Geography and Social Policy
The University of Edinburgh
UCAS Code: LL74 | Master of Arts (with Honours) - MA (Hons)
Entry requirements
A level
Required subjects: A Levels: no specific A Level subjects required. Applicants with Geography are preferred. GCSEs: Mathematics at C or 4 and English at C or 4.
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
37 points with 666 at HL - 32 points with 555 at HL. Required subjects: HL: no specific subjects required. Applicants with Geography are preferred. SL: English and either Mathematics or Mathematical Studies at 5 (if not at HL). From 2021, both the Mathematics Analysis & approaches and Applications & interpretation pathways will be accepted.
Scottish Higher
Achievement by end of S5 preferred. BBB must be achieved in one year of S4-S6. Required subjects: Highers: no specific Higher subjects required. Applicants with Geography are preferred. National 5s: Mathematics, Applications of Mathematics, or Lifeskills Mathematics at C and English at C.
UCAS Tariff
We've calculated how many Ucas points you'll need for this course.
About this course
**PLEASE NOTE: THIS COURSE IS NOT ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR DEFERRED ENTRY.**
This joint honours programme combines your study of Geography with Social Policy, allowing you to understand the world from the perspective of both academic disciplines.
**Geography**
Geography is the study of how our planet works. Through geography, you can explore biophysical processes, from volcanic eruptions to flooding and landslides.
You can also study the human processes that give shape to cities, states, and communities - all against the backdrop of a changing climate.
You can explore geography:
* as a natural science that examines the Earth's surface processes through physical geography, or
* through the social sciences and humanities as human geography
**The MA Geography**
The Master of Arts (MA) Geography, enables you to specialise in human geography. This discipline is key to understanding and resolving many of the most pressing problems faced by society.
Human geographers study many different aspects of the modern world. They bring their research to inform on topics such as:
* migration
* mobility
* public health
* deprivation
* urban justice
* indigenous struggles
* land rights
* climate emergency
* everyday life
You'll learn about the relationships between people and their social, cultural, political, and economic worlds.
Our MA in Geography also includes aspects of physical geography, as it is important to understand our impact on the world and our ways of living within it. The programme is flexible, so you will have opportunities to build your degree around areas that you are most curious or passionate about.
**Social Policy**
Through Social Policy, you will study society and how this changes through political debate and policy making.
The subject appeals to students who are interested in current political and social issues, including how to:
* organise and pay for health care
* reduce inequalities
* accommodate a more diverse and individualised society
We work closely with governments, NGOs, third sector and interest representation groups, international organisations and other external actors.
International comparative analyses are one of our main strengths. We place a strong emphasis on providing our students with empirical research skills, so that they can become critical researchers themselves.
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
The Uni
Central area campus
School of GeoSciences
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.
Human geography
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.
Human & social geography
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
Sociology, social policy and 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.
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.
Geography, earth and environmental studies
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
£26k
£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.
Sociology, social policy and 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.
£19k
£24k
£28k
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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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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