Social Policy and Sociology with Year Abroad (Hons)

Overview

The Social Policy and Sociology with Year Abroad (Hons) Joint Honours degree at University of Birmingham will provide you with the knowledge and skills to critically engage with key issues facing contemporary societies including globalisation; the changing nature of work and the family; gender roles and sexuality; multiculturalism; the impact of the media and information technologies; and new forms of politics. In addition to these 'big picture' social theories we place a strong emphasis on developing valuable social science research skills with research methods training in each year. Your third year will be spent abroad at a university in the EU or elsewhere in the world. After completing your year abroad, you will return for your fourth and final year to the Social Policy and Sociology programme.

On the Social Policy and Sociology BA, you will get the chance to take part in a range of in-house activities that vary by year. Examples of past activities include:

• An annual Student Conference 
• Simulation exercises using real case examples 

• Simulation events and research visits to local and national places of interest

Career opportunities

There are a number of job paths for you to take after graduating. There are graduate schemes in managing welfare services in health care, the third sector and local government which can be popular choices with our graduates. Since a degree in Social Policy is based upon how policy is made it is a great degree for working in the civil service, local government or for think tanks. Our graduate also gain students many transferable skills such as critical thinking, written and verbal communication and team work which give them the flexibility to go into a wide range of employment opportunities:

• Campaigns Manager – The Princes Trust
• Culture Change Officer – Birmingham City Council
• Domestic Violence Advocate – Women’s Aid
• Policy Manager – Social Work England
• Management Consultant – Deloitte UK
• Marketing Professional – BT
• Programme Manager – National Lottery
• Senior Policy Advisor – Cabinet Office
• Service Manager – Solihull Community Housing