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Summary:
Applying through UCAS? Apply here (L751)
Course Code: L751
Applying through UCAS? Apply here (L752)
Course Code: L752
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Why choose the School of Applied Social Sciences
Our social policy courses rank in the UK top 20 in their subject field for teaching quality, student experience, graduate prospects and research quality (Times GUG, 2025).
This course maps to the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education’s HTQ Level 6 Public Health Practitioner standard.
Our social sciences courses achieved a positive student response rate over 90% in the majority of questions in the National Student Survey 2024.
About the course
With an emphasis on research-based teaching and real-world application, this course situates policy within its social, political and economic contexts while providing the thorough grounding in critical data analysis and decision-making. It is designed for students with or without a professional background in social policy and healthcare who aspire to support, practise and manage transformative health and care projects; it is particularly suited to professionals who want to approach leadership in care settings with a strong grasp of data-driven decision-making.
Facilities and specialist equipment
- Seven-storey library with an extensive collection of physical and digital resources
- Tailored lecture halls, presentation spaces and collaborative study spots
- State-of-the-art technology
Industry links
Our close collaboration with local statutory and voluntary organisations, as well as the Institute for Applied Social Research (IASR), helps shape the course delivery, ensuring our practice-led curriculum reflects the demands of modern society.
Your student experience
Benefit from our academic team’s wealth of experience and active industry involvement, with specialist knowledge in fields such as public health; contextual safeguarding; the sociology of health; and comparative welfare.
Put your theoretical knowledge into action with practical work, simulations and placement opportunities.
Get involved in subject-relevant field trips and interactive talks by external speakers.
The course’s optional units and your choice of work-based project or research dissertation allow you to explore the topics of most interest to you.
Develop transferable workplace skills, with an emphasis on data-driven decision-making, policy and management.
Work alongside local charities, policymakers and communities to raise awareness of society’s most pressing issues in our empowering #SASS Change Maker initiative.
with Professional Practice Year
This course has the option to be taken over four years which includes a year placement in industry. Undertaking a year in industry has many benefits. You gain practical experience and build your CV, as well as being a great opportunity to sample a profession and network with potential future employers.
There is no tuition fee for the placement year enabling you to gain an extra year of experience for free.
*Only available to UK/EU students.
with Foundation Year
A Degree with a Foundation Year gives you guaranteed entry to an Undergraduate course.
Whether you’re returning to learning and require additional help and support to up-skill, or if you didn’t quite meet the grades to pursue an Undergraduate course, our Degrees with Foundation Year provide a fantastic entry route for you to work towards a degree level qualification.
With our guidance and support you’ll get up to speed within one year, and will be ready to seamlessly progress on to undergraduate study at Bedfordshire.
The Foundation Year provides an opportunity to build up your academic writing skills and numeracy, and will also cover a range of subject specific content to fully prepare you for entry to an Undergraduate degree.
This is an integrated four-year degree, with the foundation year as a key part of the course. You will need to successfully complete the Foundation Year to progress on to the first year of your bachelor’s degree.
Why study a degree with a Foundation Year?
- Broad-based yet enough depth to give you credible vocational skills
- Coverage of a variety of areas typically delivered by an expert in this area
- Gain an understanding of a subject before choosing which route you wish to specialise in
- Great introduction to further study, and guaranteed progression on to one of our Undergraduate degrees
The degrees offering a Foundation Year provide excellent preparation for your future studies.
During your Foundation Year you will get the opportunity to talk to tutors about your degree study and future career aspirations, and receive guidance on the most appropriate Undergraduate course to help you achieve this; providing you meet the entry requirements and pass the Foundation Year.
Course Leader - Dr Tom Hoctor
Tom is a political sociologist whose research and teaching sit at the intersection of political economy and social theory. He has published and lectured extensively on the ideological direction of the British Conservative Party, the relationship between political theory and the economy, and work and welfare in the UK and Scandinavia. This focus on how ideas are put into practice is reflected in his teaching agenda which takes concepts like ideology, power and work and asks students to think about how they manifest themselves in the real world. He has also taught extensively on research methodologies at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. He is currently co-Principal Investigator of the research project: What Happened to the Affluent Worker? Deindustrialisation and Identity in Luton.
Course Leader - Dr Tom Hoctor
Tom is a political sociologist whose research and teaching sit at the intersection of political economy and social theory. He has published and lectured extensively on the ideological direction of the British Conservative Party, the relationship between political theory and the economy, and work and welfare in the UK and Scandinavia. This focus on how ideas are put into practice is reflected in his teaching agenda which takes concepts like ideology, power and work and asks students to think about how they manifest themselves in the real world. He has also taught extensively on research methodologies at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. He is currently co-Principal Investigator of the research project: What Happened to the Affluent Worker? Deindustrialisation and Identity in Luton.
What will you study?
Studying our Social Policy and Health and Social Care BSc course will provide you with in-depth knowledge and skills in the combined areas of social policy and healthcare. From the first year of your study, you will receive crucial support in preparing for your career in health and social sciences in our Career Planning for Social Scientists unit. This will be an opportunity for you to discover your motivations, consider possible graduate destinations, understand employer expectations and explore employment options. You will be introduced to the history, function and future of key areas of social policy and its provision in the United Kingdom within our Critical Debates in Policy and Society unit. You will draw upon this knowledge going into our unit in Modern Britain where you will recognise the fluid relationships between the social, political and economic aspects of post-World War II history in the UK including a focus on Brexit and its effects in contemporary society. Integrating social policies with the field of health and social care, Sociology of Health will discuss the interaction between society, health and illness to understand health inequalities and disparities as well as the social factors that contribute to them, including gender, age, race or unemployment.
In your second year, you will delve into more focused areas of health and society. Our unit in Living with Mental Health Conditions will provide you with a critical understanding of mental health services in the UK, what it means to live with a mental health condition and look at how this impacts individuals and their families or carers. Moving on to more complex social issues, Poverty and Inequality: Identity, Difference and Outcomes will allow you to interrogate the intricate relationships between poverty, inequality, identity and their diverse outcomes based on key sociological theories. At the same time, you will be given the opportunity to engage in Work-Based Experience in Social Policy where you will apply theory to practice in a 300-hour work-focused experience. In addition, you may choose to explore your interests in the field with our optional units including Population Health Management, that will discuss key concepts of population health, such as health inequalities, groups at risk, service delivery and wider determinants of health to build your awareness towards the promotion and improvement of health in at-risk populations. Alternatively, you can develop a theoretical understanding of addictive behaviours such as gambling, gaming, substance misuse, pornography, food and more in our Addictions and Society unit; or explore the role that Social Prescribing plays in the roots of community and individual health and wellbeing.
To equip you with the research skills in the field of social sciences, you will explore debates and theories in social research, identify quantitative and qualitative data research methods, and learn to interpret and analyse this data across different levels of your study with our units in an Introduction to Research and Social Enquiry, Research Methods 1: Collecting Data and Research Methods 2: Exploring Data. In your final year of study, you will draw on your existing understanding of the policymaking process to inform your study of Governance and Stakeholders. With a critical approach, you will interrogate the stakeholders in positions of power in governance and the increasingly networked nature of policy making to question the implications of this for social justice. Drawing on your knowledge from previous units in Critical Debates in Policy and Society and Poverty and Inequality, you will consider social policy through the lens of ‘wicked’ problems to question how policymakers define, manage and attempt to resolve some of the most complex problems in social policy within our Wicked Problems in the Internet Age unit.
In addition, you will be able to specialise in two more optional units in your third year – whether you are interested in examining the factors that inform and impact the health and wellbeing of young people in the city in Young People, The Urban Environment and Social Determinants of Health; consider Health and Social Care in an Ageing Society; discover how big data and technology can be used to address and improve health inequalities in our Digital Health unit; or learn to use strategies and campaigns in Promoting Better Health Outcomes in urban environments. Finally, you will have the choice of completing a SASS Change Maker Project Dissertation or a Research Dissertation to develop and demonstrate your academic and professional skills. In the project-based dissertation, you will have the opportunity to work with a community-based organisation to deliver a project while building skills that will support your personal development towards your desired graduate career. If you choose to undertake a research dissertation, you will work on developing a research proposal and move on to conduct an in-depth, focused research enquiry around an area of professional interest while considering the ethical implications of your work.
How will you be assessed?
Course work; practical tests; exams; group and individual project work; audio-visual course work
Careers
As a graduate of this degree, you have the skills, knowledge and professional values and practice to thrive in a range of professional roles - including exciting new roles in integrated health and social care - and make a difference locally, nationally or internationally. Possible career paths include within central and local government; the third sector; social enterprises; consultancy; and business.
Entry Requirements
Entry Requirements
Fees for this course
UK
The full-time standard undergraduate tuition fee for the Academic Year 2025/26 is £9,535 per year. You can apply for a loan from the Government to help pay for your tuition fees. You can also apply for a maintenance loan from the Government to help cover your living costs. See www.gov.uk/student-finance
Excellence Scholarships
Worth £2,500 per year of study over three years when you score a defined number of UCAS tariff points from specified qualifications*
» If you don’t qualify for an Excellence Scholarship but have 120 UCAS tariff points, you have enough points for one of our Achievement Scholarships offering £500 per year of study**
» Other scholarships, bursaries and financial support packages are available
* Points requirements vary depending on type of qualification.
** Threshold is 120 UCAS tariff points across all awarding bodies and qualifications.
International
The full-time standard undergraduate tuition fee for the academic year 2025/26 is £16,900 per year.
There are range of Scholarships available to help support you through your studies with us.
A full list of scholarships can be found here.
Fees for this course
UK
The full-time standard undergraduate tuition fee for the Academic Year 2025/26 is £9,535 per year. You can apply for a loan from the Government to help pay for your tuition fees. You can also apply for a maintenance loan from the Government to help cover your living costs. See www.gov.uk/student-finance
Excellence Scholarships
Worth £2,500 per year of study over three years when you score a defined number of UCAS tariff points from specified qualifications*
» If you don’t qualify for an Excellence Scholarship but have 120 UCAS tariff points, you have enough points for one of our Achievement Scholarships offering £500 per year of study**
» Other scholarships, bursaries and financial support packages are available
* Points requirements vary depending on type of qualification.
** Threshold is 120 UCAS tariff points across all awarding bodies and qualifications.
International
The full-time standard undergraduate tuition fee for the academic year 2025/26 is £16,900 per year.
There are range of Scholarships available to help support you through your studies with us.
A full list of scholarships can be found here.
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