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Bangor University

UCAS Code: L34L | Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)

Entry requirements

General Studies and Key Skills not accepted.

Pass required.

Points can include a relevant Extended Project (EPQ) but must include a minimum 2 full A-levels, or equivalent. Please contact us for more information.

Pass required.

OCR Cambridge Technical Extended Diploma

DMM-DDM

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

DMM-DDM

We will also consider other BTEC qualifications in conjunction with other level 3 qualifications.

Minimum of 5 Scottish Highers - some subject specific grades/Advanced Highers may be required.

T Level qualifications are accepted on a case by case basis.

UCAS Tariff

104-128

We will accept this qualification in conjunction with other level 3 qualifications.

About this course

Course option

3years

Full-time | 2025

Subjects

Social policy

Criminology

It is possible to study Social Policy as a joint honours degree with Criminology and Criminal Justice (50% Social Policy, 50% Criminology and Criminal Justice). This social sciences course provides a solid grounding and in-depth understanding of Criminology and Criminal Justice and Social Policy. You will examine theories and evidence relating to crime, criminals and victims, while also exploring various responses to crime and victims and the way in which the criminal justice system works. Through consideration of matters such as health, poverty, multiple deprivations and forms of discrimination you will also investigating the causes and solutions of social problems.

Social Policy is about the study of welfare in its widest sense. It studies the variety of ways in which welfare can be provided, paid for and regulated, and compares the different approaches nation states take to the welfare of their citizens and others. Criminology examines theories and evidence relating to crime, criminals and victims, while Criminal Justice studies explore the various responses to crime, and victims, from informal to formal legislative measures of social control and crime prevention, and examine the way in which the criminal justice system works - from policing through to imprisonment.

Social Policy may also be undertaken through the medium of Welsh as a joint honours course with Cymdeithaseg (Sociology): BA Cymdeithaseg a Pholisi Cymdeithasol.

The degree is designed to provide students with a broad knowledge base and insight into policy design and crime control. By combining both areas of academic study students are informed of the key challenges in understanding and controlling criminal behaviour and the social policies which affect all aspects of society.

In the criminology element of the degree students gain practical knowledge and understanding of how the criminal justice system works as well as an opportunity to consider the social and cultural factors that influence people’s decision to engage in criminal activity. Within the degree students gain a general overview of crime and crime control but also have the opportunity to focus on several distinct and complex areas of human behaviour such as drug abuse, interpersonal violence and organised criminality.

Social Policy involves the study of social relations and systems that promote wellbeing. Students will explore the causes and solutions of social problems in areas such as poverty and inequality both globally and locally during the degree. By studying on this degree, students will gain a better understanding of themselves and society. Work experience and international experience modules are available on this degree.

‘Placement Year’ and 'International Experience Year’ options are available for this course. You will have the opportunity to fully consider these options when you have started your course at Bangor and can make an application for a transfer onto such a pathway at the appropriate time. You can find more information about these options on our website and if you have any questions, please get in touch.

If you don’t have the required qualifications for this degree-level course or are looking to re-enter education after time away from study, then a Foundation Year Programme might be the right choice for you. Please see Sociology (with Foundation Year) L30F.

Modules

For details of the modular structure, please see the course description on Bangor University's website.

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:

Bangor University

Department:

School of History, Law 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.

83%
Social policy
82%
Criminology

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.

Social policy

Teaching and learning

83%
Staff make the subject interesting
88%
Staff are good at explaining things
83%
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

81%
Library resources
85%
IT resources
73%
Course specific equipment and facilities
76%
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
24%
Male students
76%
Female students
79%
2:1 or above
4%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

C
C
D

Sociology

Teaching and learning

80%
Staff make the subject interesting
80%
Staff are good at explaining things
76%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
63%
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

83%
Library resources
85%
IT resources
71%
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?

92%
UK students
8%
International students
22%
Male students
78%
Female students
76%
2:1 or above
6%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

C
D
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.

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.

£15,500
low
Average annual salary
86%
low
Employed or in further education

Top job areas of graduates

20%
Sales assistants and retail cashiers
14%
Public services and other associate professionals
12%
Welfare 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.

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.

£16,000
low
Average annual salary
84%
low
Employed or in further education
45%
med
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

20%
Sales assistants and retail cashiers
16%
Public services and other associate professionals
10%
Welfare 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.

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.

£18k

£18k

£20k

£20k

£21k

£21k

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.

£18k

£18k

£20k

£20k

£21k

£21k

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.

Explore these similar courses...

This is what the university has told Ucas about the criteria they expect applicants to satisfy; some may be compulsory, others may be preferable.

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This is the percentage of applicants to this course who received an offer last year, through Ucas.

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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:

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.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

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.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

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.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

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

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

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