Social Policy and Politics
University of Bristol
UCAS Code: LL42 | Bachelor of Science (with Honours) - BSc (Hons)
Entry requirements
A level
Standard offer: AAB including an essay-based subject. Contextual offer: BBB including an essay-based subject. Please visit: bristol.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/entry-requirements-qualifications/contextual-offers/ for more information about contextual offers.
Access to HE Diploma
Access to HE Diploma in Humanities, Social Sciences, Law or History (or similar titles). The 45 graded Level 3 credits must include: 24 credits at Distinction and 21 at Merit or above; and at least 12 credits (including 9 at Distinction) in a single essay-based subject. Mature students can contact [email protected] to check the suitability of their Access course.
Requirements for principal subjects are as for A-level, where D1/ D2 is A*, D3 is A, M1/ M2 is B, and M3 is C.
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
Standard offer: 34 points overall with 17 at Higher Level, including 5 at Higher Level in an essay-based subject. Contextual offer: 31 points overall with 15 at Higher Level, including 5 at Higher Level in an essay-based subject. Please visit: bristol.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/entry-requirements-qualifications/contextual-offers/ for more information about contextual offers.
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
DDD in any essay-based Applied General BTEC National Level 3 Extended Diploma.
Scottish Advanced Higher
Advanced Higher: AB including an essay-based subject.
Scottish Higher
Standard Higher: AAABB.
Requirements are as for A-levels, where you can substitute a non-subject specific grade for the Welsh Baccalaureate Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate at that grade.
UCAS Tariff
We've calculated how many Ucas points you'll need for this course.
About this course
This course combines social policy and its focus on wellbeing with politics and its consideration of power - who exercises it and for whom. Politics drives us to think about how society should be organised and how communities and states interact. This prompts consideration of how wellbeing is unevenly distributed in contemporary societies and the forms of social organisation necessary to enhance our lives.
Both departments encourage strong synergy between research and teaching, resulting in a vibrant learning environment as staff respond in their teaching to new research.
In the Politics modules, you will study the politics of countries and governments and the relationships between countries, communities and individuals. Politics at Bristol is organised around three themes: political theory, comparative and national politics, and international relations.
In your Social Policy studies, the first year introduces key skills and concepts within social policy so that you can familiarise yourself with theoretical, comparative and historical analyses. Years two and three allow you to explore your interests in greater depth through a wide range of optional units on contemporary issues.
You will also have the opportunity to apply to spend half a year studying abroad at a partner university. To find out more about studying abroad, visit Global Opportunities (https://www.bristol.ac.uk/global-opportunities/go-abroad/).
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
The Uni
University of Bristol
School for Policy Studies
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.
Politics
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)
Social policy
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.
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.
Top job areas of graduates
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.
Top job areas of graduates
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.
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.
£22k
£30k
£40k
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
£25k
£31k
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 requirementsHigher entry requirements
Nearby UniversitySame UniversityThis is what the university has told Ucas about the criteria they expect applicants to satisfy; some may be compulsory, others may be preferable.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
This is the percentage of applicants to this course who received an offer last year, through Ucas.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
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.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
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.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
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
