4-Term Pathway - Foundation Certificate in Social Sciences - Continue to Bachelor of Arts (Honours) - Sociology with Social Psychology (Placement Year)

For students who've finished high school but don’t meet the entry requirements for university, a Foundation Certificate can help them gain entry to an undergraduate degree. After completing this pathway option students qualify for progression to the 1st year of an undergraduate degree at the University of Essex.

A student’s course length is determined mainly by their English language level (UKVI IELTS score). Students on all course lengths take a set of common or similar modules to gain a solid base of skills for university. Students taking a course longer than 2 terms, will take additional modules designed to improve one or more of their English language level, academic skills, and basic knowledge of particular subjects.

Bachelor of Arts (Honours) - Sociology with Social Psychology

This University of Essex course provides a thorough grounding in social psychology and sociology, exploring why individuals, groups, and cultures are the way they are and examining why they might be different, as well as developing students' qualitative and quantitative research skills.

Students explore the many different social tensions, interactions and networks that make up everyday life from how people relate to politicians, celebrities and friends, to how they define themselves, their families, and others. Students engage their curiosity about a wide selection of sociological questions and topic, including: social psychology, psychoanalysis, and social interaction, psychology and the science of human behaviour, sociology of migrations, religious belief, and multinational corporations.

Students also have the opportunity to complete a supervised dissertation on a topic that inspires them, encouraging students to think differently and connect with live issues and debates. Essex's Department of Sociology was rated top 10 in the UK for research quality, and they consistently receive strong student satisfaction scores and are in the top 20 nationally for overall student satisfaction in Sociology.