Why study this course?
In one of the most culturally diverse and socially complex cities in the world, you'll be introduced to ideas on globalisation, social inequality, identity, and ethnicity and race. As you prepare for social and public policy careers in the private, public or voluntary sectors, you'll learn skills to address multidisciplinary concerns relevant to a variety of public issues and have opportunities to take up a work placement and to study in other European countries. By the end of this Sociology degree you'll be qualified to apply sociological perspectives, concepts and research methods to the most challenging social issues facing us today.
This course received a 90% overall student satisfaction rate in the 2018 National Student Survey.
More about this course
The Sociology BSc (Hons) degree is equipped with practical and transferable skills for research in the real world. You'll develop a systematic understanding of the key aspects of sociology, including a coherent and detailed understanding of specific areas.
You'll learn the most up-to-date techniques to devise and sustain arguments and to solve problems, consider current research, or equivalent advanced scholarship, and recognise the uncertainty, ambiguity and limits of its knowledge.
Making use of scholarly reviews and primary sources, you'll critically evaluate arguments, assumptions, abstract concepts and data, and examine how to communicate information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialist and non-specialist audiences. Exercising initiative and personal responsibility, you'll develop skills for decision-making in complex and unpredictable contexts.
By examining global inequalities in the twenty-first century and our work and working lives, you'll explore what is meant by the sociological imagination and also have the option to study homelessness and housing policy, gender and sexuality or to take up a sociology and social policy work placement.
The sociology placement, available to students entering their third year, is usually undertaken over the summer period, between years one and two.
The emphasis of this course is very much on the applied and practical nature of sociology and sociological research and a variety of teaching and learning methods are used to deliver a course that is both stimulating and relevant.
While developing the social experience, interests and understanding that stems from experiencing a diversity of educational, ethnic and social backgrounds, you'll receive the training, skills and understanding of specialist areas of study that are required to pursue a social and public policy-related career in national or local government, or the voluntary sector, or to apply the social research techniques you have learned to a wide range of private sector jobs.
Assessment
You're assessed via essays, individual and group research projects, a media practice project and a final dissertation.
Fees and key information
Apply nowEntry requirements
In addition to the University's standard entry requirements, you should have:
- a minimum of grades BBC in three A levels (or a minimum of 112 UCAS points from an equivalent Level 3 qualification, eg Advanced Diploma)
- GCSE English Language at grade C/4 or above, or Higher Diploma (or equivalent)
These requirements may be varied in individual cases. Applications are welcome from mature students who have passed appropriate Access or other preparatory courses or have appropriate work experience.
If you don't have traditional qualifications or can't meet the entry requirements for this undergraduate degree, you may still be able to gain entry by completing our Sociology (including foundation year) BSc (Hons) or Social Sciences and Humanities (including foundation year) BA (Hons) degree.
Accreditation of Prior Learning
Any university-level qualifications or relevant experience you gain prior to starting university could count towards your course at London Met. Find out more about applying for Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL).
English language requirements
To study a degree at London Met, you must be able to demonstrate proficiency in the English language. If you require a Student visa you may need to provide the results of a Secure English Language Test (SELT) such as Academic IELTS. This course requires you to meet our standard requirements
If you need (or wish) to improve your English before starting your degree, the University offers a Pre-sessional Academic English course to help you build your confidence and reach the level of English you require.
Modular structure
The modules listed below are for the academic year 2022/23 and represent the course modules at this time. Modules and module details (including, but not limited to, location and time) are subject to change over time.
Year 1 modules include:
- This module currently runs:
- all year (September start) - Friday morning
To explain the development and functioning of different models of social policy in the West and to explore key themes and issues in social policy in the UK over recent decades, mapping the ascendance of the neoliberal model and the decline of the classic welfare state.
- This module currently runs:
- all year (January start) - Friday afternoon
The module aims to:
1. Examine the emergence and development of criminological and sociological theory
2. Examine the different ways in which different criminological traditions theorise crime and its social control
3. Examine how the assumptions which underpin different traditions provide for different strategies of intervention and control
4. Develop students’ learning and transferable skills in preparation for modules at levels 5 and 6. - This module currently runs:
- all year (September start) - Tuesday afternoon
- all year (January start) - Monday morning
- Analyse the social construction of a social problem
- Collate information on the location and scale of a social problem
- Reflect upon sociological interpretations of a particular social problem
- Outline policy responses to a particular social problem
- This module currently runs:
- autumn semester - Thursday afternoon
- summer studies - Thursday afternoon
The aims of this module are to allow students to:
(1) be aware of and understand classic and contemporary theories and models of personality in their historical and cultural context.
(2) understand how theory and research in this domain can help explain individual differences in behaviour in everyday life.
(3) think critically about different theories and assessment methods in personality psychology.
(4) be aware of ethical considerations in research on personality.This knowledge and understanding will help students’ employment skills by enabling them to appreciate the different perspectives that are needed to fully understand individual behaviour in everyday life. The module develops students’ critical understanding of some key principles underlying psychological research (e.g., ethical principles and the historical and cultural specificity of research in personality psychology) that will facilitate progression to modules at levels 5 and 6. The aims of this module are aligned with the qualification descriptors within the Quality Assurance Agency’s Framework for Higher Education Qualifications.
- This module currently runs:
- all year (September start) - Tuesday morning
- all year (January start) - Friday morning
This module provides the foundation for an explicit, clear focus on social research throughout Sociology and related degrees in addition to supporting students to acquire understanding of and skills in academic literacy. The methodological principles and perspectives for effective social research are explained and also illustrated through exploration of research case studies. It will additionally provide experience in using the vast array of text, visual and statistical primary documentary sources and their interpretation for research. Research as process will be examined including main research approaches, the formulation and development of research questions and social, ethical and political contexts of research practice.
- This module currently runs:
- spring semester - Thursday afternoon
This module provides students with an introduction to and understanding of key theories and models of social psychology in their historical and cultural context. It will help to develop students’ knowledge and understanding of the social psychological basis of behaviour. In particular, it will focus on different types of social influence and their impact on how individuals think, feel and behave in different contexts and domains. Classic social psychological studies will be discussed in their historical and cultural context to provide students with an understanding of how knowledge in this branch of psychology has evolved. The module also considers ethical issues with many of the classic studies in this branch of psychology and allows students to reflect on experimental procedures and their potential implications for psychological knowledge and society. In this way, the module develops students’ critical understanding of some key historical and contemporary themes and debate in this branch of psychology, which will facilitate progression to modules at level 5 and 6. This will also help students’ progression to employment or post-graduate study by enabling them to appreciate the different perspectives that are needed to fully understand individual behaviour in everyday life. The aims of this module are aligned with the qualification descriptors within the Quality Assurance Agency’s Framework for Higher Education Qualifications
- This module currently runs:
- all year (September start) - Friday afternoon
This module will provide students with an introduction to the discipline of Sociology and some of the basic skills of identifying, applying and evaluating sociological approaches, concepts and debates to everyday situations (LO1; LO2). It will also provide an introduction to constructing sociological arguments, thinking critically and assessing sociological evidence (LO3; LO4).
Year 2 modules include:
- This module currently runs:
- all year (September start) - Monday afternoon
We live in an increasingly unequal world. This module examines the growth in inequalities globally. It also examines some of the key economic and political causes of growing world inequality. In particular, the module critically examines neo-liberal globalisation.
- This module currently runs:
- all year (September start) - Thursday afternoon
The principal focus of this module is for students to build on prior understanding and learning, exploring philosophical accounts of scientific explanation and the theory and practice of sociological research through the use of work-related interactive methods. The module provides work experience for students by developing research for a real world organisation (employer). Students will learn about doing research methods by conducting research for an employer. The employer will contribute to setting out small-scale research aims and objectives; being available to assess student proposals and bids or assess the analysis/ final presentation. The first part of this module examines the theory and philosophical accounts of research methodology, as well as introducing students to the practical skills of doing interviews, transcribing them, and analysing qualitative data (LO2; LO3). The second part of the module concentrates on quantitative methods, and requires students to design research for the requirements of an employer involved in both the aims and outcomes (assessment) of the research. The module provides work-related understanding and application of research methods by involving employer requirements and needs (LO1; LO4).
- This module currently runs:
- autumn semester - Friday morning
This module introduces students to some of the key sociological approaches used to explore and explain the sociological notion of ‘self’. This will involve an examination of a range of major 20th century sociological thinkers on the nature of the social construction of self - eg. Mead, Goffman - and it’s constrains - e.g. Parsons, Merton and Dahrendorf. The intention is to use some of the major sociological theorists and apply their insights into current concerns with the ‘project’ of self and identity. That is, to examine how much choice we have in becoming who we are.
- This module currently runs:
- spring semester - Friday morning
To introduce students to sociological understanding and methodology of observing and explaining the everyday life: its routines, rhythms and those aspects of social life that we consider familiar and known.
- This module currently runs:
- autumn semester - Friday afternoon
This module looks at the media impact on public perceptions of crime and justice.
It also looks at the way contemporary media and technologies influence criminal behaviour and influence the operations of the criminal justice system.1. Consider the various relationships between media, technology and crime
2. Develop an understanding of the role of the media in shaping perceptions of crime
and criminal justice, with a particular emphasis on marginalised and minoritized
groups3. Develop an awareness and familiarity with the emerging forms of deviant behaviour facilitated by contemporary technologies and/or the media
4. Provide an overview of the way technologies interact with crime and the criminal
justice system5. Provide students with an opportunity to develop their academic and digital literacies
to enhance their learning experience6. Develop summarising and analytical skills
- This module currently runs:
- all year (September start) - Friday afternoon
This module explores theories and conceptions of racism and ethnicity, and the practices of racism in contemporary societies. The historical roots of racism will be examined and its contemporary forms studied comparatively. Racism is specifically explored within the context of social and political conflicts.
Module aims
• To analyse critically key concepts including racism and ethnicity themselves in order to develop an awareness of their contested nature.
• To look at these issues as worldwide problems and in a sociological context that explores the meanings ascribed to these terms, their historical origins and key examples of societies where these issues have been or still are important in shaping the social orders in which people live.
• To consider the impact of racism on specific communities and groups, including national, religious and ethnic groups.
• To examine the links between class, gender and ethnic differences. - This module currently runs:
- autumn semester - Thursday morning
A1. To provide students with a historical, theoretical and comparative understanding of the diverse forms of youth culture and youth social organisation;
A2. To consider the key developments in political mobilisation of young people;
A3. To investigate the concepts and nature of social control in relation to youth;
A4. To develop confidence in use of appropriate learning, analytical and discursive skills when dealing with current youth issues.
- This module currently runs:
- spring semester - Friday afternoon
The module aims to:
1. Familiarise students with the theoretical perspectives that have shaped criminological thought on violence by young people
2. Encourage students to develop a critical overview of young people’s engagement in violent crime
3. Develop students’ ability to research, analyse and communicate critical and informed arguments relating to the theory, policy and practice underpinning youth involvement in violent crime.
Year 3 modules include:
- This module currently runs:
- all year (September start) - Friday morning
This module will provide students with an opportunity to engage with contemporary thinkers and debates in social theory. They will be required to critically examine the ideas of contemporary social theorists and explore the application of their ideas to an ever-changing world (LO1; LO2). The module will explore what it means to be human and examine how different perspectives on this impact upon a range of issues, from state policies to the development of artificial intelligence. Overall, the aim of the module is to develop the students’ capacity to utilise theoretical ideas taken from philosophy and sociological theory by applying them to the social world (LO3; LO4).
- This module currently runs:
- all year (September start) - Tuesday afternoon
A1. The students will use theoretical and empirical knowledge, research and analytical skills gained in their programme of study to investigate their chosen topic and formulate a dissertation.
A2. The students will produce an original investigation/examination of a relevant sociological topic.
A3. The students will learn how to apply their knowledge of research methods, design and analysis to a specific research project. - This module currently runs:
- spring semester - Tuesday morning
A1. To provide students with an understanding of the diversity of welfare in different countries.
A2. To examine a range of transnational and global social policies and their influences on national social policies.
A3. To study the broader political, social and economic context in which social policy is constructed and implemented.
- This module currently runs:
- all year (September start) - Thursday afternoon
The module introduces students to the key concepts and theories relating to the social construction of gender and sexuality and their application to a range of social sectors and issues in the UK and abroad. The ways in which gender and sexuality are both constitutive of the social and are constituted through social structures, institutions and interactions are explored, as are the ways in which theories of gender and sexuality have informed the sociological study of the family, work, health, education, crime, the welfare state and politics, media and the body.
Module aims
• To introduce and critically analyse key concepts in the sociological study of gender and sexuality;
• To introduce a range of theoretical approaches to understanding the operation of gender and sexuality at the levels of social structures, social relations and social identities;
• To consider the impact of gender and sexuality across a range of social sectors and social issues;
• To consider the links and intersections between gender, sexuality and other forms of social identity and difference, including class, race, ethnicity, etc.
• To consider the social and political sources of the persistence of discrimination and inequalities on the basis of gender and sexual orientation. - This module currently runs:
- autumn semester - Thursday morning
- summer studies - Monday morning
The module examines the history of housing policy in the UK, focussing in particular on the shift to neo-liberal housing policies from the 1980s. Key contemporary housing issues and the key causes of the current ‘housing crisis’ in London and the UK are examined
- This module currently runs:
- spring semester - Thursday morning
• To develop an understanding of the international human rights framework and consider debates and theories challenging this framework (including a critical assessment of the concept and implementation of the universality of human rights).
• To evaluate various international conventions on the protection of human rights, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
• To examine violations of human rights in the light of various social and political contexts across the world and gain an understanding of how human rights applies in specific contexts; how such violations impact societies, communities and individuals; and how individuals and organisations work for justice in such harrowing circumstances. This module builds on earlier studies of social problems, social inclusion and exclusion, and education policy. We will reflect further on the meaning of social inclusion and exclusion in society, and the specific meaning of the terms in education in relation to the world of education and students with special educational needs. The study of the role of education and schooling in relation to achieving inclusion in both arenas is the focus of this module.
- This module currently runs:
- autumn semester - Monday morning
This module will provide students with an opportunity to engage with contemporary debates on the relationship between social science and religion. Students will be required to critically examine the ideas of the classic and contemporary social scientists on religion and explore the application of their ideas to an ever-changing world. Overall, the aim of the module is to develop the students’ capacity to utilise social scientific concepts and perspectives in their analyses of religion in contemporary society. The disciplinary focus of the module will, initially, be the sociology of religion. The application of a range of social scientific approach will also be introduced - historical, political, economic and social psychological approaches.
- This module currently runs:
- autumn semester - Tuesday afternoon
- spring semester - Tuesday afternoon
The module aims to give students the opportunity to:
1. Apply their prior learning in an appropriate work environment
2. Relate specific knowledge and skills – theoretical, methodological, analytical – as appropriate to real-life situations in the work environment
3. Undertake work based activities relevant to their academic subject area and level
4. Show awareness of and delineate the culture, structure and changing services delivery of a working environment
5. Enhance their professional and personal development by developing new capabilities and skills
What our students say
"The positive benefit of undertaking this course is that it developed qualities that I can use in the workplace. It also provided me with the tools to be able to research issue. More importantly, the knowledge that I gained has made me a more effective communicator."
National Student Survey (NSS)
Where this course can take you
Our criminology and sociology graduates have gone on to careers including police officers, counter fraud criminal investigators, support workers, probation officers and teachers, securing jobs at the Metropolitan Police Service, HM Government, Rethink Mental Illness and the National Probation Service.
Continuing your studies with us
The School of Social Sciences has a wide range of exciting industry-linked postgraduate courses available on a full-time and part-time basis in criminology, security, diplomacy, international relations, sociology and psychology. The following courses would be ideal for progression to postgraduate study:
- Human Rights and International Conflict - MA
- Organised Crime and Global Security - MA
- Woman and Child Abuse - MA
- Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability - MSc
- Youth and Community Work (with JNC Recognition) - MSc
If you've already studied your undergraduate degree with us, as a graduate of London Met, you'll be entitled to a 20% discount on any further study with us.
Important information about this course
We're committed to continuously improving our degree courses to ensure our students receive the best possible learning experience. Many of the courses in our School of Social Sciences and Professions are currently under review for 2023-24 entry. We encourage you to apply as outlined in the how to apply section of this page and if there are any changes to your course we will contact you. All universities review their courses regularly and this year we are strengthening our social sciences and professions courses to better reflect the needs of employers and ensure you're well-equipped for your future career.
Additional costs
Please note, in addition to the tuition fee there may be additional costs for things like equipment, materials, printing, textbooks, trips or professional body fees.
Additionally, there may be other activities that are not formally part of your course and not required to complete your course, but which you may find helpful (for example, optional field trips). The costs of these are additional to your tuition fee and the fees set out above and will be notified when the activity is being arranged.
Discover Uni – key statistics about this course
Discover Uni is an official source of information about university and college courses across the UK. The widget below draws data from the corresponding course on the Discover Uni website, which is compiled from national surveys and data collected from universities and colleges. If a course is taught both full-time and part-time, information for each mode of study will be displayed here.
How to apply
If you're a UK applicant wanting to study full-time starting in September, you must apply via UCAS unless otherwise specified. If you're an international applicant wanting to study full-time, you can choose to apply via UCAS or directly to the University.
If you're applying for part-time study, you should apply directly to the University. If you require a Student visa, please be aware that you will not be able to study as a part-time student at undergraduate level.
If you're applying for a degree starting in January/February, you can apply directly to the University.
When to apply
The University and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) accepts applications for full-time courses starting in September from one year before the start of the course. Our UCAS institution code is L68.
If you will be applying direct to the University you are advised to apply as early as possible as we will only be able to consider your application if there are places available on the course.
To find out when teaching for this degree will begin, as well as welcome week and any induction activities, view our academic term dates.
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