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Policy, Politics and Economics

Entry requirements


A level

A,A,B

Required subjects and grades: GCSE Maths Grade 7/A General Studies: Accepted

Accepted in place of A levels with the following grade equivalencies: D2 = A*; D3 = A; M2 = B. Combinations of A levels and Principle subjects are accepted. NB required subjects must be offered (see A level Section)

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme

32

6,6,5 at Higher Level to include English with a minimum of 32 points overall.

BTEC Extended Diploma, Diploma and Subsidiary Diploma are all accepted but subjects are considered on a case by case basis - contact us for further guidance.

Accepted in place of a non-required A level with the equivalent grade.

UCAS Tariff

136

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

About this course


Course option

4years

Full-time with time abroad | 2024

Subjects

Economics

Politics

Social policy

The PPE programme will give you opportunities to examine and evaluate a wide range of social, political and economic questions. At the broadest, these issues might include considering the role of financial markets and the distribution of wealth; investigating the different forms and function of government, or questioning what such concepts as society and citizen might mean in the 21st century.

Unlike traditional single honours degrees, the Policy, Politics and Economics programme will enable you to encounter a variety of concepts, approaches and methods from the three disciplines of social policy, politics and economics. This offers you the opportunity to build a bespoke degree, drawing on the excellent research and teaching skills of three Schools within the College of Social Sciences.

In Year 1, you will undertake introductory modules in all three of the social science disciplines: social policy, politics and economics to establish a good social sciences foundation. A compulsory module, 'Global Issues, Global Responses' is at the core of the second year of studies. This interdisciplinary module will enable you to consider a range of important global issues and the responses to them at the international, regional and local levels. You can also begin to tailor your learning to your developing interests. Your third year will be spent abroad at a university in the EU or elsewhere in the world. 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 partners worldwide. These include countries in which a variety of different languages are spoken, including universities at which courses are taught in English. After completing your year abroad, you will return to Birmingham to complete the final year of your studies when you will complete a dissertation.

Modules

For a full list of modules and a module descriptions, please visit course page on our website. https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/undergraduate/courses/social-policy/policy-politics-economics-year-abroad.aspx

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:

University of Birmingham

Department:

School of Social Policy

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.

80%
Economics
72%
Politics
75%
Social policy

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.

Economics

Teaching and learning

72%
Staff make the subject interesting
88%
Staff are good at explaining things
80%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
72%
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

85%
Library resources
88%
IT resources
90%
Course specific equipment and facilities
78%
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?

64%
UK students
36%
International students
61%
Male students
39%
Female students
84%
2:1 or above
7%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

A
A
B

Politics

Teaching and learning

80%
Staff make the subject interesting
85%
Staff are good at explaining things
86%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
65%
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

72%
Library resources
90%
IT resources
82%
Course specific equipment and facilities
56%
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?

87%
UK students
13%
International students
42%
Male students
58%
Female students
92%
2:1 or above
10%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

A
A
B

Social policy

Teaching and learning

83%
Staff make the subject interesting
88%
Staff are good at explaining things
82%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
72%
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
82%
IT resources
89%
Course specific equipment and facilities
55%
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?

90%
UK students
10%
International students
25%
Male students
75%
Female students
84%
2:1 or above
14%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

A
B
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.

Economics

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.

£26,000
med
Average annual salary
79%
med
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

30%
Business, research and administrative professionals
29%
Business, finance and related associate professionals
13%
Sales, marketing and related associate professionals

This is a degree in demand, as business increasingly needs workers who can examine and explain complex data. And yet the number of economics graduates fell by nearly 10% last year, which means demand is even greater. As so many economic grads go into banking and finance, it's not surprising that over half of all 2015's economics graduates who did go into work were working in London. And don't think it's just the finance industry that's interested in these graduates - there's a significant number who enter the IT industry to work with data as analysts and consultants. It's quite common for economics graduates to go into jobs such as accountancy and management consultancy which may require you to take more training and gain professional qualifications - so don’t assume you won’t have to take any more exams once you leave uni. And the incentive to take them, of course, is better pay, which will be on top of an already healthy average starting salary of over £30,000 for graduates working in the capital.

Politics

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.

£21,500
med
Average annual salary
97%
med
Employed or in further education
61%
med
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

19%
Business, finance and related associate professionals
17%
Sales, marketing and related associate professionals
8%
Business, research and administrative professionals

The numbers of people taking politics degrees fell sharply last year and we'll keep an eye on this one - it can't really be because of graduates getting poor outcomes as politics grads do about as well as graduates on average. Most politics or international relations graduates don't actually go into politics - although many do, as activists, fundraisers and researchers. Jobs in local and central government are also important. Other popular jobs include marketing and PR, youth and community work, finance roles, HR and academic research (you usually need a postgraduate degree to get into research). Because so many graduates get jobs in the civil service, a lot of graduates find themselves in London after graduating. Politics is a very popular postgraduate subject, and so about one in five politics graduates go on to take another course - usually a one-year Masters - after they finish their degrees.

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.

£21,000
high
Average annual salary
58%
med
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

17%
Business, finance and related associate professionals
12%
Sales assistants and retail cashiers
11%
Sales, marketing and related associate 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.

What about your long term prospects?

Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.

Economics

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

£27k

£27k

£35k

£35k

£46k

£46k

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.

Politics

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

£23k

£23k

£29k

£29k

£35k

£35k

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.

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.

£20k

£20k

£25k

£25k

£29k

£29k

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
University of York | York
Social and Political Sciences
BA (Hons) 3 Years Full-time with time abroad 2024
UCAS Points: 136-147
Lower entry requirements
University of Lincoln | Lincoln
Politics and Social Policy
BA (Hons) 3 Years Full-time with time abroad 2024
UCAS Points: 104
Same University
University of Birmingham | Birmingham
Policy, Politics and Economics
BA (Hons) 3 Years Full-time with time abroad 2024
UCAS Points: 136

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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