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School of Society and Culture

BSc (Hons) Sociology

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UCAS tariff 104 - 120 Contextual offers
A contextual offer is an offer to study at university that takes personal circumstances that may affect grades into account.
UCAS course code L300
Institution code P60
Duration

3 years

(+ optional placement)
Assessment breakdown 100% coursework
Course type

Full-time
Study location Plymouth

Sociology is flourishing at University of Plymouth. Our programme ranks among the best in the country. We use an innovative, ‘hands-on’ approach to teaching by encouraging students to apply sociological questions to the real world. Most importantly, our lecturers truly care about the progress of their students.

If you want to learn from leading sociologists about how inequality, gender, and ethnicity shapes our identities, or how the media impacts our culture and politics, or how health is socially determined, or how people are affected by prison – and much, much more – then this is the sociology programme is for you.

Personalise your degree

At Plymouth, your degree really is what you make it. Choose to study optional modules from across the school.

Year 2 icon
In your second year...

Choose to swap in up to two modules from across the school.
School of Society and Culture stick or swap graphic
In your final year...

Dive deeper into your subject by sticking with our selection of options or swap in another module from across the school.
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Achieve your final degree certificate

If you've studied three optional modules from the same second subject area, you can choose to add this to your degree certificate.
Find out how our flexible course structures provide you with an opportunity to personalise your studies, feed your curiosity, and help you achieve your career aspirations.

Careers with this subject
Advice from graduate Conor Wood:
"I would recommend BSc (Hons) Sociology at Plymouth, as it gives you a detailed understanding of how society functions in regards to the social, economic, and political aspects in our everyday lives. Furthermore, sociological perspectives offer insights about the social world that extend beyond individual explanations. Sociology as a degree provides a range of skills that are a necessity in many careers within contemporary society such as critical evaluation, logical thinking, research skills and problem solving."

Careers advice

We embed careers training and advice throughout the curriculum, which means we help you to find and develop a career path that is right for you, as an integral part of the degree using a dedicated team of personal tutors and careers advisers.

Employability

Throughout the course we develop key transferable skills that are actively sought by employers. Sociology at Plymouth has a strong applied focus with a particular focus on critical thinking skills, research methods, and project management. Publishing, media, leisure, museums, social research, the police, teaching, local and central government, and the voluntary sector, are all areas where our inquisitive and competent graduates can be found. Our work-based learning programme gives you the edge when applying for graduate jobs.
You will also have access to the University's Careers Service service which provides information, advice and guidance to students and graduates on building skills, experience and contacts, helping to improve your employability.

Key features
  • Learn from passionate and committed academics with active and wide-ranging research expertise. Our research and specialisms include health, well-being and social policy alongside politics and identities.
  • Apply sociological theory to contemporary issues in an interactively taught environment, then explore and experience first-hand the world beyond the classroom with national and international field trips and exchange opportunities.
  • Engage in a pioneering, well established work-based learning programme along with voluntary opportunities to enhance your employability.
  • Develop key transferable skills that employers actively seek through novel research methods training.
  • Experience varied and engaging assessment formats supported through personal tutoring.
  • Opportunity to study abroad by participating in an international exchange.

Course details

  • Year 1

  • In your first year, you’ll start investigating how and why societies change, looking into how individuals and society connect. Working in small tutorial groups, you’ll explore real-world research through topics such as health, poverty, housing, gender, race, family, education, religion, employment, global development and environmental sustainability. Throughout the year, you’ll learn what it is to be a sociologist and how to use evidence to better understand the social world.

    Core modules

    SOC4002
    Social Identities and Inequalities 20 credits

    This module explores how and why social inequalities influence lived experience and social identities. It focuses on a range of substantive issues, such as poverty, social class and hierarchies, health, gender and sexuality, family and kinship, neo-colonialism and 'race', and violence and ethnicity. This module explores how these influence culture, social identities and lived experience throughout the life-course.

    100% Coursework

    SOC4004
    Introduction to Social Theory 20 credits

    This module introduces students to key features of classical social theory. These features are placed within the context of the Enlightenment, Modernity, the emergence of modern science and social science, and their use for contemporary social analyses.

    100% Coursework

    SOC4005
    Social Science Research Methodologies 20 credits

    This module introduces students to the theory and practice of social research. Students also gain introductory knowledge of the social research process, particularly in relation to formulating a research question and conducting literature reviews. With an emphasis on matching research questions to appropriate methods, students also learn about core qualitative and quantitative social research methodologies.

    100% Coursework

    SOC4003IE
    Body Relatedness and Identity 20 credits

    This module draws on a range of sociological and anthropological sources to examine how societies across the world perceive, transform, control and use the human body. The module's themes are designed to help students appreciate the body as central to the way humans experience the world. Seminars explore the disciplining and surveillance of bodies, the development of "habitus", bodily adornment and transformation, gender and sexuality, biopolitics, the commercialisation of the human body, and the body as a window on wider symbolic-cultural orders. In discussing these topics, first-year students will learn important social science skills, namely the ability to compare different socio-cultural contexts and engage in productive, multidisciplinary discussions.

    100% Coursework

    SOC4006
    Key Concepts and Skills for Sociology 20 credits

    This core Sociology module provides a foundation for the development of transferable conceptual, methodological and study skills. Students engage with contrasting sources of knowledge about the social world, undertake a mini-fieldtrip, and learn about organisations working with local communities. Qualitative and quantitative data is applied to ‘real world’ social issues that are understood through the theoretical lens of the sociological imagination and lived experience.

    100% Coursework

    ANT4007
    Becoming Human

    This module introduces students to interdisciplinary approaches concerned with ‘how we became human’. The module examines the unique characteristics of Homo Sapiens, focusing on evolutionary changes, tool use, mythology, social organisation, equality and inequality, intersubjectivity and symbolic culture (art, ritual, language and myth). Students will be introduced to key theories on human evolution, the evolution of language and its relationship with symbolic thought, while investigating social structures, behaviour, and gender dynamics. Practically, the students will be taught key study skills in bibliographic research, interdisciplinary methods, academic research, writing and presentations.

  • Year 2

  • In the second year, you’ll put into practice what you’ve been learning in the classroom and see sociology in action while gaining work experience relevant to your future career. In tutorials, you’ll explore the impact of global change and international social justice, and discover how these affect socio-cultural identity. You’ll also gain confidence in discussing contested social ideas and how they are applied in today’s global world, industry and employment.

    Core modules

    SOC5001
    Culture, Structure and Experience 20 credits

    This module explores the relationship between culture, social structure, social identities and lived experience. Drawing from and range of theoretical approaches it enables students to explore the relevance of the sociological imagination to understanding a range of contemporary socio-cultural topics and how these exemplify social change, identity, belonging and social exclusion.

    100% Coursework

    SOC5006
    Gender, Sex and Sexuality

    This module introduces students to the sociology of gender, sex and sexuality. It interrogates these concepts with particular reference to identity, activism, social justice and social change. It develops an understanding of the similarities, differences and intersections between gender, sex, sexuality and other social signifiers of difference/diversity including ‘race’, ethnicity, dis/ability, class and age.

    SOC5007
    Race, Nation, Empire: Understanding Identity and Belonging

    This module explores how intersecting ideologies of racism, nationalism, and imperialism relate to contemporary struggles over identity and belonging. In doing so, the module seeks to provide students with a critical understanding of the ideological bases of some of the most urgent issues facing contemporary societies, including: the fracturing of nation states after loss of empire; the racist backlash against postcolonial migration; and the rise of neo-nationalism.

    SOC5008
    The Social Science Research Process

    This module builds on the Level 4 module ‘Social Science Research Methodologies’. In this module, students develop their knowledge and practical skills in qualitative and quantitative social research methodologies. The students also learn how to use computer software packages to help with the collection and analysis of data. In addition, students gain knowledge of how to create a research proposal.

    SOC5009
    Contemporary Theories of Society and Culture

    The module introduces contemporary theoretical disputes framed within the context of classical and early modern theories of society and culture. These debates are linked to historical events and social and cultural research that reciprocally influenced contemporary theoretical change. Foundational disciplinary questions are broached, and formative critical workshops assist in developing theoretical argument, analysis and evaluation.

    Optional modules

    SOC5005MX
    Globalisation and Social Justice 20 credits

    This module investigates the key debates of globalisation and critically evaluates, in terms of its economic, political, socio-cultural and legal dimensions, the causes and consequences of a globalising world. It furthermore explores a range of international social justice issues to examine the relationships (causative and ameliorative) between policies and (in)justice

    60% Coursework

    40% Practicals

    SSC500
    Stage 2 Professional Development, Placement Preparation and Identifying Opportunities 0 credits

    This module is for students in the School of Society and Culture who are interested in undertaking an optional placement in the third year of their programme. It supports students in their search, application, and preparation for the placement, including developing interview techniques and effective application materials (e.g. CVs , portfolios, and cover letters).

  • Optional placement year

  • Gain valuable on-the-job experience through our optional placement year. We will support you in your second year in deciding whether to take this opportunity, and assist you in finding a placement and in being prepared for it. The placement could be in any appropriate external setting. Alternatively, you can gain this experience by selecting our Work-Based Learning module in your final year.

    Core modules

    SSC601
    School of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences Placement Year

    Students have the opportunity to gain work experience that will set them apart in the job market when they graduate by undertaking an optional flexible placement year. The placement must be a minimum of 24-weeks (which can be split between a maximum of two different placement providers) and up to a maximum of 48-weeks over the course of the academic year. The placement is flexible and can be undertaken virtually, part or full time and either paid or voluntary. Students will have the option to undertake their placement year abroad. This year allows them to apply and hone the knowledge and skills acquired from the previous years of their programme in the real world.

  • Final year

  • In your final year, you’ll examine in more depth the sociological issues that particularly interest you and complete a dissertation on your chosen topic. With teaching focusing on the links between theory, policy and professional debates, you choose from a selection of modules including: food and foodways; philosophy of social science; work-based learning in sociology; anthropology of humour and laughter; green criminology; and media, state and society.

    Core modules

    SOC6003
    The Politics of Wasted Lives 20 credits

    The module explores contemporary theories of the emergence of surplus populations and how aspects of Modernity actively ‘wastes’ or makes superfluous the lives of outcast communities (eg. refugees, slum communities, segregated, concentrated and incarcerated peoples). Students critically reflect upon the political and ethical dimensions of social science for its part in Modernity’s processes and the wider impact social researchers have upon individuals and populations.

    100% Coursework

    SOC6005
    Dissertation

    This module provides students with the opportunity to undertake their own sociological, criminological or anthropological research project, working independently but under the supervision of an academic member of staff.

    Optional modules

    CRM6001
    Futures Criminology 20 credits

    The landscape of harm, crime and deviance is changing at a rapid pace. This module engages with a process of horizon scanning – attempting to identify new challenges and think about how criminology can usefully help us to understand and engage with emerging harms. This necessitates a critical reappraisal of the discipline itself as we engage with new methodologies, theories and paradigms.

    100% Coursework

    CRM6003
    Social Change and Justice 20 credits

    This module examines how attitudes towards crime and justice have changed and developed over time. It will demonstrate the importance of historically and socially contextualising specific crimes in order to increase the understanding of their contemporary relevance, alongside examining the political and economic context.

    100% Coursework

    CRM6008
    Leisure, Consumerism and Harm 20 credits

    This module explores contemporary developments within the study of leisure and consumerism, offering a theoretically informed understanding of key issues at the forefront of the discipline. Students will have the opportunity to study the changing nature of criminology’s engagement with leisure against a backdrop of global consumer capitalism.

    100% Coursework

    SOC6001
    Media, State and Society 20 credits

    The media occupy key arenas whereby various social groups compete with one another to set public, political, commercial and cultural agendas. This module examines the relationship between media, state and society. It covers a number of substantive topic areas such as environmental issues, terrorism, war reporting, gender, crime and violence.

    100% Coursework

    SOC6002
    Food, Culture and Society 20 credits

    This module aims to provide a critical understanding of sociological issues relating to food and foodways, (the beliefs and behaviours surrounding the production, distribution and consumption of food both on an individual and collective level). The module encourages critical reflection and practical experience of research in the area of food and foodways, with a focus on lived experience.

    100% Coursework

    SOC6004MX
    Health, Medical Power and Social Justice 20 credits

    This module considers a range of issues concerning health, illness and medical power in contemporary society. The module seeks to develop an understanding of the impact of ‘medicalisation’ on everyday life, as well as the importance of social divisions, such as age, gender, ethnicity and socio-economic status. There will be a focus on a range of sociological perspectives on health with an opportunity to focus upon areas of particular interest.

    100% Coursework

    ANT6002
    Different Ways of Knowing: The Anthropology of truth, post-truth and conspiracy 20 credits

    This module explores the nature of knowledge and truth from a cross-cultural perspective. How do ideas of truth differ culturally, and change over time? How do people produce, guard, and destroy knowledge? After an introduction to phenomenology and ontology, students will be able to engage with different systems of truth and knowledge - from oral history, to scientific debate, to prophecy and conspiracy.

    60% Coursework

    40% Practicals

    ANT6009
    Medical Anthropology

    By systematically comparing ethnographic data from across the globe, this module shows how shared ideas of wellness and illness/affliction develop, and how individuals work to maintain their wellbeing by transforming, training, inscribing, feeding and thinking about their bodies. Medical Anthropology studies how illness, disease and death are locally explained, experienced, and acted upon, and examines how western and non-western medical traditions interact with bio-medical institutions.

    CRM6015
    Global Conflict, Genocide and Crimes of the State

    This module explores the issue of global (in)security in the context of state and non-state conflict. Theoretical and conceptual understandings of crime, violence, victimisation and justice will be used to interrogate acts such as war crimes and terrorism. The module will address the history of such crimes and will critically explore State and international responses.

The modules shown for this course are those currently being studied by our students, or are proposed new modules. Please note that programme structures and individual modules are subject to amendment from time to time as part of the University’s curriculum enrichment programme and in line with changes in the University’s policies and requirements.

Personalise your degree
All our degrees have a wide range of optional modules and there is even the opportunity to study modules from any of the School of Society and Culture 's subject areas.
You could graduate with one of the following personalised course title combinations:
 
Sociology with Anthropology

Modules

    ANT5008MX
    Brave New Worlds: Ethnography of/on Online and Digital Worlds 20 credits

    This module teaches students how to use ethnographic methods to make sense of the internet, which we now increasingly inhabit. Students learn how to navigate and analyse platforms such as Facebook or TikTok. They study how these technologies transform our relationships, identities, and ideas of truth. The module also examines the socio-cultural and ethical aspects of digital worlds (e.g. Second life).

    100% Coursework

    ANT6008MX
    Coastal Cultures: Marine Anthropology in the age of climate change and mass extinction. 20 credits

    Using ethnography, we analyse how coastal communities use the sea – not only as a source of livelihood, but as a key ingredient in the construction of their identity and place in world. Drawing on a range of cases from across the world – from Polynesian sorcerers, to Japanese whale mourners, to Cornish surfers – we study how coastal communities are responding to climate change, sea level rise, pollution, and extinction.

    100% Coursework

Sociology with Art History

Modules

    ARH5002MX
    Imagery in Online and Offline Worlds: Film, Television and Video Games 20 credits

    This module provides students with a comprehensive understanding of current approaches towards mass media and visual culture. Particular emphasis will be put on medium-specificity, content analysis and audience studies.

    100% Coursework

    ARH6002MX
    Questions in Contemporary Art 20 credits

    The module introduces and examines selected questions raised in the last three decades in contemporary art. Case studies drawn from art history, critical and cultural theory, and where appropriate related disciplines, will be examined.

    100% Coursework

Sociology with Creative Writing

Modules

    ENG5010MX
    Writing Creative Nonfiction: Autobiography, Travel Writing, Reportage 20 credits

    This module introduces students to the key concepts and issues in contemporary works of creative nonfiction, or 'life writing'. Included in our readings will be works of memoir and autobiography, travel writing, personal essays and reportage. The module is entirely taught in workshops where we experiment with producing our own works of creative nonfiction and learning to refine them, as well as critically evaluate and contextualise them.

    100% Coursework

    ENG6008MX
    Features Journalism Workshop 20 credits

    This module offers students an in-depth experience of professional writing. We will explore technique in features and literary journalism; music reviews, opinion columns and longer immersion features as well as other contemporary works of non-fiction feature writing, both short- and long-form, from sub-genres including profiles and interviews, autobiography and columns, travel writing, and reportage. We will learn to research and produce our own works of professional nonfiction and critically evaluate them.

    100% Coursework

Sociology with English

Modules

    ENG5002MX
    Gothic Fictions: Villains, Virgins and Vampires 20 credits

    This module looks at eighteenth- and nineteenth-century novels to trace the variety and scope of literary contributions to the Gothic. It begins by discussing the origins of the Gothic novel, then moves to the heyday of the genre in the revolutionary 1790s, on to authors writing in the early and mid-nineteenth century, through to the decadence of the 1890s.

    100% Coursework

    ENG6005MX
    American Crime Writing 20 credits

    This module considers the development of twentieth-century American crime fiction from hard-boiled detectives, to myths of the mafia, and postmodern reinventions of the genre. This module will explore the cultural contexts of American crime writing, prevailing conventions of the genre, as well as challenges to those conventions.

    100% Coursework

Sociology with History

Modules

    HIS5009MX
    Middle Kingdoms: Themes in Early Modern Asia 20 credits

    This module introduces the history of early modern Japan (c.16th-19th centuries). At one level, it explores key questions shaping the histories of the late Sengoku (‘Warring States’) and Tokugawa Japan. Building on these questions, it then situates the Japanese experience in a trans-regional perspective with reference to early modern China, Korea, Ryukyu, as well as Europe.

    Explore this module

    100% Coursework

    HIS5014MX
    Dunkirk to D Day: The Second World War in Europe 20 credits

    The module examines the Second World War in Europe and the Atlantic Ocean from 1940 to late 1944.

    Explore this module

    100% Coursework

    HIS6002MX
    Piracy and Privateering, c.1560-1816 20 credits

    This module explores piracy and privateering activity in the seas around the British Isles and further afield from the reign of Queen Elizabeth to the end of the second Barbary War in 1816. This course focuses on the social history of piracy and privateering, the organisation of pirate society, and the economic impact of piracy and privateering.

    Explore this module

    100% Coursework

    HIS6006MX
    America, the United Nations and International Relations 1945 to the present 20 credits

    This module provides a detailed examination of the relationship between the United States of America and the United Nations in the management of international relations from 1945 to the present.

    Explore this module

    100% Coursework

Sociology with Criminology

Modules

    CRM5009MX
    Crime, Harm and Culture 20 credits

    The module aims to provide students with a critical appreciation of harm and crime by exploring relevant issues from film, television, music, fiction literature and art. By applying a criminological lens to different forms of popular culture, students will be able to examine a variety of media forms in terms of its content and its contemporary political, social and economic context using different theories and concepts.

    100% Coursework

    CRM6016MX
    Green Criminology: Climate Justice and the Planetary Crisis

    This module will address theoretical perspectives, methodological issues, and empirical research related to the field of green criminology, including applied concerns, such as policy and social/political praxis, through a range of concepts, topics, and themes that are central to green criminology.

Sociology with International Relations

Modules

    PIR6009MX
    Mao to Now: the Politics of Modern China

    This module introduces students to politics in China. It provides them with the analytical skills and historical understanding to examine the structure of the contemporary Chinese state, looking in particular at Maoist legacies, nationalism and ideology, the relationships between party, law, state and market, and China’s involvement in international affairs.

    PIR6007MX
    Global Environmental Politics 20 credits

    This module examines the problem of environmental degradation and its implications for our global political economy. It discusses the major debates in political thought around the primary causes of environmental degradation. The module outlines the major attempts to build international regimes for global environmental governance, and the difficulties and obstacles that such attempts have encountered. A range of ideas, critiques, policy proposals, innovations in governance, and templates for political activism within the environmental movement are critically evaluated.

    100% Coursework

    PIR5009MX
    Refugee Studies 20 credits

    This module focuses on the political, economic and social context of forced migration and considers the complex and varied nature of global refugee populations. It analyses responses at international, national and regional level and engages with a range of challenging questions around international co-operation, the framework of international protection, humanitarianism and the causes of displacement.

    100% Coursework

Sociology with Politics

Modules

    PIR6009MX
    Mao to Now: the Politics of Modern China

    This module introduces students to politics in China. It provides them with the analytical skills and historical understanding to examine the structure of the contemporary Chinese state, looking in particular at Maoist legacies, nationalism and ideology, the relationships between party, law, state and market, and China’s involvement in international affairs.

    PIR5013MX
    Politics Beyond Parliaments 20 credits

    This module analyses the role of civil society and the public sphere in democratic governance and in democratization from a variety of theoretical perspectives.

    100% Coursework

Sociology with Law

Modules

    LAW5009MX
    Environmental Law 20 credits

    The module provides an examination of key themes in environmental law, with a focus on the generation, application and enforcement of this law within a critical and applied context.

    100% Coursework

    LAW5011MX
    Intellectual Property Law

    This module focuses on the law and concepts of intellectual property, examining in addition related legal themes of information access, dissemination and control.

    LAW6018MX
    Law, Literature and the Screen

    To introduce students to fictional and factional representations of the legal order in prose, film and TV, and to examine the inter-connections between law, literature and the screen.

    LAW6012MX
    Public International Law 20 credits

    A module that focuses on the primary legal principles of the public international legal order, before exploring a range of substantive areas, such as, for example, the use of force, the law regulating the conduct of war, International Human Rights, International Criminal Law and International Environmental Law.

    100% Coursework

Sociology with Policing and Security Management

Modules

    CRM6011MX
    Security Management 20 credits

    This module provides students with a critical insight into the professional domain of security management. It provides an overview of the theories, policies, procedures and practices that underpin the work of the security manager, and focuses upon a career-relevant knowledge and understanding of this significant area of expertise.

    70% Coursework

    30% Tests

    CRM5003MX
    Harm in the 21st Century 20 credits

    This module explores the global challenges of harmful behaviours and activities in contemporary society by considering specific areas of concern for criminologists. By drawing on real-world examples in everyday life, the module examines how social problems and issues have arisen due to processes of globalisation that have changed the social, political and economic landscape of the 21st century.

    100% Coursework

    CRM5009MX
    Crime, Harm and Culture 20 credits

    The module aims to provide students with a critical appreciation of harm and crime by exploring relevant issues from film, television, music, fiction literature and art. By applying a criminological lens to different forms of popular culture, students will be able to examine a variety of media forms in terms of its content and its contemporary political, social and economic context using different theories and concepts.

    100% Coursework

Entry requirements

UCAS tariff

104 - 120

Contextual offers: Typically, the contextual offer for this course is 8 points below the advertised tariff. A contextual offer is an offer to study at university that takes into account individual circumstances that are beyond your control, and that can potentially impact your learning and your exam results, or your confidence in applying to university.

Check your eligibility for a contextual offer

A levels
104-120 points including a minimum of two A levels.
IB
26-28 overall to include 4 at any Higher Level subject. English and Maths accepted within: Higher Level = 4, Standard Level = 5.
18 Unit BTEC National Diploma/QCF Extended Diploma
DMM in any subject.
BTEC National Diploma modules
If you hold a BTEC qualification it is vital that you provide our Admissions team with details of the exact modules you have studied as part of the BTEC. Without this information we may be unable to process your application quickly and you could experience significant delays in the progress of your application to study with us. Please explicitly state the full list of modules within your qualification at the time of application.
All access courses
Pass a named Access to HE Diploma in any subject with at least 33 credits at merit/distinction.
T levels
Merit in any subject.
GCSE
All applicants must have GCSE (or equivalent) mathematics and English at grade C or above.
Other
Other combinations and non-A level qualifications also considered.
Short of the entry requirements for this course? Don’t worry you may be eligible for a foundation year to prepare you for possible entry onto this course for the following year.
We welcome applicants with international qualifications. To view other accepted qualifications please refer to our tariff glossary.

Fees, costs and funding
2024-2025 2025-2026 *
Home £9,250 £9,535
International £17,100 £17,600
Part time (Home) £770 £795
Full time fees shown are per annum. Part time fees shown are per 10 credits. Please note that fees are reviewed on an annual basis. Fees and the conditions that apply to them shown in the prospectus are correct at the time of going to print. Fees shown on the web are the most up to date but are still subject to change in exceptional circumstances. More information about fees and funding.

*UK Government announcement on tuition fees

Following an announcement in November, the government has confirmed its intention to increase undergraduate tuition fees for the 2025/26 academic year.

Subject to final Parliamentary approval (expected in early March 2025), the tuition fee for UK students is increasing to a maximum of £9,535 from 1 August 2025. This change applies to current and new students at the University of Plymouth. The Student Loans Company (SLC) has confirmed loans for tuition fees will be increased accordingly.

Undergraduate scholarships for international students

To reward outstanding achievement the University of Plymouth offers scholarship schemes to help towards funding your studies.

Additional costs

This course is delivered by the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business and more details of any additional costs associated with the faculty's courses are listed on the following page: Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business additional costs .

Tuition fees for optional placement years

The fee for all undergraduate students completing any part of their placement year in the UK in 2024/2025 is £1,850.
The fee for all undergraduate students completing their whole placement year outside the UK in 2024/2025 is £1,385.
 Learn more about placement year tuition fees

How to apply
All applications for undergraduate courses are made through UCAS (Universities and Colleges Admissions Service).
UCAS will ask for the information contained in the box at the top of this course page including the UCAS course code and the institution code.
To apply for this course and for more information about submitting an application including application deadline dates, please visit the UCAS website.
If you are interested in applying for an intercalated degree with the University of Plymouth, please contact our Admissions Team in the first instance applications@plymouth.ac.uk.
Support is also available to overseas students applying to the University from our International Office via our how to apply webpage or email admissions@plymouth.ac.uk.

Be curious: study sociology at Plymouth

April Watkins graduating
Friendly and supportive lecturers

Sociology at Plymouth prides itself on its friendly, supportive and 'hands-on' learning environment, which is constantly recognised by students and represented in our NSS scores*, with 95% of students satisfied overall with their course.
BSc (Hons) Sociology students learning social theory and the history of the suffragette movement at Killerton House.
Targeted placements and work experience

A wide range of work placements, internships, and volunteering opportunities are available to you, allowing you to apply sociology outside the classroom and bring those real-world experiences back into your academic studies.
Looking down over the village of Torcross and the beach at Slapton Sands on the south coast of Devon.
World class research

In the 2021 Research Excellence Framework (REF) 86% of our social policy research was judged to be ‘world class’ or ‘internationally excellent’ and ranked 8th in the country for research impact.

"You learn about everything. You learn about equality, about people and our differences. It’s all relevant to today’s society."

Final year sociology student Chloe talks about her experiences on the course, volunteering with LandWorks charity, student life and beyond.

Module in focus: key skills and concepts for sociology

Stimulating your sociological imaginations, develop key sociological skills and create a sense of belonging.
This is the first module that you take when studying with us at Plymouth. This module uses hands-on teaching practices that will encourage you to think about key sociological themes, such as inequality, by taking you out of the classroom and conducting research in Plymouth.
Sociology students presenting their posters

Join the Plymouth Cold Case Unit

The Plymouth Cold Case Unit (PCCU) investigates unsolved missing persons cases. We uncover new evidence which can be used by the police to solve these cases while giving students experience and skills – including investigative, analytical and social – to launch them into rewarding careers.
We are a student-led, expert-guided group with international connections and access to facilities and training at both the University of Plymouth and Locate International.
Applications are open to all foundation and year 1 students in the School of Society and Culture.
Staff and students from the Cold Case Unit work on the Salcombe Man case

Meet our experts

* These are the latest results from the National Student Survey. Please note that the data published on Discover Uni (Unistats) is updated annually in September.