BA Politics and Social Policy (International)

Year 4

(Award available for year: Bachelor of Arts)

Learning outcomes

On completion of the programme students should have shown evidence of being able:
1. to demonstrate knowledge of:
- UK welfare institutions: origins and development; the social and demographic contexts in which they have operated; their contemporary activities and organisation, including the provision, financing and regulation of social security, education, health and social care, and housing;
- the UK policy process: framework; operation; finance;
- non-governmental sources of welfare (informal, voluntary and private sectors): impact; operation; interaction within mixed economies of welfare;
- main features of the interrelationship between social policies and differently placed communities, families and individuals;
- international and global contexts of social policy including the role and organisation of the European Union (QAA, Benchmark; 3.2).

2. to demonstrate an understanding of:
- interdisciplinary approaches to social policy topics and issues;
- the key concepts and theories of welfare, including human needs and social welfare; inequality, poverty and exclusion; citizenship, social difference and diversity; theories of the state and policy making; theories and methods of comparative analysis;
- how different social groups and individuals experience, respond to and contest social policies (QAA, Benchmark; 3.3).

Transferable (key) skills

Joint Honours BA Politics:
-Conduct independent research work within the discipline; ability to critically evaluate in-depth debates; ability to utilise a range of information sources towards producing appraisal and evaluation; ability to work in independent yet guided way
Joint Honours BA Social Policy:
Students will have had the opportunity to acquire, as defined in the modules specified for the programme: - the transferable/key/generic skills necessary for employment related to the area(s) studied; - the exercise of initiative and personal responsibility; - the deployment of decision making skills in complex and unpredictable situations; - the communication of information, ideas, problems and solutions in a variety of ways to a variety of audiences; - the ability to undertake appropriate further training of a professional or equivalent nature.

Assessment

Joint Honours BA Politics:
Achievement will be assessed by a variety of methods in accordance with the learning outcomes of the modules specified for the year/programme and will include:
- dissertation; essay/exam
These will demonstrate the ability to:
- use the scholarly literature
- analyse and evaluate arguments
- show self-discipline and self-direction
- conduct independent work.
Joint Honours BA Social Policy:
Achievement will be assessed by a variety of methods in accordance with the learning outcomes of the modules specified for the year/programme and will include: - demonstrating the ability to apply a broad range of aspects of the discipline; - work that draws on a wide variety of material; - the ability to evaluate and criticise received opinion; - evidence of an ability to conduct independent, in depth enquiry within the discipline; - work that is typically both evaluative and creative.