
A postgraduate qualification in social sciences can be a passport to some of the most challenging and rewarding fields of employment. Central and local government, education, planning, health and social care, law, market research, the media, and public services are common career choices.
Our postgraduate social sciences courses give you the opportunity to study for general or research interests, for further professional development in a particular subject, or to enhance your career prospects with a high-level qualification. You can take courses on a stand-alone basis, or combine them to gain a social sciences postgraduate certificate or diploma. However, the vast majority of our students go on to complete a masters degree.
Browse this website and discover the wide variety of postgraduate courses in social sciences, designed to help you work towards the qualification of your choice.
You must have a UK honours degree (or equivalent) to embark on the awards below, and you will need the basic skills that would be expected of a graduate of psychology or social sciences. We recommend that you start your postgraduate studies with one of the following courses. For either of the two Research Methods awards Postgraduate Diploma in Social Research Methods (E12) or MSc in Social Research Methods (F24) we recommend that you start with course Introduction to research: basic skills and survey methods (DT840). For the other awards you should start with course Investigating the social world (D822) or Investigating the psychological world (D821).
See the list of all our individual courses in Social Sciences.
For information about postgraduate research degrees, visit the Research Degree pages.
See the list of undergraduate courses and qualifications in Social Sciences.
Studying with the OU ensures that you benefit both from our tradition of excellence and innovation in teaching, and the latest thinking on real-world issues, as programme content is fed by our vibrant research culture.
Our postgraduate programme currently offers qualifications in three main areas: social research methods; social policy and criminology; and the social sciences.
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