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Public Affairs

Entry requirements


A level

A,B,B

Overall: ABB Applicants taking an A level science subject with the Science Practical Endorsement are required to pass the practical element. We do not include General Studies or Critical Thinking.

Access to HE Diploma

D:30,M:15

Overall: QAA recognised Access to Higher Education Diploma with 45 Level 3 credits overall including 30 at Distinction and 15 at Merit.

Extended Project

A

Applicants taking the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) will receive our standard A level offer, plus an alternate offer of one A level grade lower, subject to achieving an A grade in the EPQ. The one grade reduction will not apply to any required subjects.

GCSE/National 4/National 5

GCSE English Language at Grade C(4) and Mathematics at Grade C (4) (or equivalent).

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme

33

Overall: 33 GCSE or Equivalent: English, HL4/SL4 (including MYP). Maths, HL4/SL4 (including MYP). Maths Studies, SL4.

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

DDD

Overall: DDD

Scottish Advanced Higher

A,B,B

Overall: ABB GCSE or Equivalent: English Language: Scottish National 5 - C Maths: Scottish National 5 - C

Scottish Higher

A,A,B,B,B

Overall: AABBB GCSE or Equivalent: English Language: Scottish National 5 - C Maths: Scottish National 5 - C

Overall: Pass overall with ABB from a combination of the Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate and two A levels. Applicants taking an A level science subject with the Science Practical Endorsement are required to pass the practical element. We do not include General Studies or Critical Thinking in our offers.

UCAS Tariff

128-152

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

About this course


Course option

4years

Full-time | 2024

Subject

Public policy

**Why choose this course**
Public affairs is about how organisations engage with politics to manage risk and influence public policy.

Our unique integrated masters course will give you in-depth knowledge of political science, public policy and international affairs. By combining undergraduate and postgraduate study into a single tailored package, this course fuses disciplinary fundamentals with a focus on application and generating change.

Along the way you’ll develop an understanding of the key actors and methods of influence in public affairs, and be able to address the biggest debates in contemporary public policy.

The Department of Politics is currently ranked 9th in the UK in The Times/Sunday Times Good University Guide 2023, and 11th in the Complete University Guide 2023.

Our award-winning Professional Training placements prepare students for roles in industry.

We were shortlisted for University of the Year in The Times/Sunday Times Good University Guide 2023.

**What you will study**
On our Public Affairs MPA course, you’ll get a full disciplinary grounding in politics and public policy. You’ll also develop advanced applied knowledge of practical techniques of public affairs, including political leadership and communication, negotiation and lobbying, campaigning, and public administration.

In your final year, you will have the opportunity to develop and apply advanced primary research skills to a masters dissertation project on a topic of your choice.

Modules

To see the full range of modules for this course please visit our website – the link is under course contact details. You will also find full details of the programme including assessment methods, programme structure, contact hours and Graduate prospects.

Extra funding

The University of Surrey offers a range of scholarships and bursaries to support our students, please visit https://www.surrey.ac.uk/fees-and-funding/scholarships-and-bursaries for more details.

The Uni


Course location:

Stag Hill

Department:

FASS - Department of Politics

Read full university profile

What students say


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

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?

92%
UK students
8%
International students
20%
Male students
80%
Female students
77%
2:1 or above
6%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

B
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.

£22,850
high
Average annual salary
96%
med
Employed or in further education

Top job areas of graduates

15%
Sales assistants and retail cashiers
14%
Protective service occupations
11%
Customer service occupations

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.

£22k

£22k

£26k

£26k

£30k

£30k

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?

Have a question about this info? Learn more here