Social Sciences, Arts & Humanities with Foundation Year

The social sciences, arts, and humanities encompass some of the most important and enduring areas of human inquiry. The social sciences, including sociology, anthropology, economics, and politics, examine how human societies are organised and how power, inequality, and change operate within and between them. The arts and humanities, spanning literature, history, philosophy, languages, and cultural studies, develop your capacity to interpret texts, ideas, and cultural artefacts, and to situate them within their historical and intellectual contexts.

Studying across these fields develops versatility of mind, the ability to move between different modes of analysis and to bring multiple perspectives to bear on complex questions.

At the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London, this five-year full-time programme is specifically designed for students who would benefit from an additional year of preparation before beginning an undergraduate degree, including those without direct entry qualifications or a prior subject background in these areas. The foundation year provides a supported introduction to academic study in the humanities and social sciences, building the reading, writing, analytical, and research skills that the subsequent years require. SOAS is a uniquely specialist institution, with particular strengths in the cultures, languages, and societies of Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, and the programme is shaped by that distinctive perspective.

Typical entry requires around 88 tariff points.

Graduates of programmes in social sciences, arts, and humanities go on to diverse careers in which communication, analysis, and understanding of human behaviour are central. Journalism, diplomacy, the civil service, international development, education, law, cultural institutions, and the charity sector are all fields that value the skills developed in these disciplines. SOAS graduates in particular are often drawn to work in international contexts, given the institution's expertise and global networks.

Postgraduate study in a range of disciplines is also well supported for those who wish to specialise further.