Social Care and Sociology

Social care and sociology is a degree that connects academic understanding of how societies work with direct engagement with the systems designed to support their most vulnerable members. Social care is concerned with the practical and professional dimensions of supporting people across the life course, from children and young people to older adults and people with disabilities or mental health needs. Sociology provides the analytical framework for understanding the social inequalities, structural conditions and policy contexts that shape who needs care and why, and how care systems are organised to respond.

At Liverpool Hope, this four-year programme includes a foundation year, a sandwich year, a year abroad and a work placement, giving you an unusually rich combination of academic and professional experience. The foundation year provides the academic grounding needed to engage with degree-level study. The main degree develops your understanding of the root causes of social inequalities that lead to care needs, preparing you to work in services that are sensitive to the structural dimensions of the situations people face.

The sandwich year, year abroad and work placement ensure that your academic development is accompanied by genuine professional experience and international perspective.

You will study sociological theory and research methods alongside the theory and practice of social care, developing a perspective on welfare, inequality and professional practice that is both analytical and applied.

Graduates move into social care management, youth work, community development, health and social care coordination, policy research, the voluntary sector and local authority children's and adults' services. Some graduates continue to professional training in social work or further postgraduate study in sociology, social policy or social care management. The combination of sociological understanding and practical orientation prepares you well for roles that require both intellectual engagement and professional commitment.