- UCAS course code
- RL36
- UCAS institution code
- M20
Bachelor of Arts (BA)
BA Sociology and Spanish
Gain specialist knowledge of Hispanic culture and sociology.
Duration: 4 years
Year of entry: 2025
UCAS course code: RL36 / Institution code: M20
- Key features:
Study abroad
Study with a language
- Typical A-level offer: ABB
- Typical contextual A-level offer: BBC
- Refugee/care-experienced offer: BBC
- Typical International Baccalaureate offer: 34 points overall with 6,5,5 at HL
Fees and funding
Fees
Tuition fees for home students commencing their studies in September 2025 will be £9,535 per annum (subject to Parliamentary approval). Tuition fees for international students will be £26,500 per annum. For general information please see the undergraduate finance pages.
Policy on additional costs
All students should normally be able to complete their programme of study without incurring additional study costs over and above the tuition fee for that programme. Any unavoidable additional compulsory costs totalling more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee per annum, regardless of whether the programme in question is undergraduate or postgraduate taught, will be made clear to you at the point of application. Further information can be found in the University's Policy on additional costs incurred by students on undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes (PDF document, 91KB).
Scholarships/sponsorships
- Find out more from student finance
- Eligible UK students can apply for bursaries and scholarships
- Funding for EU and international students is on our country-specific pages
- Many students work part-time or complete a student internship
Course unit details:
Education and Society
| Unit code | SOCY20052 |
|---|---|
| Credit rating | 20 |
| Unit level | Level 2 |
| Teaching period(s) | Semester 2 |
| Available as a free choice unit? | Yes |
Overview
This module aims to introduce students to sociological perspectives on education and schooling. It also aims to help students explore how experiences of schooling are affected by variables such as social class, gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality and (disability). Crucially, it helps students consider how formal schooling systems shape individual and collective identities and how they reflect, reinforce, and challenge dominant societal values.
Aims
• To introduce students to sociological perspectives on education and schooling
• To explore how experiences of schooling are affected by variables such as social class, gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality, and (dis)-ability.
• To consider how formal schooling systems shape individual and collective identities and reflect and reinforce and challenge dominant societal values.
• To appreciate education's contested nature as a site for social change.
Learning outcomes
On successful completion of this unit students will:
(i) be able to distinguish between key sociological perspectives on educational inequalities
and demonstrate how these may be applied to a range of contemporary educational
concerns.
(ii) have identified a range of topics of contemporary concern to educational sociologists and evaluate the validity of different approaches to those topics, drawing upon relevant theoretical perspectives and empirical evidence.
(iii) be able to reflect on their own experiences of schooling in a theoretically-informed manner.
(iv) to appreciate education's relationship to economic, political, and cultural power.
Teaching and learning methods
Weekly two-hour lecture and one-hour tutorial, incorporating small group discussion of key readings focussed upon questions set by the lecturer, focused small group tasks, and whole group interactive learning.
Assessment methods
Non-assessed mid-term written coursework submission (500 words)
Assessed written end-of-semester coursework (2000 words, 100%)
Feedback methods
All Sociology courses include both formative feedback – which lets you know how you’re getting on and what you could do to improve – and summative feedback – which gives you a mark for your assessed work.
Recommended reading
Apple, M.W., Ball, S.J., Gandin, L.A. (2010) The Routledge International Handbook of the Sociology of Education, New York: Routledge.
Arnot, M. and Mac An Ghaill, M. (2006) (eds.) The RoutledgeFalmer Reader in Gender and Education, RoutledgeFalmer, London: Routledge.
Ball, S.J. (2004) (ed.) The RoutledgeFalmer Reader in the Sociology of Education, RoutledgeFalmer, London: Routledge
Coffey, Amanda (2001) Education and Social Change, Buckingham: Open University
Press.
Francis, B. and Skelton, C. (2001) (eds.) Investigating Gender: Contemporary Perspectives in Education, Buckingham: Open University Press
Gewirtz, Sharon and Cribb, Allan (2012) Understanding Education: A Sociological Perspective, Cambridge: Polity Press.
Reay, D. (2017) Miseducation: Inequality, Education and the Working Classes, Bristol: Policy Press.
Taylor, E., Gillborn, D., and Ladson-Billings, G. (2015) (eds.) Foundations of Critical Race Theory in Education, London: Routledge.
Study hours
| Scheduled activity hours | |
|---|---|
| Assessment written exam | 2 |
| Lectures | 20 |
| Seminars | 10 |
| Independent study hours | |
|---|---|
| Independent study | 168 |
Teaching staff
| Staff member | Role |
|---|---|
| Nadim Mirshak | Unit coordinator |