Lifelong Learning Centre

The School of Sociology and Social Policy at Leeds is one of the largest in the UK, meaning we are able to offer a wide range of courses as well as specialist expertise in most subject areas.  There are part-time routes available for four programmes.

BA Social Policy

At a general level, social policy seeks to explore and understand how welfare is delivered to citizens.  It involves the study of the welfare state and issues such as inequality e.g. class, gender, ‘race’ and disability, citizenship, family life and the links between work, care and welfare.  More particularly, social policy also entails studying in detail the specific social policies of governments (and other welfare agencies) and assessing the impact that they have on people’s day to day lives.  This programme combines a strong grounding in core social policy issues with elements of choice.

For more information on the modules that you will study as part of this course please see the entry in the programme catalogue.

BA Sociology

Sociology explores the changing nature of human action and the organisation and structure of society.  It enables us to interrogate common sense assumptions about the social world, to challenge ideas about what is ‘natural’ and to better understand social relations, values and action.  Students will engage with the complexity of society, learning about the social, cultural, economic and political processes that shape human experience and through which humans shape the social world.

For more information on the modules that you will study as part of this course please see the entry in the programme catalogue.

BA Social Policy and Sociology

This programme provides an interdisciplinary study of sociology and social policy which offers students many advantages.  The two closely related subjects illuminate and extend each other in interesting ways.  Sociology is the study of society in order to formulate and test our understanding of how society works, while social policy seeks to explore and understand how welfare is delivered to citizens and entails studying in detail the specific social policies of governments (and other welfare agencies) and assessing the impact that they have on people’s day to day lives.

For more information on the modules that you will study as part of this course please see the entry in the programme catalogue.

BA Social Policy and Crime

This programme offers the opportunity to study the core issues in social policy alongside crime as one of the key public policy areas.  It allows students to understand the diverse values and moral choices that underpin policy decisions and to critically evaluate different theoretical, technical, normative and political approaches to the social issue of crime.

For more information on the modules that you will study as part of this course please see the entry in the programme catalogue (although please note that this is the entry for the full-time programme).

How will I be taught?
You will learn through a mixture of lectures, tutorials and seminars.

How will I be assessed?
Module assessment takes the form of examinations and assignments.  Some modules include poster presentations and assessed work for seminars.

Career development
Our graduates are employed in very diverse occupations in the private sector, local and central government, voluntary organisations, teaching and youth and community work.