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Queen’s University Belfast, School of Sociology, Social Policy and Social Work

At Queen’s you may take Bachelor of Arts degrees in Sociology, Social Policy or Women’s Studies and you may also combine these subjects, for example by taking a joint honours in Sociology and Social Policy. The degree structure is very flexible. After taking six courses in first year, you need to take twelve courses in second and third year. For a Single Honours degree, all twelve will be in one subject (eg Women’s Studies), for Major you take eight, and for a Joint Honours degree you take six courses in one subject and six from another. BBB at A Level is the normal entry requirement.

All degrees involve a combination of compulsory and optional courses. For Sociology you may take options about Childhood, Drugs, Identity, Crime, Conflict in Northern Ireland, Culture, Environment, Migration, Biography, European Union, Religion and the Family. Social Policy courses include Health, Poverty, Social Care, Penal Policy, Benefits and Taxes, Irish Social Policy, and Mental Health. All Women’s Studies courses are concerned with how gender is a central feature of social life, including work, culture, resource distribution, state policies, and personal identity.

The School is also responsible for training 130 social workers each year. About 50 of these enter training after gaining a relevant degree (that includes one or more of Sociology, Psychology, Social Policy, Social Administration, Law, Nursing, etc). Alternatively, there is direct entry to the Bachelor of Social Work training.

In all our degrees, there is a strong emphasis on developing skills that will serve you well in the employment field, including problem solving, information retrieval and analysis, proficiency in information and communication technologies, oral presentation, understanding roles and responsibilities, and team work. You will be able to think, talk and write about social issues and problems in a disciplined and coherent manner. You will therefore be able to contribute to many fields of employment in the public and private sectors.

Belfast is an exciting and challenging place to study. You will be joining a School which specializes in work on Ireland, with most members of staff engaged in research on some aspect of Irish society North, South or both.

For more information visit: 

www.qub.ac.uk/ssp