Digital Media & Information Studies/Social & Public Policy

Digital media and information studies combined with social and public policy addresses one of the defining challenges of our time: understanding how digital technologies are reshaping information, communication, and the governance of society, and thinking clearly about what those changes mean for public life. Digital media and information studies examines the creation, use, and impact of digital content and information across the arts, humanities, and society, bringing a human perspective to the issues of the digital age. Social and public policy examines how governments and other institutions address collective problems, from inequality and health to education and the environment.

At the University of Glasgow, this four-year full-time programme develops both strands with genuine intellectual rigour. You will engage with the social, cultural, and political dimensions of digital media, exploring how platforms, algorithms, and information flows shape public opinion, political participation, and cultural production. The social and public policy strand develops your understanding of how welfare states are organised and reformed, how policies are designed and evaluated, and how the digital transformation of government and public services is changing what policy can do and how it is experienced.

The year abroad element broadens your international perspective on both fields.

The typical entry tariff is 232 UCAS points. Graduates go on to careers in public policy, government digital services, social research, journalism, think tanks, NGOs, communications, and the technology sector. The ability to combine digital literacy with policy understanding is particularly valuable as governments, organisations, and societies navigate the implications of rapid technological change.

Further study options include postgraduate degrees in digital humanities, public policy, information management, and social research.