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Sociology at University of Portsmouth - UCAS

Course options

2025 - 2026
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There are other course options available which may have a different vacancy status or entry requirements – view the full list of options

University of Portsmouth has participated in the Teaching Excellence Framework. These ratings were awarded in 2023, for four years.

Open days

7Dec
University of Portsmouth Open Day
Undergraduate

Course summary

This is a Connected Degree Portsmouth is the only University in the UK with the flexibility to choose when to do an optional paid placement or self-employed year. Either take a placement in your third year, or finish your studies first and complete a placement in your fourth year. You can decide if and when to take a placement after you've started your course. Overview Understand how and why the world is changing on this BSc (Hons) Sociology degree. Step into the centre of critical debates on current social and political issues, from Brexit and Black Lives Matter, to income inequality, drone warfare, veganism and the #metoo movement. Make sense of what’s going on, why it’s happening, and what we can do about it. On this BSc (Hons) Sociology degree, you’ll learn classical sociological theories and have the chance to specialise in what interests you most. You'll graduate with the skills to critically engage with the world around you, aa well as the confidence, knowledge and methods to enact positive change. Course highlights

  • Tailor your studies to topics that matter most to you – from gender, sexuality, race, and social class, to happiness, the body, and the politics of nationalism
  • Learn ways to apply classical sociological theories, such as developing policies and actions to produce social change and solutions to the pressing issues affecting the world right now
  • Learn from leading sociologists whose research is addressing social issues around the world
  • Hear from industry specialists on topics such as racism, asylum and gender-based violence – recent guest speakers have come from Friends Without Borders and Portsmouth Abuse and Rape Counselling Services (PARCS)
  • Build competent research skills that support you to carry out your own research and analysis of issues you're passionate about – previous student dissertations were on the Black Lives Matter movement, online dating, musical taste and K-Pop, happiness and social media, becoming vegan and racism in sport
  • Follow an optional media studies pathway, where you could explore topics such as digital cultures and media fandom
Careers and opportunities The knowledge you gain on this course, coupled with the communication, research, critical thinking and analysis skills you learn, means you'll have lots of career options when you graduate. In fact, 95% of graduates from this course are in work or further study 15 months after graduation, earning an average starting salary of £22,000 – higher than the national average for sociology graduates. After 5 years, you could earn up to an average of £32,000. After the course you could also continue your studies to a PhD or other postgraduate qualification, following in the footsteps of your lecturers. What sectors can you work in with a sociology degree? Many of our sociology graduates go into people-focused roles, or in roles that allow them to do research, shape social policies or bring about social change. Areas you could go into include:
  • teaching and lecturing (with additional training or further study)
  • research and policy
  • health and social care
  • advertising, marketing and media
  • local government
  • careers advice, human resources and recruitment
  • charity work and community development
What jobs can you do with a sociology degree? Roles you could go onto include:
  • fundraising and project manager
  • hr adviser
  • housing strategy and policy officer
  • social worker
  • evidence and evaluation manager
  • peer support and young person's service manager
  • recruitment consultant
  • senior research executive
  • marketing manager
  • data analyst
  • fraud operations executive
To give you the best chance of securing the ideal job when you graduate, our Careers and Employability service can help you find relevant work experience during your course. We'll also be available to help, advise and support you for up to 5 years as you advance in your career.

Subject options

This course offers the following subject options:

  • Sociology with Media Studies

Modules

Year 1 Core modules in this year include:

  • Developing your Sociological Imagination (40 credits)
  • Observing Society (20 credits)
  • Research Design and Analysis (20 credits)
  • Social Inequalities (20 credits)
  • Theorising Social Life (20 credits)
There are no optional modules in this year. Year 2 Core modules in this year include:
  • Doing Sociological Research (20 credits)
  • Modernity and Globalisation (20 credits)
  • Risk and Society (20 credits)
  • Work, Employment and Society (20 credits)
Optional modules in this year currently include:
  • Consumer Society: Critical Themes and Issues (L5) (20 credits)
  • Digital Cultures: Exploring the Digital in the Humanities and Social Sciences (20 credits)
  • Emotions and Social Life (20 credits)
  • Empire and Its Afterlives in Britain, Europe, and Africa (20 credits)
  • Engaged Citizenship in Humanities and Social Sciences (20 credits)
  • Equality Or Liberation? Theorising Social Justice (20 credits)
  • Family, Career and Generation (L5) (20 credits)
  • Gender and Sexuality (20 credits)
  • Global Security (20 credits)
  • Health, Wellbeing, and Happiness (L5) (20 credits)
  • Intercultural Perspectives On Communication (20 credits)
  • Marketing & Communication (20 credits)
  • Media Networks: Exploring Digital Culture (20 credits)
  • Media, Culture and National Identity (20 credits)
  • Nationalism and Migration: Chaos, Crisis and the Everyday (L5) (20 credits)
  • News, Discourse, and Media (20 credits)
  • Principles of Economic Crime Investigation (20 credits)
  • Professional Experience L5 (20 credits)
  • Puritans to Postmodernists: American Literature (20 credits)
  • Race and Racism (L5) (20 credits)
  • Screen Media (20 credits)
  • Social Power, Elites and Dissent (L5) (20 credits)
  • Sociology of Culture: Taste, Value and Celebrity (L5) (20 credits)
  • The Sociology of Education (20 credits)
  • Transitional Justice & Human Rights (20 credits)
  • Understanding Personal Life (L5) (20 credits)
  • Wildlife Crime: Threats and Response (20 credits)
Placement year (optional) Have the opportunity to do a work placement year after your second or third year on this Connected Degree - we're the only UK university to offer flexible sandwich placements for undergraduates. Year 3 Optional modules in this year currently include:
  • Celebrity and Society (20 credits)
  • Consumer Society:Critical Themes and Issues (L6) (20 credits)
  • Dissertation (Sociology) (40 credits)
  • Emotions and Social Life (L6) (20 credits)
  • Equality Or Liberation? Theorising Social Justice (20 credits)
  • Family, Career and Generation (L6) (20 credits)
  • Gender and Sexuality (20 credits)
  • Health, Wellbeing and Happiness (20 credits)
  • Introduction to Teaching (20 credits)
  • Major Project (40 credits)
  • Media Fan Cultures (20 credits)
  • Nationalism and Migration: Chaos, Crisis and the Everyday (20 credits)
  • News, War and Peace (20 credits)
  • Professional Development: Recruiters and Candidates (20 credits)
  • Professional Development: Recruiters and Candidates (20 credits)
  • Professional Experience L6 (20 credits)
  • Race and Racism (L6) (20 credits)
  • Social Power, Elites and Dissent (L6) (20 credits)
  • Sociology of Culture: Taste, Value and Celebrity (L6) (20 credits)
  • The Sociology of Education (L6) (20 credits)
  • Understanding Personal Life (L6) (20 credits)
We use the best and most current research and professional practice alongside feedback from our students to make sure course content is relevant to your future career or further studies. Therefore, some course content may change over time to reflect changes in the discipline or industry and some optional modules may not run every year. If a module doesn’t run, we’ll let you know as soon as possible and help you choose an alternative module.

Assessment method

You will be assessed throughout this course via a wide range of assessment methods including:

  • written essays and tests
  • both group and individual projects
  • seminar participation
  • examinations
  • a 10,000-word dissertation in year 3
Examinations typically only make up around 10–20% of your final mark. You’ll be able to test your skills and knowledge informally before you do assessments that count towards your final mark. You can get feedback on all practice and formal assessments so you can improve in the future. The way you’re assessed may depend on the modules you select. As a guide, students on this course last year were typically assessed as follows: Year 1 students: 18% by written exams and 82% by coursework Year 2 students: 17% by written exams, 17% by practical exams and 66% by coursework Year 3 students: 12% by written exams and 88% by coursework

How to apply

29Jan

This is the deadline for applications to be completed and sent for this course. If the university or college still has places available you can apply after this date, but your application is not guaranteed to be considered.

Application codes

Please select a course option – you will then see the application code you need to use to apply for the course.

Points of entry

The following entry points are available for this course:

  • Year 1
  • Year 2
  • Year 3

Entry requirements for advanced entry (i.e. into Year 2 and beyond)

We welcome applications for advanced entry. If you’d like to apply for advanced entry, you need to select the required year when you complete your UCAS application.

Entry requirements

Qualification requirements

English language requirements

TestGradeAdditional details
IELTS (Academic)6English language proficiency at a minimum of IELTS band 6.0 with no component score below 5.5.
PTE Academic54An overall score of 54 with a minimum of 51 in each skill.
TOEFL (iBT)7979 with a minimum of 18 in Reading, 17 in Listening, 20 in Speaking and 17 in Writing.
Cambridge English AdvancedCambridge English: Advanced (CAE) taken after January 2015. An overall score of 169 with no component score less than 162.
Cambridge English ProficiencyCambridge English: Proficiency (CPE) taken after January 2015. An overall score of 169 with no component score less than 162.
Trinity ISEPassTrinity College Integrated Skills in English (ISE) Level III with a Pass in all 4 components

Student Outcomes

Operated by the Office for Students
65%
Employment after 15 months (Most common jobs)
85%
Go onto work and study

The number of student respondents and response rates can be important in interpreting the data – it is important to note your experience may be different from theirs. This data will be based on the subject area rather than the specific course. Read more about this data on the Discover Uni website.

Fees and funding

Tuition fees

EU £9535 Year 1
England £9535 Year 1
Northern Ireland £9535 Year 1
Scotland £9535 Year 1
Wales £9535 Year 1
Channel Islands £9535 Year 1
Republic of Ireland £9535 Year 1
International £17200 Year 1

Tuition fee status depends on a number of criteria and varies according to where in the UK you will study. For further guidance on the criteria for home or overseas tuition fees, please refer to the UKCISA website .

Additional fee information

Students who are resident in EU countries: please note that the net fee is inclusive of the Transition Scholarship Placement Year and Year abroad (at the time of publishing for 2024/25): UK/Channel Islands and Isle of Man students – £1,385 EU – £1,385 (including Transition Scholarship) International (Non-EU) – £2,875. Fees are accurate at the time of publishing and are subject to change at any time without notice. All fees are subject to annual increase. For more information about fees, go to port.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/undergraduate-fees-and-student-finance/tuition-fees-living-costs-and-other-study-costs
Sociology at University of Portsmouth - UCAS