BSc (Hons) Sociology and Social Policy

**Aston University is The Guardian’s ‘University of the Year’ 2020.****Course outline**As a student on the BSc (Hons) Sociology and Social Policy course, you’ll explore the social structures and issues that have shaped your own real-life experiences and how they relate to bigger social problems. We explore the social constraints we encounter in our everyday lives and how they are reinforced by class, race, religion and gender. To understand how these issues perpetuate existing inequalities and unequal life chances, we analyse what impact official politics has on such processes, how politics is intertwined with the profit-making aims pursued by big corporations and how their combined interests dominate our social imaginations. You will investigate the economic, social and political forces which influence government decision-making and examine why governments take particular decisions at a global, national and local levels of government. You will also study the nature of policy delivery and management by various organisations, such as local governments, schools and businesses, which will equip you for a range of career paths.**Key benefits**- 100 per cent of students studying sociology courses at Aston said that staff are good at explaining things (National Student Survey, 2020).- Employed Aston sociology/social policy graduates earn £4,000 (23 per cent) more than the UK average, one year after graduation (Longitudinal Education Outcomes, 2020).- Social Policy at Aston was ranked 7th in the UK for ‘graduate prospects’ (Complete University Guide, 2021).- Social Policy at Aston scored 92 per cent for overall student satisfaction (National Student Survey, 2020).- Social Policy at Aston was ranked number 1 in the UK for ‘continuation’ (Guardian, 2020). This compares the number of first-year students on full-time first-degree courses who have remained active in their second year of studies.