About this course
A sociology degree will start your journey to a career that makes a difference. Our expert lecturers will help you explore how our experiences are shaped by class, gender and race - and how this is changing in the 21st century. You’ll graduate with the ability to analyse social structures, ready to positively impact issues at a local, national and global level.
This BSc Sociology course examines our world and seeks to understand how identities, relationships and practices are formed. You will have an opportunity to study a wide range of topics that include:
- theoretical approaches and different perspectives in sociology
- social inequalities such as class, gender, sexuality, age, race and ethnicity, disability, and global position
- new forms of community and identity
- change and transformation in social lives
- justice and injustice
- complex social problems and public policy solutions
- research methods in sociology (including quantitative and qualitative techniques)
As part of your degree you can:
- study abroad for a semester at a partner university in Brazil, Canada or China
- study a minor subject, such as psychology, alongside your main degree
- study modules from other areas, such as languages or international relations
- make a difference by getting involved with our Social Impact Lab
We regularly review our courses to ensure and improve quality. This course may be revised as a result of this. Any revision will be balanced against the requirement that the student should receive the educational service expected. Find out why, when, and how we might make changes.
Our courses are regulated in England by the Office for Students (OfS).
Learn more about this subject area
Course location
This course is based at Highfield.
Awarding body
This qualification is awarded by the University of Southampton.
Download the Course Description Document
The Course Description Document details your course overview, your course structure and how your course is taught and assessed.
Entry requirements
For Academic year
Scottish Qualification
Offers will be based on exams being taken at the end of S6. Subjects taken and qualifications achieved in S5 will be reviewed. Careful consideration will be given to an individual’s academic achievement, taking in to account the context and circumstances of their pre-university education.
Please see the University of Southampton’s Curriculum for Excellence Scotland Statement (PDF) for further information. Applicants are advised to contact their Faculty Admissions Office for more information.
Other requirements
You might meet our criteria in other ways if you do not have the qualifications we need. Find out more about:
- our Access to Southampton scheme for students living permanently in the UK (including residential summer school, application support and scholarship)
- skills you might have gained through work or other life experiences (otherwise known as recognition of prior learning)
Find out more about our Admissions Policy.
Got a question?
Please contact our enquiries team if you're not sure that you have the right experience or qualifications to get onto this course.
Email: enquiries@southampton.ac.uk
Tel: +44(0)23 8059 5000
Course structure
Sociology at Southampton offers core modules on classical and contemporary social theory, research methods, and research skills. Your wide range of optional modules are designed to support your career plans and areas of interest, including education, health, migration and the internet.
Each year you’ll also have the chance to choose modules from other courses at the University. This will give you valuable opportunities to expand your knowledge and create an impressive CV.
Year 1 overview
Your core modules will introduce you to the basics of sociology, including:
- Social Problems and Social Policy
- Foundations in Social and Anthropological Theory
- Transformations of the Modern World
- Understanding Everyday Life
- Introduction to Quantitative Methods
You’ll also choose more modules from options like:
- Criminology: Policy and Practice
- Exploring Other Cultures
- Criminal Justice Studies
Year 2 overview
Next, you’ll take 3 more compulsory modules to advance your skills:
- Social Theory
- Research Methods in the Social Sciences
- Qualitative Research: Foundations, Principles and Skills
You’ll also take 5 optional modules from a broad range of disciplines, including:
- Race and Ethnicity
- Gender and Society
- Class Structure and Social Inequality
- Globalisation, Inequalities and Power
- Cosmology, Ritual and Belief
Year 3 overview
You’ll put your research skills into practice by investigating and writing a 10,000-word dissertation on a subject of your choice. You’ll also consider the most important processes of social change taking place today in a core module in comparative sociology.
Finally, you’ll select 5 more modules from a wide range of options, many of which will be taught in student-led seminars. These include:
- The Sociology of Youth
- Sexuality and Intimacy
- Collective Action and Social Change
- Comparing Welfare States: Evolution, Politics and Impact
- Anthropology, Film and Representations of the Other
Want more detail? See all the modules in the course.
Modules
The modules outlined provide examples of what you can expect to learn on this degree course based on recent academic teaching. As a research-led University, we undertake a continuous review of our course to ensure quality enhancement and to manage our resources. The precise modules available to you in future years may vary depending on staff availability and research interests, new topics of study, timetabling and student demand. Find out why, when and how we might make changes.
Year 2 modules
You must study the following modules in year 2:
Introduction to Social Data Analytics
This module will develop understanding of how to quantitatively analyse data in the social sciences, building on the foundations from the research methods modules in the first year. It will be focused around the common methods for data analysis that are n...
Qualitative Research: Methods, Tools and Techniques
This module builds on year 1 research methods teaching. It aims to give students a rigorous critical understanding of a broad range of qualitative data collection and data analysis methods. It covers traditional methods such as interviews and focus groups...
Theorizing The Social World
This module focuses on how social theorists have tried to address particular questions and problems in the social world. What conceptual tools have they developed to help us understand various dimensions of our world from the 19th century through to the ...
What's the Solution? How to Become an Agent for Change in Public Policy
You must also choose from the following modules in year 2:
Children and Society
This module is designed to introduce you to some of the key concepts and debates surrounding children and childhood. It will provide you an opportunity to develop an analytical and critical understanding of the theoretical frameworks, research, policy and...
Collective Action and Social Change
In this module you will be able to examine a variety of organisations involved in social change, such as governmental and non-governmental organisations, voluntary organisations, social movement organisations and charitable organisations. You will be help...
Comparative Youth Justice
The youth of today' has long been a source of curiosity to older generations, and sociologists and criminologists are no exception to this trend. Over the past 100 years, there have been attempts both to explain society's fascination with the younger gene...
Crime Scene Investigation: Methods and Applications
Criminological Perspectives in Global and Post-colonial Contexts
This module provides you with a critical overview of criminological theory since 1980. It builds on and extends the foundational curriculum which introduced students to the field of criminology.
Criminological Psychology
This module encourages you to take an in-depth look at the way psychology has been used to explain and control crime. We will explore the way psychological principles can be applied to such issues as violence, murder, serial killing and the role of the c...
Domination and the Arts of Resistance
When (if ever) is political violence justified? Most politics classes focus on ordinary politics – how interest groups and political parties struggle for power through political institutions. While there can be many disputes, in ordinary instances they ar...
Global Transformations
The module will look at key global social transformations in the modern world and the way in which these have been analysed by social scientists.
Issues in Law Enforcement and Social Control
This module considers a range of issues in the area of the sociology of the policy and policing and more broadly the sociology of social control - issues, include domestic violence, public order and policing minority groups.
Politics and Protest
Politics is often about conflict, but sometimes that conflict takes place within legislative bodies and other times in the streets. Most of what we study in political science courses focuses on conflict within the electoral framework, but this course asks...
Politics of the Media
This module provides a theoretical and empirical overview of the role played by information, communication, and media within the politics of the modern state. Students are introduced to canonical as well as marginal and emerging perspectives on media poli...
Race and Ethnicity in Society
This module will explore the issues of race, racism, racial conflict, and race relations in contemporary Britain and worldwide. Although we will mainly refer to Britain, global examples will also be used. The module will examine theoretical perspectives o...
Reinventing Democracy: Innovation, Participation and Power
All over the world the ideal of democratic government has higher support than at almost any time in human history. Yet many citizens of democracies are very frustrated with the way the democracy they live in works. It is one thing to recognise the contemp...
State and Society in Contemporary Russia
This module explores the evolution of state and society in Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union, focusing both on state-society relations and on wide-ranging social divisions . The early post-Soviet period was characterised by massive social, pol...
Techno Harms: Discrimination, Conspiracy Theories and Extremism
This module introduces you to the concept of ‘techno-harms’ from the disciplines of sociology, criminology, and social policy, with a particular focus on zemiology, to investigate the infliction and perpetuation of technologically induced social harms. Th...
Victims or Perpetrators? Social and Psychological Perspectives on Older People and Crime
This module combines the disciplines of social gerontology, social psychology, and sociology to address the intersection of crime and later life, including experiences of crime and criminal behaviour and social responses to these. It encourages students t...
Year 3 modules
You must study the following modules in year 3:
Dissertation
Your dissertation will give you an opportunity to conduct a small-scale, independent empirical research project on a topic which you choose relevant to your particular degree programme. Guided by an academic supervisor, you will use appropriate methodolog...
Real World Research: Designing Your Dissertation
This module provides students with the practical foundations for designing and planning the empirical research for their final year dissertation. It does this supported by research insights and examples from staff from their own research experience. The ...
You must also choose from the following modules in year 3:
Children and Society
This module is designed to introduce you to some of the key concepts and debates surrounding children and childhood. It will provide you an opportunity to develop an analytical and critical understanding of the theoretical frameworks, research, policy and...
Collective Action and Social Change
In this module you will be able to examine a variety of organisations involved in social change, such as governmental and non-governmental organisations, voluntary organisations, social movement organisations and charitable organisations. You will be help...
Comparative Youth Justice
The youth of today' has long been a source of curiosity to older generations, and sociologists and criminologists are no exception to this trend. Over the past 100 years, there have been attempts both to explain society's fascination with the younger gene...
Crime Scene Investigation: Methods and Applications
Domination and the Arts of Resistance
When (if ever) is political violence justified? Most politics classes focus on ordinary politics – how interest groups and political parties struggle for power through political institutions. While there can be many disputes, in ordinary instances they ar...
Exploring the Hidden Assumptions in Education
Education is closely connected to some of the most profound questions of the human experience and social life more broadly. In this module you are invited on an exciting journey to explore the ethical assumptions, truth claims, and purposes that underlie ...
Global Terrorism and Political Violence
The module will introduce you to some of the central themes and concepts in the study of terrorism, extremism, and political violence – spanning history, geographies, and the ideological spectrum.
Global Transformations
The module will look at key social transformations in the modern world and the way in which these have been analysed by social scientists.
Intersectional Perspectives on Modernisation Processes
This module is concerned with the development of modern societies and the nature of 'modernity'. It will draw on the writings of contemporary sociologists in order to consider what the most important processes of social change taking place are and how the...
Issues in Law Enforcement and Social Control
This module considers a range of issues in the area of the sociology of the policy and policing and more broadly the sociology of social control - issues, include domestic violence, public order and policing minority groups.
Penology
Penology is the study of punishment, in prison and in the community. Students are encouraged to think critically about the multiple purposes and debatable effectiveness of our contemporary modes of punishment, and to understand why this 'end product' of t...
Politics and Protest
Politics is often about conflict, but sometimes that conflict takes place within legislative bodies and other times in the streets. Most of what we study in political science courses focuses on conflict within the electoral framework, but this course asks...
Politics of the Media
This module provides a theoretical and empirical overview of the role played by information, communication, and media within the politics of the modern state. Students are introduced to canonical as well as marginal and emerging perspectives on media poli...
Race and Ethnicity in Society
This module will explore the issues of race, racism, racial conflict, and race relations in contemporary Britain and worldwide. Although we will mainly refer to Britain, global examples from Europe, the US, the Caribbean, Africa, and South America will b...
Reinventing Democracy: Innovation, Participation and Power
All over the world the ideal of democratic government has higher support than at almost any time in human history. Yet many citizens of democracies are very frustrated with the way the democracy they live in works. It is one thing to recognise the contemp...
State and Society in Contemporary Russia
This module explores the evolution of state and society in Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union, focusing both on state-society relations and on wide-ranging social divisions . The early post-Soviet period was characterised by massive social, pol...
Techno Harms: Discrimination, Conspiracy Theories and Extremism
This module introduces you to the concept of ‘techno-harms’ from the disciplines of sociology, criminology, and social policy, with a particular focus on zemiology, to investigate the infliction and perpetuation of technologically induced social harms. Th...
The Deserving and Undeserving: Victims and Scroungers in Criminology and Social Policy
Societal sensitivity regarding victims in the UK has grown in recent decades. In the UK new policies and legislation have emerged at all levels in the criminal justice system with the aim of putting the victim at the centre of the criminal justice process...
Victims or Perpetrators? Social and Psychological Perspectives on Older People and Crime
This module combines the disciplines of social gerontology, social psychology, and sociology to address the intersection of crime and later life, including experiences of crime and criminal behaviour and social responses to these. It encourages students t...
Violent and Sexual Offenders
Would you like to understand why people - mostly men - are violent, or commit rape, or sexually abuse young children? Are people who do such things mentally ill? What might have happened to them in their lives that makes them commit such serious offences...
Learning and assessment
The learning activities for this course include the following:
- lectures
- classes and tutorials
- coursework
- individual and group projects
- independent learning (studying on your own)
Course time
How you'll spend your course time:
Year 1
Study time
Your scheduled learning, teaching and independent study for year 1:
How we'll assess you
- dissertations
- essays
- individual and group projects
- oral presentations
- written exams
Your assessment breakdown
Year 1:
Year 2
Study time
Your scheduled learning, teaching and independent study for year 2:
How we'll assess you
- dissertations
- essays
- individual and group projects
- oral presentations
- written exams
Your assessment breakdown
Year 2:
Academic support
You’ll be supported by a personal academic tutor and have access to a senior tutor.
Course leader
Rebecca Taylor is the course leader.
Careers
Sociological analysis is increasingly valued in the workplace, so the skills you acquire during your studies will be in high demand. You’ll also have practical, transferable skills that will be valued across a wide range of roles and sectors.
Our graduates have established careers in:
- business
- industry
- government
- management
- counselling
- human resources
- voluntary sectors
- NHS
- education
- social work
Careers services at Southampton
We are a top 20 UK university for employability (QS Graduate Employability Rankings 2022). Our Careers, Employability and Student Enterprise team will support you. This support includes:
- work experience schemes
- CV and interview skills and workshops
- networking events
- careers fairs attended by top employers
- a wealth of volunteering opportunities
- study abroad and summer school opportunities
We have a vibrant entrepreneurship culture and our dedicated start-up supporter, Futureworlds, is open to every student.
Work in industry
You’ll have the opportunity to take a Year in Employment, which is a paid work placement between your second and third year.
Fees, costs and funding
Tuition fees
Fees for a year's study:
- UK students pay £9,250.
- EU and international students pay £22,300.
Your fees will remain the same each year from when you start studying this course. This includes if you suspend and return.
What your fees pay for
Your tuition fees pay for the full cost of tuition and standard exams.
Find out how to:
Accommodation and living costs, such as travel and food, are not included in your tuition fees. There may also be extra costs for retake and professional exams.
Explore:
Bursaries, scholarships and other funding
If you're a UK or EU student and your household income is under £25,000 a year, you may be able to get a University of Southampton bursary to help with your living costs. Find out about bursaries and other funding we offer at Southampton.
If you're a care leaver or estranged from your parents, you may be able to get a specific bursary.
Get in touch for advice about student money matters.
Scholarships and grants
You may be able to get a scholarship or grant to help fund your studies.
We award scholarships and grants for travel, academic excellence, or to students from under-represented backgrounds.
Support during your course
The Student Services Centre offers support and advice on money to students. You may be able to access our Student Support fund and other sources of financial support during your course.
Funding for EU and international students
Find out about funding you could get as an international student.
How to apply
When you apply use:
- UCAS course code: L300
- UCAS institution code: S27
What happens after you apply?
We will assess your application on the strength of your:
- predicted grades
- academic achievements
- personal statement
- academic reference
We'll aim to process your application within 2 to 6 weeks, but this will depend on when it is submitted. Applications submitted in January, particularly near to the UCAS equal consideration deadline, might take substantially longer to be processed due to the high volume received at that time.
Equality and diversity
We treat and select everyone in line with our Equality and Diversity Statement.
Got a question?
Please contact our enquiries team if you're not sure that you have the right experience or qualifications to get onto this course.
Email: enquiries@southampton.ac.uk
Tel: +44(0)23 8059 5000