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Politics and Social Change BA(Hons)

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Intro

From climate change to extreme poverty, society faces a series of urgent challenges. This Politics and Social Change degree course provides you with an understanding of the political world that created these crises, along with the creative and digital skills required to contribute towards solutions.

In the Global Challenges Lab, we support you to conduct independent research projects that investigate solutions to current global issues. You will learn how to communicate your ideas, making films, podcasts and data visualisations, designing political and social media campaigns, and writing policy papers and political speeches.

You will have opportunities to study global, national and local politics, environmental politics, the politics of sex and gender, political theory and the politics of protest and social movements. A choice of options allows you to shape your course to reflect your interests.

This course has your future employability at its heart. You’ll gain experience working with employers on live briefs, placements, and political campaigns. We support you to develop a portfolio of work to showcase your skills to future employers.

You will graduate as an experienced digital communicator and researcher who understands how to practically apply their skills to transform the world.

We offer four other undergraduate courses within our politics subject area:

  • Politics BA(Hons)
  • Politics and International Relations BA(Hons)
  • Politics, Sexuality and Gender BA(Hons)
  • Environmental Politics BA(Hons)

Open days

Book your place:
Moulsecoomb campus open day

Open days are the best way to find out about your course, the campus where you'll be based, and get a feel for the University of Brighton.

Book your place

Key facts

Location Brighton: Moulsecoomb

UCAS code L201

Full-time 3 years

Clearing: apply now for 2023

Our politics degrees are for you if you want to be able to use your knowledge to tackle the serious challenges we face today. Brighton, with its reputation for political radicalism, is an ideal place to study this subject.

Professor Mark Devenney, Professor of Critical Theory and Co-Director, Centre for Applied Philosophy, Politics and Ethics

Entry criteria

Entry requirements

A-levels or BTEC
Entry requirements are in the range of A-level BBB–BCC (120–104 UCAS Tariff points), or BTEC Extended Diploma DMM–MMM. Our conditional offers typically fall within this range.

International Baccalaureate
26 points, with three subjects at Higher level.

Access to HE Diploma
Pass with 60 credits overall. Humanities, history or politics courses preferred. At least 45 credits at level 3.

English language requirements
IELTS 6.0 overall with a minimum of 5.5 in each element. Find out more about the other English qualifications that we accept.

International requirements and visas

International requirements by country
Country name
Albania
Algeria
Argentina
Australia
Austria
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Belarus
Belgium
Bermuda
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Botswana
Brazil
Bulgaria
Burma (Myanmar)
Cameroon
Canada
Chile
China
Colombia
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Ecuador
Egypt
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Ghana
Greece
Guyana
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
India
Indonesia
Iran
Iraq
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
Japan
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kosovo
Kuwait
Latvia
Lebanon
Liechtenstein
Libya
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macedonia
Malaysia
Malawi
Malta
Mexico
Moldova
Montenegro
Morocco
Namibia
Nepal
Netherlands
New Zealand
Nigeria
Norway
Oman
Pakistan
Palestinian National Authority
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Qatar
Romania
Russian Federation
Saudi Arabia
Serbia
Sierra Leone
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
South Africa
South Korea
Spain
Sri Lanka
Syria
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Tanzania
Thailand
Tunisia
Turkey
Uganda
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
United States
Uzbekistan
Venezuela
Vietnam
Yemen
Zambia
Zimbabwe

We can help you meet our English language or academic entry requirements.

Visit our language centre

For English language preparation courses.

Visit our International College

For degree preparation courses.

Visas and immigration advice

Applying for a student visa

Check out our step-by-step guidance.

Flexible admissions

When you apply to Brighton we want to hear about who you are. Grades are never the whole picture; we're interested in things like creativity, resourcefulness, persistence and the capacity to think big and find new ways of doing things. And we recognise that not everyone has the same background. That's why we treat everyone who applies as an individual. We recognise many qualifications and we care about all of your achievements and the experiences you've had that set you apart.

Find out more

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Course content

Year 1 

In your first year we welcome you into the Global Challenges Lab where you learn how to design your own research projects and make films, podcasts and data visualisations. You will also take a range of modules that introduce you to key contemporary politics issues and debates.

Modules

  • Foundations in World Politics

    This module will introduce you to a critical historical perspective on the modern international political system. You will examine how the peoples and governments of the world came to be linked through an imperial system by exploring major world events and processes of global history. By taking a long view of modern politics, the module is an opportunity for you to place world politics in its historical context. The key topics you will explore include the origins of the international political system, slavery, imperial and colonial expansion, anti-colonial resistance and liberation, global governance, controversy and historiography.

  • Global Challenges Lab: The Global and the Local

    On this module you'll learn from local politicians, community organisations and activist groups about how key global challenges are manifested in Brighton & Hove. Online learning platforms are used to find out about these problems on a global level. You'll conduct a group research project on one of these issues alongside learning skills in data analysis and visualisation, and developing podcasting and filmmaking skills.  

  • Introduction to Environmental Politics: Climate Catastrophe, Animal Extinction

    This module introduces key issues, concepts and theories relating to environmental politics. You will learn about key theoretical debates, including environmental justice, ecological modernisation, fossil capitalism and environmental ethics, as well as contemporary environmental issues such as extinction, climate crisis, resource politics and climate migration.

  • Introduction to the  Global Challenges Lab

    Supported by a tutor, you'll design and conduct a research project that addresses one of the global challenges identified by the UN’s sustainable development goals. You'll learn how to create blogs, podcasts and short films to communicate your research and ideas to a non-academic audience.

  • Politics in Practice

    This module introduces ideas about how politics is practiced by state and non-state actors at local, national, and international levels. You'll take part in field trips, Q+As with political actors and engagement with political communications. You'll also be introduced to methods of data collection, as well as forms of qualitative and quantitative analysis.

  • Sex and Politics: Defining Contemporary Issues

    This module develops your understanding of sexuality and gender as central aspects of the struggle for social justice. Drawing on a range of approaches, you'll explore how inequalities related to sexuality and gender are inscribed and mobilised in national and global contexts related to citizenship, including law and policy. In addition to identifying problems, you will examine perspectives that theorise how gender and sexual inequality might be further challenged and reduced.

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Year 2

In the second year of your Politics and Social Change degree you will continue your research in the Global Challenges Lab and learn how to write political speeches, policy papers and press briefings, and design social media campaigns. You'll begin to specialise in the subjects that interest you most through choosing option modules.

Modules

  • UK Politics
  • We, the People
  • Global Challenges Lab: Research Communication
  • Global Challenges Lab: Policy Solutions

 Options*

Choose one from:

  • Creative Writing: Process and Craft
  • Gender, Race and Environment
  • Authority, Democracy and Justice
  • Community Engagement
  • Unruly Bodies: Understanding and Contesting Normativity

Choose one from:

  • Gender and Sexuality
  • Researching Politics
  • Global Resistance: Social Movements and Mobilisation
  • International Institutions
  • Debating Community International Relations

*Option modules are indicative and may change, depending on timetabling and staff availability.

Final year

In your final year you will further develop your knowledge and skills working to develop a political campaign with an external third sector organisation, aimed at developing your thinking about how civil society groups can make interventions in the political sphere.

You also work on a major independent research project, supported by your academic supervisor. The project is an opportunity for you to develop an idea independently using your creative and digital skills. Option modules provide more opportunities to focus on subjects that interest and intrigue you.

Modules

  • Social Change Project
  • Activism and Social Change
  • Participation, Performance and Politics OR Public Journalism

Options*

Choose one from:

  • Community Placement: Theory into Practice
  • Global Environmental Politics
  • Global Social Policy
  • Radical Political Economy and Anarchist Politics
  • Race and International Relations

Choose two from:

  • Politics in the Middle East
  • Utopian Theory and Practice
  • Psychology of Poverty
  • Care, Ethics and Social Policy
  • Politics of the Right

*Option modules are indicative and may change, depending on timetabling and staff availability.

Meet the team

Dr Rebecca Searle, course leader

Rebecca Searle’s work focuses on the ways in which scholarly research can be used to make critical interventions in the politics of the present. She established and co-ordinates the Housing Forum, an initiative to bring together academics, community organisations and policy makers to develop local solutions to the housing crisis. She leads the crowd sourced research project Who Owns Brighton?, that works with the community to uncover patterns of ownership and investment in a set of recent developments in the city. Her research interests include the housing crisis; the global history of contemporary capitalism; gender and sexuality; the politics of twentieth century Britain; and war and conflict in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. She is a member of the Centre for Research in Memory, Narrative and Histories. Read Rebecca's full profile.

Other staff who teach on the course include: Dr Clare Woodford, Dr Heba Youssef, Dr Chris Wyatt, Prof Mark Devenney, Dr Robin Dunford, Dr German Primera Villamiza, Dr Chrystie Myketiak and Dr Zoe Sutherland.

Becca Searle

More about this subject at Brighton

Welcome to the School of Humanities and Social Science!

Professor Stephen Maddison welcomes you to your new academic home.

Starting at uni with us in 2023?

Read our getting ready for university pages which are full of information you will find useful before you arrive.

Join actor, singer and playwright Tayo Aluko for an event at the University of Brighton on 3rd November, 6-8pm

Nigerian-born Aluko is based in Liverpool, UK, where he worked previously as an architect, and he’ll be joining us to present Tayo Aluko – Art as Weapon: Some Pan Africanist Examples, survey of artists from the African Diaspora who use their arts in the fight against oppression.

Dr Sophie Lewis workshop and lecture on new book Abolish the Family (Fri 7 Oct)

Dr Lewis of the Brooklyn Institute for Social Research teaches courses on feminist, trans and queer politics and philosophy – join us at the University of Brighton for an afternoon workshop with her (2-5pm), followed by a lecture at 6pm.

Read more from our blog

Careers

Prepare for your career

In your career you’ll need a combination of knowledge, skills, personal qualities and relevant experiences – which you’ll get from studying one of our politics courses. 

As a Politics and Social Change degree student, you have the opportunity to develop wide-ranging subject knowledge throughout your studies and expertise in an area of your choice through your final year project. 

You will be able to see beyond the obvious, to analyse and dig beneath the surface to the root of any problem.

You will be challenged and encouraged to become a skilled communicator across a range of media, including films, podcasts, policy papers, data visualisations, social media, political speeches and campaigns. 

You will gain experience of working with employers through placements and live briefs. You will leave with transferable skills including the ability to: 


  • communicate your ideas through films, podcasts, policy papers, data visualisations and political speeches.
  • work independently and in teams to design and conduct research projects, political campaigns and respond to briefs set by employers.
  • be an engaged global citizen who understands the key challenges the world faces and a range of possible solutions.

Throughout your course you will receive careers development advice to help you identify future careers and understand how to realise your ambitions. We support you to create an online portfolio to showcase the skills you have acquired to employers.

Graduate destinations

The range of skills you’ll develop – knowledge, practice and project-based – will prepare you for work in fields such as:

  • local, national and international politics
  • policy-making
  • quangos
  • national and international non-governmental organisations
  • public relations
  • charities
  • think tanks
  • law
  • academia and teaching
  • media and journalism
  • business management.

Studying politics also opens up a range of postgraduate study options. At Brighton, for example, you could progress on to:

  • Globalisation: Politics, Conflict and Human Rights MA
  • Journalism MA

You could also choose to complete your PhD at Brighton alongside our researchers.

Supporting your employability

Outside of your course, our Careers Service is here to support you as you discover (and re-discover) your strengths and what matters to you. We are here for you throughout your university journey as you work towards a fulfilling and rewarding career.

Connect with our careers team

  • Find part-time work that you can combine with your studies.
  • Find, or be, a mentor or get involved with our peer-to-peer support scheme.
  • Develop your business ideas through our entrepreneurial support network.
  • Get professional advice and support with career planning, CV writing and interview top tips.
  • Meet potential employers at our careers fairs.
  • Find rewarding volunteering opportunities to help you discover more about what makes you tick, and build your CV.

Whatever your career needs, we are here to help. And that's not just while you are a student, our support carries on after you've graduated.

Find out more...

Be More course tab

Fees and costs

Course fees

UK (full-time) 9,250 GBP

International (full-time) 15,300 GBP

The fees listed here are for the first year of full-time study if you start your course in the academic year 2023–24.

You will pay fees for each year of your course. Some fees may increase each year.

UK undergraduate and some postgraduate fees are regulated by the UK government and increases will not be more than the maximum amount allowed. Course fees that are not regulated may increase each year by up to 5% or RPI (whichever is higher).

If you are studying part-time your fee will usually be calculated based on the number of modules that you take.

Find out more

  • Fees, bursaries, scholarships and government funding info for UK and international undergraduate and postgraduate students
  • Student finance and budgeting while studying
  • About the university’s fees by checking our student contract and tuition fee policy (pdf).

What's included

You may have to pay additional costs during your studies. The cost of optional activities is not included in your tuition fee and you will need to meet this cost in addition to your fees. A summary of the costs that you may be expected to pay, and what is included in your fees, while studying a course in the School of Humanities and Social Science in the 2022–23 academic year are listed here.

  • For some assessments you may be required to print large format posters for presentations at a cost of £5–£10 per poster.
  • Most coursework submissions are electronic but you may wish to print notes and should budget up to £100 for printing.
  • Course books are available from the university but you may wish to budget up to £200 to buy your own copies.
  • Some courses include an optional placement module for which students will need to cover the costs of travel to and from the placement and DBS checks as required.
  • For the Humanistic Psychotherapeutic Counselling PGDip and Psychotherapeutic Psychodynamic Counselling PGDip, the following course-related costs are not included in the tuition fee:
    • Supervision fees: £1,170 for each full year. Estimated based on £45 per hour with fortnightly meetings. In some agencies, supervision will be provided at no cost. Where students have to pay, the cost will only begin when supervision begins.
    • Personal counselling/therapy: £2,000–£2,800 over the course. Estimated based on £40 per hour.
  • For a number of courses you will have the opportunity to attend field trips and off-site visits. These are optional and are not required to pass your course but under normal circumstances we would expect a budget of approximately £150 per year will cover the costs of particular trips. The amount spent would be based on location and number of trips taken.
  • You will have access to computers and necessary software, however many students choose to buy their own hardware, software and accessories. The amount spent will depend on your individual choices but this expenditure is not essential to pass any of our courses.

You can chat with our enquiries team if you have a question or need more information. Or check our finance pages for advice about funding and scholarships as well as more information about fees and advice on international and island fee-paying status.

Location and student life

Campus where this course is taught

Moulsecoomb campus

Two miles north of Brighton seafront, Moulsecoomb is our largest campus and student village. Moulsecoomb has been transformed by a recent development of our estate. On campus you'll find new Students' Union, events venue, and sports and fitness facilities, alongside the library and student centre.

Over 900 students live here in our halls, Moulsecoomb Place and the new Mithras halls – Brunswick, Goldstone, Hanover, Preston and Regency.

Moulsecoomb has easy access to buses and trains and to all the exciting things happening in our home city.

Two people walking past Mithras halls

Accommodation

We guarantee an offer of a place in halls of residence to all eligible students. So if you applied for halls by the deadline you are guaranteed a room in our halls of residence.

Brighton: Moulsecoomb

Halls of residence
We have self-catered halls on all our campuses, within minutes of your classes, and other options that are very nearby.

You can apply for any of our halls, but the options closest to your study location are:

  • Mithras Halls are stylish new high-rises in the heart of the student village at our revitalised Moulsecoomb campus with ensuite rooms for more than 800 students.
  • Varley Park is a popular dedicated halls site, offering a mix of rooms and bathroom options at different prices. It is around two miles from Moulsecoomb campus and four miles from the city centre, and is easy to get to by bus.

Want to live independently?
We can help – find out more about private renting.

Relaxing in halls

Modern accommodation at Moulsecoomb

Mithras halls room with a view

Relaxing in halls near the campus

Student Union social space

Student Union social space at Moulsecoomb

Local area

About Brighton

The city of Brighton & Hove is a forward-thinking place which leads the way in the arts, technology, sustainability and creativity. You'll find living here plays a key role in your learning experience.

Brighton is a leading centre for creative media technology, recently named the startup capital of the UK.

The city is home to a national 5G testbed and over 1,000 tech businesses. The digital sector is worth over £1bn a year to the local economy - as much as tourism.

All of our full-time undergraduate courses involve work-based learning - this could be through placements, live briefs and guest lectures. Many of these opportunities are provided by local businesses and organisations.

It's only 50 minutes by train from Brighton to central London and less than 40 minutes to Eastbourne. There are also daily direct trains to Bristol, Bedford, Cambridge, Gatwick Airport, Portsmouth and Southampton.

Map showing distance to London from Brighton
Brighton Beach sunset

Maps

Moulsecoomb campus map

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Support and wellbeing

Your course team

Your personal academic tutor, course leader and other tutors are all there to help you with your personal and academic progress. You'll also have a student support and guidance tutor (SSGT) who can help with everything from homesickness, managing stress or accommodation issues.

Your academic skills

Our Brighton Student Skills Hub gives you extra support and resources to develop the skills you'll need for university study, whatever your level of experience so far.

Your mental health and wellbeing

As well as being supported to succeed, we want you to feel good too. You'll be part of a community that builds you up, with lots of ways to connect with one another, as well having access to dedicated experts if you need them. Find out more.

Sport at Brighton

Sport Brighton

Sport Brighton brings together our sport and recreation services. As a Brighton student you'll have use of sport and fitness facilities across all our campuses and there are opportunities to play for fun, fitness or take part in serious competition. 

Find out more about Sport Brighton.

Sports scholarships

Our sports scholarship scheme is designed to help students develop their full sporting potential to train and compete at the highest level. We offer scholarships for elite athletes, elite disabled athletes and talented sports performers.

Find out more about sport scholarships.

Students playing frisbee

Stay in touch

Open days

Book your place:
Moulsecoomb campus open day

Open days are the best way to find out about your course, the campus where you'll be based, and get a feel for the University of Brighton.

Book your place

Ask a question about this course

If you have a question about this course, our enquiries team will be happy to help.

01273 644644

Find out about Brighton student life at our social sciences blog.

Statistics

Find out more about how the academic year and degree courses are organised, and about learning and assessment activities you might get to grips with at Brighton. More specific information about this course is detailed in the programme specification (linked below). You can find out also about the support we offer to help you adjust to university life.

Course and module descriptions on this page were accurate when first published and are the basis of the course. Detailed information on any changes we make to modules and learning and assessment activities will be sent to all students by email before enrolment, so that you have all the information before you come to Brighton.

Discover Uni

Discover Uni enables you to compare information when choosing a UK university course. All UK universities publish Discover Uni data on their website.

Programme specification

The programme specification is the approved description of each course. They give a detailed breakdown of the content and structure of the course, and are updated following course changes.

Programme specification

Related courses 21 courses

  • Politics BA(Hons)

  • Politics and International Relations BA(Hons)

  • Politics, Sexuality and Gender BA(Hons)

  • Environmental Politics BA(Hons)

  • Business Management BSc(Hons) with integrated foundation year

  • Law LLB(Hons) with integrated foundation year

  • Business Management with Law BSc(Hons)

  • Sport Studies BA(Hons) - 2023 entry

  • Psychology and Criminology BA(Hons)

  • Psychology BSc(Hons)

  • Psychology with Counselling Studies BSc(Hons)

  • Social Science BA(Hons)

  • Globalisation: History, Politics, Culture BA(Hons)

  • War and Conflict BA(Hons)

  • Philosophy, Politics, Ethics BA(Hons)

  • Criminology BA(Hons)

  • Criminology and Sociology BA(Hons)

  • Sociology BA(Hons)

  • Law with Business LLB(Hons)

  • Law with Criminology LLB(Hons)

  • Law LLB(Hons)

‹ ›

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