Social Policy and Sociology

Social policy and sociology together examine the structures, institutions, and inequalities that shape people's lives. Sociology provides the theoretical and empirical tools to understand society, analysing how class, gender, race, age, and other axes of difference interact with institutions, culture, and power to produce and sustain inequality. Social policy applies that understanding to the design and evaluation of welfare systems, asking how governments and other institutions address needs in health, education, housing, and income support, and with what effects and for whom.

The University of Edinburgh's four-year full-time programme includes a year abroad, giving you the opportunity to study at a partner institution in another country and bring a comparative perspective to questions about social arrangements and welfare systems that vary considerably between societies. Edinburgh's social sciences are distinguished by strong quantitative and qualitative research traditions, and the programme develops your skills in both. You will study sociological theory, research methods, quantitative data analysis, welfare state development, social inequality, health policy, education policy, labour markets, and comparative social policy.

Edinburgh's location in a devolved polity gives the programme particular richness in relation to Scottish and comparative UK policy.

Graduates from social policy and sociology programmes go on to work in the civil service, local government, NHS, social care, housing, education, research institutes, the voluntary sector, and policy analysis. Many continue to postgraduate study in social work, public policy, sociology, or research methods, and the strong methodological training Edinburgh provides is valued by graduate employers and doctoral supervisors alike. The discipline's combination of critical social analysis and practical policy relevance produces graduates equipped to understand and change the world.