Sociology and Philosophy
Royal Holloway, University of London
UCAS Code: LV35 | Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)
Royal Holloway, University of London
UCAS Code: LV35 | Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)
Entry requirements
A level
Where an applicant is taking the EPQ alongside A-levels, the EPQ will be taken into consideration and result in lower A-level grades being required. Socio-economic factors which may have impacted an applicant's education will be taken into consideration and alternative offers may be made to these applicants. General Studies and Critical Thinking A-levels are not accepted. At least five GCSEs at grade A*-C or 9-4 including English and Mathematics are also required.
Access to HE Diploma
Pass in a relevant subject with at least 24 level 3 credits at Distinction and the remaining level 3 credits at Merit. Please note that the Access to Higher Education Diploma will only be acceptable if the applicant has had a considerable break from education
Applicants with the Cambridge Pre-U are strongly encouraged to apply to Royal Holloway. Offers will be made on the basis of equivalent A-Level grades as can be found on the Royal Holloway website.
GCSE/National 4/National 5
We require at least five GCSEs at grade A*-C or 9 - 4 including English and Mathematics.
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
5,5,5 at Higher Level with a minimum of 30 points overall.
Leaving Certificate - Higher Level (Ireland) (first awarded in 2017)
Pearson BTEC Diploma (QCF)
In a relevant subject area plus an A-level grade B.
Pearson BTEC Extended Diploma (QCF)
in a relevant subject area.
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
In a relevant subject area plus an A-level grade B.
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Certificate (first teaching from September 2016)
Plus A-level grades BB.
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
in a relevant subject area.
Scottish Higher
Requirements are as for A-levels where one non-subject-specified A-level can be replaced by the same grade in the Welsh Baccalaureate - Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate.
UCAS Tariff
We've calculated how many Ucas points you'll need for this course.
About this course
Our Department of Law and Criminology and Department of Politics, International Relations and Philosophy have excellent reputations for research and teaching. Studying sociology and philosophy here means that you will learn from internationally renowned experts who will share their research and experience so that you gain invaluable skills for your future career.
The degree brings the social sciences into conversation with a range of philosophical traditions from contemporary analytic philosophy to ancient Stoic thought and is perfect for you if you wish to benefit from thinking practically about how society works with the flexibility to choose philosophical subjects of particular interest to you.
The first and second year of this degree will see you studying a number of mandatory modules which will give you a good grounding in both sociology and philosophy. For your second year you will also study a number of optional modules from both sociology and philosophy whilst your third year will see you doing your dissertation in either sociology or philosophy as well as a number of optional modules, which may include Sociology of Health and Illness, Race, Ethnicity and Migration, Bioethics and Existentialist Ethics.
Our balanced approach to research and teaching guarantees high quality teaching from subject leaders, cutting edge materials and intellectually challenging debates. You will receive individual attention and flexibility to acquire expertise within your fields of interest.
Upon completion of the course you will have acquired:
- An understanding of a range of social platforms and policy issues
- Key critical thinking skills – you will be able to analyse and understand the assumptions which inform central philosophical traditions
- The ability to argue convincingly in writing and orally
Modules
Please refer to our website for information:
https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/studying-here/undergraduate/law/sociology-and-philosophy/
Assessment methods
We use a variety of methods of teaching and assessment, including:
Personal tutor in Sociology and designated staff liaison in Philosophy
50% modules in Sociology and 50% modules in Philosophy
Lectures, seminars, small-group tutorials, workshops, fieldtrips, etc
Diverse assessment methods from essays and exams to multiple choice questions, reports, reflective logs and oral presentations
Emphasis on continuous feedback both orally and in writing
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
The Uni
Royal Holloway, University of London
Law
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.
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
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
Philosophy
Teaching and learning
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
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.
Top job areas of graduates
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.
Philosophy
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.
Top job areas of graduates
Although there aren't a lot of jobs around for professional philosophers, philosophy degrees are a relatively popular option, with more than 2,000 students graduating in a philosophy-related subject in 2015 - a little down on previous years, but still healthy. Nearly a quarter of philosophy graduates take a postgraduate qualification, and it's a relatively common subject at both Masters and doctorate level — so if you think academic life might be for you, think ahead about how you might fund further study. For those who go into work, philosophy grads tend to go into teaching, accountancy, consulting, journalism, PR, housing, marketing, human resources and the arts while a few go into the computer industry every year, where their logical training is highly rated.
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.
£19k
£23k
£27k
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.
Philosophy
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£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.
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Higher entry requirements
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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?
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