Humanities and Social Sciences BA (Hons)
This BA (Hons) in Humanities and Social Sciences blends multiple disciplines to build your critical thinking, research, and communication skills, preparing you to address global challenges and make a positive difference.
Key information
UCAS code:
L910
Typical offer:
96-112 points to include a minimum of 2 A levels, or equivalent.
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Overview
Understand and address some of the world’s most pressing challenges with this BA (Hons) in Humanities and Social Sciences. This interdisciplinary course combines modules from History, Sociology, Politics, International Relations, and English Literature, giving you the tools to critically analyse complex global issues such as inequality, climate change, and cultural dynamics.
Through research-led teaching and practical learning, you’ll develop skills in critical thinking, research, communication, and problem-solving, preparing you to make a meaningful impact in society. Studying in a supportive and inclusive environment, you’ll explore key topics through a range of perspectives, empowering you to create solutions to real-world problems.
Graduates are well-equipped for careers in social research, policy-making, education, and the charity sector.
This is a new course and we're finalising the detailed information for this page.
Contact information
Contact AdmissionsEntry requirements
BA (Hons) Humanities and Social Sciences entry requirements
Typical offers
- A levels - BBC-CCC
- UCAS points - 96-112 points to include a minimum of 2 A levels, or equivalent. (calculate your UCAS points)
- BTECs (Extended Diplomas) - DMM-MMM
- International Baccalaureate - 25
You may need to have studied specific subjects or GCSEs - see full entry requirements and other qualifications we accept.
English language requirements
- English language proficiency at a minimum of IELTS band 6.0 with no component score below 5.5.
See alternative English language qualifications.
We also accept other standard English tests and qualifications, as long as they meet the minimum requirements of your course.
If you don't meet the English language requirements yet, you can achieve the level you need by successfully completing a pre-sessional English programme before you start your course.
We look at more than just your grades
While we consider your grades when making an offer, we also carefully look at your circumstances and other factors to assess your potential. These include whether you live and work in the region and your personal and family circumstances which we assess using established data.
Modules
Each module on this course is worth a certain number of credits.
In each year, you need to study modules worth a total of 120 credits. For example, four modules worth 20 credits and one module worth 40 credits.
What you'll study
Core modules
- Navigating Global Challenges – 20 credits
- Popular Culture – 20 credits
- Psychology for the Social Sciences – 20 credits
- Social Inequalities – 20 credits
- Societies, Nations, and Empires: Europe 1750-2000 – 20 credits
- Political Thought – 20 credits
Optional modules
- A History of US Foreign Policy: From the Great War to 9/11 – 20 credits
- Analysing Foreign Policy – 20 credits
- Bending the Truth a Little? Researching Politics, International Relations and Development – 20 credits
- Bloody Shakespeare: The Politics and Poetics of Violence – 20 credits
- British Political Leadership – 20 credits
- Crime Writing – 20 credits
- Critical Psychology – 20 credits
- Debating the Past – 20 credits
- Doing Sociological Research – 20 credits
- Dystopian and Apocalyptic Environments: Ecocrisis in the Literary Imagination – 20 credits
- East Asian States and Societies – 20 credits
- Empire and Its Afterlives in Britain, Europe, and Africa – 20 credits
- Global Crises: Climate, Conflict and Insecurity – 20 credits
- Global Political Economy – 20 credits
- Ideology and Politics – 20 credits
- News, Discourse, and Media – 20 credits
- Puritans to Postmodernists: American Literature – 20 credits
- Sociology of Culture: Taste, Value and Celebrity – 20 credits
- Space, Place and Being – 20 credits
- The Geopolitics and Geo-Economics of Africa – 20 credits
- The Hidden Lives of Things: Material Culture in the Early Modern World – 20 credits
- Transitional Justice and Human Rights – 20 credits
- Underworlds: Crime, Deviance and Punishment in Britain, 1500-1900 – 20 credits
- US Politics – 20 credits
- Women's Writing in the Americas – 20 credits
Core modules
- Dissertation – 40 credits
- Independent Project – 20 credits
- Major Project – 40 credits
Optional modules
- Civil Rights USA – 20 credits
- Consuming Fictions: Food and Appetite in Victorian Culture – 20 credits
- Creative Research Methods in Psychology – 20 credits
- Emotions and Social Life – 20 credits
- Equality or Liberation? Theorising Social Justice – 20 credits
- Family, Career and Generation – 20 credits
- France in the World: Global Actor or Global Maverick? – 20 credits
- Gender and Sexuality – 20 credits
- Global Capitalism – 20 credits
- Global Capitalism: Past, Present and Future – 20 credits
- Health, Wellbeing and Happiness – 20 credits
- Holocaust Literatures – 20 credits
- International Security in the Asia-Pacific – 20 credits
- Looking for Utopia, Finding Dystopia? Ideas and Ideologies in the New Millennium – 20 credits
- Magical Realism – 20 credits
- News, Discourse, and Media – 20 credits
- NGOs and Social Movements – 20 credits
- Post Brexit Politics – 20 credits
- Professional Experience – 20 credits
- Religion and Politics in Global Perspective – 20 credits
- Sociology of Culture: Taste, Value and Celebrity – 20 credits
- Specialist Option: Empires and Identities – 20 credits
- Specialist Option: Everyday Life, Extraordinary Lives and Challenging Inequality – 20 credits
- Specialist Option: Popular Cultures – 20 credits
- Specialist Option: Societies in Revolution – 20 credits
- The European Union: A Global Power in the Making? – 20 credits
- The Gothic – 20 credits
- Time, Temporality, Contemporary Fiction – 20 credits
- US Masculinities – 20 credits
Boost your employability by taking an industry-based work placement year with a relevant organisation.
This is an amazing opportunity to put everything you’ve learned so far into action in a real workplace. We’ll help you find and secure an exciting placement opportunity within an appropriate company or organisation to help you boost your future career.
This is a Connected Degree
We're the only university that gives you the flexibility to choose when to take a work placement. Take it after your 2nd year, before returning to finish your studies. Or after your final year, connecting you into the workplace.
If you're not sure if or when to take your placement, don't worry. You'll have plenty of time to settle into your studies and explore your options before making your choice.
Changes to course content
We use the best and most current research and professional practice alongside feedback from our students to make sure course content is relevant to your future career or further studies.
Therefore, some course content may change over time to reflect changes in the discipline or industry. If a module doesn't run, we'll let you know as soon as possible and help you choose an alternative module.
Course costs and funding
Tuition fees
- UK, Channel Islands and Isle of Man students – £9,535 a year (may be subject to annual increase)
- EU students – £9,535 a year (including Transition Scholarship – (may be subject to annual increase)
- International students – £17,200 a year (subject to annual increase)
Apply
Ready to apply?
To start this course in 2025, apply through UCAS. You'll need:
- the UCAS course code – L910
- our institution code – P80
If you'd prefer to apply directly, use our online application form.
You can also sign up to an Open Day to:
- Tour our campus, facilities and halls of residence
- Speak with lecturers and chat with our students
- Get information about where to live, how to fund your studies and which clubs and societies to join
If you're new to the application process, read our guide on applying for an undergraduate course.
Admissions terms and conditions
When you accept an offer to study at the University of Portsmouth, you also agree to abide by our Student Contract (which includes the University's relevant policies, rules and regulations). You should read and consider these before you apply.
Finalising this course
All our courses go through a rigorous approval process to make sure they’re of the highest quality. This includes a review by a panel of experts, made up of academic staff and an external academic or professional with specialist knowledge.
This course is in the final stages of this process and is open for applications. If any details of the course or its approval status change after you apply, we’ll let you know as soon as possible and will be here to discuss your options with you.