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Durham University

UCAS Code: LL36 | Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)

Entry requirements

A level

A,A,B

Access to HE Diploma

D:30,M:15

We require 60 credits with a minimum of 45 credits at level 3 (or equivalent).

Cambridge International Pre-U Certificate - Principal

D3,D3,M2

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme

36

Seventeen points (6, 6, 5) from Higher Level subjects.

Leaving Certificate - Higher Level (Ireland) (first awarded in 2017)

H2,H2,H2,H2,H3

OCR Cambridge Technical Extended Diploma

DDD

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

DDD

Scottish Advanced Higher

A,A,B

Scottish Higher

A,A,A,B,B

We will normally make offers based on Advanced Highers. If an applicant has not been able to take 3 Advanced Highers, offers may be made with a combination of Advanced Highers and Highers, or on a number of Highers.

At Durham we welcome applications from students of outstanding achievement and potential from all educational backgrounds.  We will consider applicants studying T level qualifications for entry to many of our courses. Where a course requires subject specific knowledge and this is not covered within the T level being studied, you may need to supplement your T level studies with a suitable qualification to meet this requirement, for example at A level.  Where this is needed this will be clearly stated in our entry requirements. Detailed entry requirements can be found on individual course entries on our courses database: https://www.durham.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/

UCAS Tariff

136-160

We've calculated how many Ucas points you'll need for this course.

About this course

Course option

3years

Full-time | 2025

Subjects

Anthropology

Sociology

**Course details**
Anthropology and Sociology are naturally complementary fields of study due to their common emphasis on understanding humans as part of wider cultural and social groups.
This degree combines modules from the BA Anthropology and BA Sociology degrees providing a comprehensive understanding of humans as social and cultural beings. Studying Anthropology at Durham allows you to gain a deep understanding of humanity in all its rich diversity and complexity, helping to navigate the biggest challenges our societies face today.

**Why Durham University?**
Join a dynamic and welcoming Department that takes a distinctly broad-based approach to the study of humanity.
We are among the largest Anthropology departments in the UK with around 120 students in each year group, and one of the few to combine social, biological and medical aspects of anthropology.
Our lecturers are passionate, dedicated teachers and researchers, and our modules cover numerous areas that overlap with other subjects, including culture, environmental issues, evolution, genetics, forensics, literature, health, music, politics, primate behaviour, religion, reproduction, skeletal anatomy and many others still.

**Rankings**

**Anthropology**
**5th** in the QS World University Subject Rankings 2025
**5th** in the Complete University Guide 2025
**5th** in The Guardian Good University Guide 2025
**3rd** in the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide

**Sociology**
**3rd** for Criminology in The Guardian University Guide 2024
**1st** for Criminology and **3rd** for Sociology in The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024
**Top 10** for Sociology in The Complete University Guide 2024

**Careers Opportunities**

**Anthropology**
With a degree in Anthropology, you will be equipped with a diverse and practical knowledge base, including highly transferable skills in research and communication.
Our graduates apply their knowledge directly in fields as diverse as health, community work, conservation, education, international development, culture, and heritage.
Many progress into careers that require a broad understanding of human society and behaviour as well as the interpersonal, organisational, problem solving and independent thinking skills that come with the discipline.
Such careers include advertising, publishing, journalism, teaching, human resource management, law, consultancy and marketing.

**Sociology**
**Criminology**
As well as building detailed subject-specific knowledge of criminological issues, our courses are designed to develop transferable skills that are valuable for both personal and professional development including, how to assemble and evaluate evidence, how to turn evidence into an effective argument, how to design a research project and analyse data.
Our graduates work in a wide range of employment settings worldwide, including the criminal justice system, the Civil Service, local and national government, banking, academic research and law (through graduate conversion programmes).
**Sociology**
The combination of sociological knowledge and transferable skills gained during your studies will prepare you for a career in many different sectors.
From interpreting and evaluating information to analysing situations and constructing a persuasive argument, these skills are highly valued by employers and will give you a competitive edge.
Sociology graduates work in a wide range of settings all over the world, including health and welfare, local and central government and the Civil Service, education, the police, social research, the media and non-profit organisations.

Modules

For current information please scroll to the bottom of the page for Provider Information and select Visit our Course Page under Course Contact Details.

Assessment methods

We use a wide range of assessments designed to provide training in a variety of academic and broader transferable skills, including not only 'traditional' essays and exams but also research projects, popular academic writing and outreach activities.

In your final year you will have the chance to design and carry out your own research project for your dissertation, with support and guidance from your supervisor.

In addition to the help provided by your subject lecturers, you can also access extensive support for your assessments through ASC, the Academic Skills Centre. See below for details: https://www.durham.ac.uk/departments/centres/academic-skills-centre/

Tuition fees

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

Channel Islands
£9,535
per year
England
£9,535
per year
EU
£27,000
per year
International
£27,000
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,535
per year
Republic of Ireland
£9,535
per year
Scotland
£9,535
per year
Wales
£9,535
per year

Extra funding

Durham University offers a range of scholarship opportunities to academically well-qualified and highly motivated students. For further details, including deadlines for application, please visit: https://www.durham.ac.uk/study/scholarships/

The Uni

Course location:

Durham City

Department:

Anthropology

Read full university profile

What students say

We've crunched the numbers to see if the overall teaching satisfaction score here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.

95%
Anthropology
90%
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.

Anthropology

Teaching and learning

92%
Staff make the subject interesting
86%
Staff are good at explaining things
83%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
74%
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

82%
Library resources
92%
IT resources
74%
Course specific equipment and facilities
59%
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?

84%
UK students
16%
International students
25%
Male students
75%
Female students
88%
2:1 or above
8%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

A
A
B

Sociology

Teaching and learning

90%
Staff make the subject interesting
94%
Staff are good at explaining things
89%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
76%
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

79%
Library resources
85%
IT resources
86%
Course specific equipment and facilities
80%
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?

69%
UK students
31%
International students
21%
Male students
79%
Female students
84%
2:1 or above
11%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

A
A
A

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.

Anthropology

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.

£28,000
high
Average annual salary
80%
low
Employed or in further education
70%
high
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

27%
Business, research and administrative professionals
9%
Welfare and housing associate professionals
8%
Sales, marketing and related associate professionals

This is a pretty flexible degree and a good one if you want to keep your options open. Just over 1,250 graduates completed anthropology degrees last year, and they were well spread out across a whole range of jobs — many industries have jobs that can be done by anthropology graduates and unlike a lot of degrees, there aren't many jobs we can point to and say ‘graduates from this degree do that job’. Management, marketing, housing and recruitment jobs are the most popular, though, and many graduates go into the education or social care sectors. Graduates are also rather more likely than average to work in London, or to go overseas to work. This is quite a popular subject at postgraduate level, and if you want to go into research, you'll need to think about postgrad study - and it's one of the few where numbers are on the up at the moment.

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.

£25,000
med
Average annual salary
89%
med
Employed or in further education
59%
med
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

16%
Business, research and administrative professionals
15%
Sales, marketing and related associate professionals
15%
Sales assistants and retail cashiers

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.

Anthropology

The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.

£25k

£25k

£30k

£30k

£30k

£30k

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.

£25k

£25k

£30k

£30k

£30k

£30k

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...

Higher entry requirements
place
Durham University | Durham
Liberal Arts
BA (Hons) 3 Years Full-time 2025
UCAS Points: 152-168

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