Social Sciences

Follow a career focused on understanding and changing society. Study this degree course and explore issues such as crime, justice, democracy, globalisation, immigration, gender, consumer culture and human rights.

Our multi-disciplinary degree course provides you with the opportunity to develop a wide knowledge base from a selection of subject areas which include politics, history, sociology, policing and criminology.

After an introduction to the social sciences in Years 1 and 2, you may start to specialise in Year 3 and Year 4. Exchange opportunities exist in Year 3 with a range of institutions (California State University Long Beach, University of Massachusetts in Boston, Erasmus University, Rotterdam and Siegen University).

Graduate employability is high on our agenda and is embedded throughout our programme, which will equip you with skills in presentation, research and computing, critical evaluation and concise writing.

Social work and social policy research

75% of the research environment and 74% of our research outputs in social work and social policy are rated as world-leading or internationally excellent (Research Excellence Framework 2021). Our social work and social policy research are ranked seventh in Scotland (Times Higher Education).

History research

Our history research was assessed as having an outstanding impact, with 50% meeting the highest level of quality – ‘outstanding’ – in the REF2021 exercise (REF2021).

Your career

Graduates benefit from a wide range of employment opportunities and have previously secured jobs in teaching, social work, the police force, marketing, public administration, political and social research, HR, journalism, counselling, heritage and tourism.

Graduates can also pursue postgraduate studies in a variety of academic disciplines up to PhD level.