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Sociology [with Foundation Year]

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About this course


Course option

4years

Full-time including foundation year | 2024

Subject

Sociology

**Delve beneath the surface of everyday life and modern societies and prepare for careers including community development, policy making and social care with our Sociology degree in Cambridge.**

On this degree you'll explore what shapes societies and individual lives, the relations that connect individuals, groups and institutions within societies and those that the divide them. As a BA (Hons) Sociology student at ARU, you’ll look at the work of classical sociologists, such as Weber and Marx, and contemporary issues such as individualism and global communication and how they are changing human behaviour.

You’ll be able to specialise in areas that interest you too – such as the impact of intoxicants on societies, cybercrime, social control, sport or nature and society – through our range of optional modules.

Our Sociology courses ranked 18th in the UK in the Guardian University Guide 2024.

We have a supportive community of staff and students at ARU. Throughout your BA (Hons) Sociology degree, you’ll learn from sociologists who specialise in social policy and theory and undertake research into a wide range of sociological issues including 'race' and ethnicity, urban sociology, delinquency and disorder, the sociology of sport, notions of belonging, governance, moral regulation, social constructions of alcohol, gender-based violence, social justice, and social relations in marginalised communities.

You’ll also prepare for your future career, with the opportunity to conduct your own community or workplace research, gaining valuable practical experience and insight into different approaches to social issues. You’ll consider how you can apply this understanding by researching, pitching and evaluating an idea that could potentially make a positive contribution to society. You can also take an optional placement year; this might be in a governmental organisation, NGO, charity or social enterprise – wherever your own interests lead you.

You could enhance your CV further by studying abroad for a semester, with funding on offer to help cover the cost.

Once you’ve graduated, you might choose to develop your skills with one of our Masters degrees, such as MA Sociology.

The impact of our Sociology research achieved 'world-leading' in the Research Excellence Framework 2021.

**Hands-on learning**

All our BA (Hons) Sociology students have the opportunity to:
- go on field trips in the UK and overseas

- study abroad for a semester, with funding available to help cover the cost

- choose from a range of optional modules and pursue their own areas of interest.

**Careers**

Our BA (Hons) Sociology degree will equip you with skills in independent, creative, critical and analytical thinking. Previous students have gone on to careers in journalism and the media, business administration and management, health management, the civil service, teaching, social care, social research, the police, prison and probation services.

Specialist modules in years 2 and 3 will help you tailor the course towards your career goals with topics including cybercrime, drinking cultures, health, violence, feminism, and sport.

Whichever path you follow, you can be sure you’re graduating with the knowledge, skills and abilities that employers need. They help us review what we teach and how we teach it – and can offer you hands-on, practical opportunities to learn through work-based projects, internships or placements. Organisations such as Soroptimist have also provided live briefs for our past students, giving them a taste of professional life.

You could also learn more about sociology, develop a specialism or start an exciting career in research with our MA Sociology. Take advantage of our Alumni Scholarship and get 20% off your fees.

Modules

Year 1 core modules: Interactive Learning Skills and Communication; Information and Communication Technology; Critical Thinking; Intercultural Studies; Ethics; Psychology; Composition and Style; Social Perceptions. Year 2 core modules: Sociology in Action; Global Sociology; Contemporary Inequalities; Media, Society and Crime. Year 3 core modules: Mobilities and Migration; Sociology of Education; Ruskin Module (15 credits); The Research Toolkit - Design and Delivery. Year 3 optional modules: Cybercrime and Policing; Intoxicants and Intoxication; Sociology of Religion; Sociology of Health Inequalities; Anglia Language Programme; Professional Placement; Violence and Confrontation; Violence, Gender and Victimisation. Year 4 core modules: Undergraduate Major Project; Race, Racism and Ethnic Identity; Environment, Nature and Society; Research Communication. Year 4 optional modules: Feminist Debates and Activism; Youth, Crime and Aggression; Concepts of Good and Evil; Anglia Language Programme; Gender and Sexuality in Britain: 1880-2000; The Making of Modern Media. Modules are subject to change and availability.

Assessment methods

We’ll assess your progress using a combination of exams, essays, individual and group presentations, book reviews, project work and personal portfolio production, as well as your final-year Major Project.

Tuition fees

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

Channel Islands
£9,250
per year
England
£9,250
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Republic of Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£9,250
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

The Uni


Course location:

Cambridge Campus

Department:

School of Humanities and Social Sciences

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.

76%
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.

Sociology

Teaching and learning

76%
Staff make the subject interesting
84%
Staff are good at explaining things
81%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
69%
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

59%
Library resources
80%
IT resources
72%
Course specific equipment and facilities
63%
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?

92%
UK students
8%
International students
21%
Male students
79%
Female students
93%
2:1 or above
13%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

B
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.

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.

£17,000
med
Average annual salary
93%
low
Employed or in further education
41%
med
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

20%
Childcare and related personal services
14%
Sales assistants and retail cashiers
9%
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.

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.

£18k

£18k

£22k

£22k

£25k

£25k

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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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.

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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