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Social Policy

Entry requirements


A level

A,B,B

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

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

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

DDD

Typical offers when offered in combination with A Levels: BTEC Diploma DD plus A in A level BTEC Subsidiary Diploma D plus AB in A levels

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

UCAS Tariff

128

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

Subject

Social policy

**On our BA Social Policy degree you will be studying at one of the top universities for social policy, ranked 5th in the UK in the 2024 Complete University Guide.**

Food banks, zero hours contracts, unaffordable housing. We see these terms in the news, but what do they actually mean? A social policy degree at Birmingham is ideal for students who want to challenge the status quo – those with a keen interest in current affairs and tackling contemporary issues which cause injustice. When you study for this degree at Birmingham, you’ll be equipped with the theoretical knowledge and research skills to tackle social problems. From poverty to homelessness, and from health care to criminal justice systems, social policy engages in a range of contemporary social problems to find new ways of securing people’s welfare. It is essentially about changing the present and creating a new future. On this 4-year Year Abroad programme, you can spend a year overseas in your third year at a partner institution. This will give you the opportunity to experience a different academic environment and way of teaching (and even different approaches to the subject).

The Social Policy degree at Birmingham enables you to understand the nature of social issues in the UK and beyond. The research-led teaching on our flexible Social Policy degree course ensures an inspirational and enquiry-based learning environment in the lecture theatre, seminar room and on placement. You will graduate as a highly employable, independent global citizen with a broad range of transferable skills.

Modules

For a full detailed list of our modules and their descriptions, please visit our website. https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/undergraduate/courses/social-policy/social-policy-year-abroad-ba.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.

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.

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.

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.

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...

Lower entry requirements
Liverpool Hope University | Liverpool
Geography and Social Policy (with Foundation Year)
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UCAS Points: 72
Nearby University
University of Wolverhampton | Wolverhampton
Social Policy and Social Change
BA (Hons) 3 Years Full-time with time abroad 2024
UCAS Points: 96
Higher entry requirements
University of Birmingham | Birmingham
Politics and Social Policy
BA (Hons) 4 Years Full-time with time abroad 2024
UCAS Points: 136
Same University
University of Birmingham | Birmingham
Policy, Politics and Economics
BA (Hons) 4 Years Full-time with time abroad 2024
UCAS Points: 136

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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.

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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