Public Services (Including Foundation Year)
University of South Wales
UCAS Code: F430 | Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)
University of South Wales
UCAS Code: F430 | Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)
Entry requirements
A level
Pass the Access to HE Diploma with a minimum of 48 UCAS Tariff points.
GCSE/National 4/National 5
The University normally requires Mathematics/Numeracy and English at Grade C/4 or above, or their equivalent, but consideration is given to individual circumstances.
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
T Level
Passing the T Level with Pass (D or E in the Core)
UCAS Tariff
About this course
The BA (Hons) Public Services is also available as a four year course including an integrated foundation year, and is designed for students who do not currently meet admissions criteria for direct entry onto the degree.
You will start by completing a foundation year, which provides well structured support, allowing you to develop your skills and knowledge before continuing onto the three year degree programme.
If you want to make a difference to day-to-day life in your local community, or make an impact at a national or even global level, our Public Services degree will help you make your mark. On this BA (Hons) Public Services degree, you’ll explore how these services operate and the challenges they face in the 21st century, preparing you for a career in this important and diverse sector.
A key feature of your Public Services degree is the link between theory and practice. Learning is often based on real-life data, as well as examples and case studies from public, voluntary and community organisations. This ensures that what you learn is relevant to the workplace and situations you may encounter when you graduate. You’ll also be encouraged to undertake a short-term placement during your studies. You could get the chance to work with public sector organisations such as the NHS. This valuable opportunity will ensure you’re equipped with skills needed by employers when you graduate.
Modules
During the Foundation Year (Social Sciences) you will study the following compulsory modules:
•Study Skills
•Investigative Project
•Psychology
•Sociology
You will also study two modules from the following options:
•Statistics/Further Mathematics
•Advanced IT
•Social Policy
•Childhood Studies
•Principles of Youth and Community Work
•Business Administration
•Economics
Course and module overview:
Compulsory Modules
Study Skills
The module will provide the learner with opportunities to explore their examination and revision techniques and overall planning along with furthering their written and discussion skills. Skills addressed would include note taking, essay writing, discussions, referencing, planning assignments and revising for examinations, whilst also recognising different approaches to studying.
Investigative Project
To enable the learner to become competent researching, planning and writing an independent interdisciplinary project. The learner will develop oral presentation skills and deliver and evaluate an oral presentation.
Sociology
You will learn to understand the focus of the sociological approach, particularly the importance of learned behaviour. At the heart of this module are investigations into the primary patterns of inequality, class, gender & ethnicity as well as the sociology of crime and deviance. Throughout the module, the importance of institutions such as the family, the state and the mass media in determining the structure and function of society as well as their influence on the way we think and behave.
Psychology
Psychology is the study of behaviour and this module will investigate the development of behaviour throughout the life span, from birth right up to older adulthood. Through a variety of real life case studies and your own piece of psychological research, you will examine what happens when things work out positively (attachment and bonds, pro social behaviour), and also what can happen when things don’t work out as expected (mental health issues, anti-social behaviour).
Optional Modules
Statistics / Further Maths
You will study a number of topics during this module including Introductory Statistics, Algebraic Techniques and Introductory Calculus.
Social Policy
This module provides an evaluation of welfare provision in the UK. It plots the origins and development of the public sector and the welfare state, as well as welfare provision in the voluntary sector. Subjects covered include, social security, community care, housing, homelessness, health and education. This module will analyse dominant political perspectives in the UK towards welfare spending as well as community based responses to welfare needs.
Childhood Studies
This module examines the concepts associated with the wellbeing of children and families. Topics include attachment, resilience, play, learning and safeguarding theory.
Principles of Youth and Community
The Youth and Community Work module teaches reflective practice, communication and planning skills appropriate for work with young people and families. Informal education theory and concepts of anti-discriminatory practice underpin the module; students learning about adolescent development, empowerment, and community development principles.
Business Administration
The module is designed to provide an understanding of the Business world, the function and structure of different organisations, and their relationship with their employees as they strive to gain competitive advantage over their rivals.
Economics
You will develop a broad understanding of the key features of the capitalist economic system, the role of governments in their attempts to influence the outcomes of the macro economy and address issues of inequality and the wealth gap.
For full details of BA (Hons) Public Services modules, please see the relevant course entry.
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
The Uni
Pontypridd
Health, Sport & Professional Practice
What students say
We've crunched the numbers to see if the overall teaching satisfaction score 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.
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)
Social sciences (non-specific)
Sorry, no information to show
This is usually because there were too few respondents in the data we receive to be able to provide results about the subject at this university.
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.
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.
Public 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.
Applied social science
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
This section covers a range of subjects that are often very different, so if you have a particular course in mind, the data here might not fully reflect the possible outcomes from your particular choice. Graduates from these subjects tend to do similar sorts of things to graduates from other social studies courses, so welfare and community roles are common, as are education, whilst graduates also often go into management, marketing and HR jobs and jobs in the police, and employment rates are good in general — but talk to course tutors and attend open days and try to get stats for the course you’re interested in.
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.
£19k
£21k
£23k
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 sciences (non-specific)
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
£21k
£23k
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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