Social Policy

Social policy is a very contemporary degree course, addressing issues that have only arisen in the last 50 years. Its main concern is with how "we", as a society, and "they", as a government, treat the members of our society. At its core, there-fore, are issues surrounding the welfare state, and the alternatives to it. You'll be asking some fundamental questions about how things are, as well as how they ought to be, merging philosophical and political theories, with social science.

As you work through these meaty issues, you'll be acquiring the skills to critically analyse contemporary society. You'll consider topics such as NHS reform, tackling poverty and social exclusion, and changes in the criminal justice system, drawing on a multidisciplinary approach that takes in politics, law, economics, sociology, philosophy and history.

Very few of you will have come across anything quite like this at school or college, so most degree programmes assume no prior knowledge. Your first year, therefore, is likely to he a general introduction to the topics, followed in the next two years by a mixture of the core and mandatory, with the optional specialisations, which often focus on particular problems and areas of social policy such as poverty and social security, housing and planning, crime and penal policy. To he honest, there aren't many laughs.

Teaching is often centred around lectures and your own private research and reading - while you need to listen, you are also encouraged to develop independent thought, and will work independently and as part of a team on presentations and in tutorials and seminars. Assessment can be based on exams, coursework and dissertations, the exact combination depending on where you study.

Once you've graduated, the chances of employment are pretty high. You can view it as a vocational course, so feel equipped to work in the public sector, perhaps in central or local government or social work. You can also view it as an academic course, in which case you'll have a wide variety of skills, plucked from a number of disciplines, and have the analytical, research and technical skills to work in a number of areas - management, the media or consultancy.