Expand+Start date: September 2023

Deadlines for on-time applications

2023 entry application deadlines

For courses starting in 2023 (and for deferred applications), your application should be with us at UCAS by one of these dates – depending on wh...

Hide-Start date: September 2023

Deadlines for on-time applications

2023 entry application deadlines

For courses starting in 2023 (and for deferred applications), your application should be with us at UCAS by one of these dates – depending on what courses you apply for. If your completed application – including all your personal details and your academic reference – is submitted by the deadline, it is guaranteed to be considered.

15 October 2022 for 2023 entry at 18:00 (UK time) – any course at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, or for most courses in medicine, veterinary medicine/science, and dentistry. You can add choices with a different deadline later, but don’t forget you can only have five choices in total.

25 January 2023 for 2023 entry at 18:00 (UK time) – for the majority of courses.

Some course providers require additional admissions tests to be taken alongside the UCAS application, and these may have a deadline. Find out more about these tests.

Check course information in the search tool to see which deadline applies to you at the application weblink below.

Apply as soon as possible: Student funding arrangements mean that as offers are made and places fill up, some courses may only have vacancies for students from certain locations. It’s therefore really important that you apply for your chosen courses by the appropriate deadlines mentioned above, as not all courses will have places for all students.

Expand+Course duration, full-time mode, is three years.

Students are required to study six 20-credit modules at level 4 (year 1), six at level 5 (year 2), and six at level 6 (year 3), totaling 180 credits at each level. Each module will normally involve ...

Hide-Course duration, full-time mode, is three years.

Students are required to study six 20-credit modules at level 4 (year 1), six at level 5 (year 2), and six at level 6 (year 3), totaling 180 credits at each level. Each module will normally involve two hours of lectures plus a one-hour seminar each week, for the 12-week teaching period. For each module, students are required to undertake a further 168 hours of directed independent learning, totaling 200 effort hours for each module. Attendance at lectures and seminars is compulsory.

Expand+Overview
This course addresses key questions around human need, welfare, inequality and sociological concepts and debates.

Summary
In an increasingly uncertain and fast-changing world, questions around human need, welfare, inequality and wealth ...

Hide-Overview
This course addresses key questions around human need, welfare, inequality and sociological concepts and debates.

Summary
In an increasingly uncertain and fast-changing world, questions around human need, welfare, inequality and wealth distribution are to the fore of public discourse and affect all our lives. These debates are at the heart of social policy. In studying this degree, students will explore how concerns such as new social risks and precarity are experienced by individuals and communities and addressed by policy. These significant challenges require students to critically engage with historical perspectives and contrasting conceptual approaches. Students will also be expected to develop their understanding of the complexities of policy making and governance at regional, national and international levels.

Graduates have high employment rates, pursuing careers in the public sector, working in local or central government, helping to formulate policy, or manage key services. Some build careers in the voluntary sector and in campaigning organisations with a focus on social issues; others pursue a career in social research methods, as a research assistant or research officer, working as part of a team.

Graduates are well equipped with the skills to work in other areas such as management and research consultancy. Some proceed to further study, pursuing a PhD or one of a range of MSc degrees including Social Policy, Criminology and Health Promotion. This degree may give exemption from some aspects of study for those seeking professional qualifications in housing and health service management, and is a popular route into the fast-track social work qualification.

The major social policy component (two-thirds of the degree) will be enhanced by the minor sociology component (one-third of the course). Sociology as a discipline has a long and respected history and you will study a range of sociological theories and problems from classical and contemporary sociology and sociological theorists.

About
The course critically analyses how and why social policies are formed and implemented in the UK and internationally: how key issues and problems of poverty, inequality and social need are impacted by the theories, politics, governance and delivery of welfare. The course maintains a strong focus on employability and provides a robust combination of theoretical and applied knowledge and understanding, practical social research skills and a range of soft skills, necessary for employment in the public, private and voluntary sectors. Two-thirds of the course is social policy and one-third of the course is sociology.

Expand+Assessment methods vary and are defined explicitly in each module. Assessment can be via one method or a combination e.g. examination and coursework . Assessment is designed to assess your achievement of the module’s stated learning outcomes. You c...

Hide-Assessment methods vary and are defined explicitly in each module. Assessment can be via one method or a combination e.g. examination and coursework . Assessment is designed to assess your achievement of the module’s stated learning outcomes. You can expect to receive timely feedback on all coursework assessment. The precise assessment will depend on the module and may be subject to change from year to year for quality or enhancement reasons. You will be consulted about any significant changes.

Coursework can take many forms, for example: essay, report, seminar paper, test, presentation, dissertation, design, artefacts, portfolio, journal, group work. The precise form and combination of assessment will depend on the course you apply for and the module. Details will be made available in advance through induction, the course handbook, the module specification and the assessment timetable. The details are subject to change from year to year for quality or enhancement reasons. You will be consulted about any significant changes.

Normally, a module will have four learning outcomes, and no more than two items of assessment. An item of assessment can comprise more than one task. The notional workload and the equivalence across types of assessment is standardised.

Expand+Work placement / study abroad
Work-based Learning: A valuable, highly-praised and long-standing feature of the Social Policy Single Honours degree programme is a full-time 6-week ‘placement’ in semester 3 of Year 2, taken by both part-time and f...

Hide-Work placement / study abroad
Work-based Learning: A valuable, highly-praised and long-standing feature of the Social Policy Single Honours degree programme is a full-time 6-week ‘placement’ in semester 3 of Year 2, taken by both part-time and full-time students, in either a voluntary or statutory agency based in Northern Ireland. An excellent ‘employability’ component of the course, the work-based learning period offers students the opportunity to apply (and reflect on) their knowledge and transferable skills in the workplace and to gain new ‘soft’ skills and valuable practical experience in the field.

Diploma in Professional Practice (DPP): Students may also take a one year paid and accredited internship/placement in an approved organisation.

Study Abroad Opportunities: Full-time Social Policy (and modular) students may also apply for a scholarship to study at a university in the USA for their third academic year, attaining a Diploma in International Academic Studies, before completing their final year back at Ulster. Committed to producing global citizens, we actively encourage you to internationalise your degree. Direct Exchange allows students to spend a semester (or year) abroad at one of our non-European institutions in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Hong Kong, USA or Venezuela; Short Programmes are also available in the USA, India, China and Thailand. These exciting study opportunities broaden your horizons and cultural understanding, enhance your personal development and give you a competitive edge by boosting your employment prospects.

Expand+Graduate employers
Graduates from this course are now working for:
• Civil Service
• Health & Social Care Trusts
• Voluntary Organisations
• Community Youth Organisations
• NI Housing Executive
• Borough Councils
• NI Equality C...

Hide-Graduate employers
Graduates from this course are now working for:
• Civil Service
• Health & Social Care Trusts
• Voluntary Organisations
• Community Youth Organisations
• NI Housing Executive
• Borough Councils
• NI Equality Commission

Job roles
With this degree you could become:
• Charity Campaign Manager
• Community Development Coordinator
• Social Researcher
• Policy Analyst
• Equality Officer
• Human Resource Manager
• Advice Worker

Career options
Our Social Policy courses will provide you with a knowledge and understanding of contemporary social policy, a training in social research methods, the ability to apply theoretical perspectives and concepts to real-life problems, and an appreciation of the complexity and diversity of social problems and society. The degree equips graduates for employment in a range of careers in the statutory, voluntary and private sectors.

You will gain the skills and ability to carry out independent research, to assess the merits of competing theories and explanations, to work as part of a team, and to effectively engage in policy debate with sensitivity to the views of others – all transferable and 'soft' skills that are highly attractive to employers.

Social Policy graduates have high employment rates, pursuing careers in the public sector, working in local or central government helping to formulate policy or manage key services. Some build careers in the voluntary sector and in campaigning organisations with a focus on social issues, and are also equipped with the skills to work in other areas such as management or research consultancy. Our graduates also proceed to post-graduate studies at PhD level or to a range of Masters degrees including Social Policy, Criminology and Health Promotion. Social Policy is a very relevant qualification for admission to postgraduate fast-track Social Work training, and may give exemption from some aspects of study for those seeking professional qualifications in housing and health service management.