Beveridge to May: The Political History of the Welfare State From the Second World War to the Present Day
• Quantitative Analysis I and Quantitative Analysis II
• New Migration and Super-Diversity
• Your Money and Your Life: from Welfare State to Personal Finance
• Harmful Societies: Crime, Social Harm and Social Justice
• Sociology of Personal Life
• Divided Publics
• Crime and the City
• Sociology of Health and Illness
• Political Sociology
• Technology and Society
  
• ‘Freedom’, Control and Critique
• Drugs, Society, Politics and Policy

Please note: The modules listed on the website for this programme are regularly reviewed to ensure they are up-to-date and informed by the latest research and teaching methods. Unless indicated otherwise, the modules listed for this programme are for students starting in 2020. On rare occasions, we may need to make unexpected changes to compulsory modules; in this event we will contact offer holders as soon as possible to inform or consult them as appropriate.