The University of Birmingham is a public research university located in Edgbaston, Birmingham, United Kingdom. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham, and Mason Science College, making it the first English civic or 'red brick' university to receive its own royal charter. The University have a long and proud history of firsts, at the University of Birmingham; they were the first – and are now one of the largest - civic universities in the UK.

At Birmingham, the institution teach and research across the full breadth of academic disciplines, creating a vibrant community with multi-disciplinary opportunities for research and education. The University is a truly international community consisting of more than thousands of staff, students, and alumni. The student community is not only one of the largest of any UK university, it is highly diverse, with 82 per cent of home undergraduate students from state schools, 32 per cent from a BAME background, and 35 per cent in the first generation of their family to attend university.

First year modules
In your first year of study you will take a number of compulsory modules to develop your sociological and educational knowledge.

Compulsory
Introduction to Social Divisions
The Sociological Imagination
Young People and Social Change
Introduction to Developmental Psychology Part 1
Introduction to Developmental Psychology Part 2
Sociology of Everyday Life
Contemporary Issues in Education: learning communities in higher education
Contemporary Issues in Education: engaging with research
Second year modules
In the second year you will extend your subject knowledge.

Compulsory
Modern Sociological Theory
Researching Childhood and Education
Placement
The Placement
To prepare for the placement you will attend workshops in the Spring of the previous academic year and then negotiate your own placement in an educational context or setting. A minimum of 70 hours of placement learning is expected although many students do significantly in excess of this. The placement is undertaken at the end of the summer term of the previous academic year to when the module is assessed over the following summer holiday period or in the early autumn term of the year in which the module is assessed. The assignment is a 4000 word reflective learning journal and you are carefully prepared for writing this.

Recent and past placements have been undertaken in a range of settings for example: as voluntary teaching assistants in schools; shadowing an education professional; working on an educational research project; leading educational activities on a summer camp or language school; shadowing a prison educator; working in a tutorial school and; helping in an outdoor education centre. Placements can be based in the UK or in another country overseas. A risk assessment process will help you plan safely for your placement.

You will also choose 40 credits from options provided by the School of Sociology and 20 credits from options provided by the School of Education.

Optional modules include:
Education Policy and Social Justice
Individual Differences and Learning
Social Psychology and Learning
Gender and Sexuality
Changing Behaviours
Sociology of Race and Ethnicity - A Global Perspective
The Development of Anxiety in Childhood and Adolescence and Applications to Education
Ethics in Education
Poverty Class Inequality
Primary and Early years education: theory and practice
Third year modules
In your final year you will further develop your knowledge and skills in Education and Sociology. As well as the compulsory modules there are a variety of optional modules to choose from.

Compulsory
Dissertation
Contemporary Social Theory
You must also choose 60 credits from the optional modules - 40 credits from the School of Sociology and 20 credits from the School of Education. Optional modules include:

Children as Citizens
Critical Approaches to Educational Psychology
Divided Publics
Harmful Societies
Identity Politics and Everyday Life
Professional Development
Quantitative Data Analysis
Reclaiming Education: past present and futures
Sociology of Power Control and Resistance
Year abroad
Those who transfer to the Year Abroad course will undertake their third year overseas in one of our partner institutions. The modules followed in the host university will build on existing knowledge from the first two years of your degree. In the fourth year you will complete the third year of your BA (Hons) Education and Sociology degree at the University of Birmingham.

Please note: The modules listed on the website for this programme are regularly reviewed to ensure they are up-to-date and informed by the latest research and teaching methods. On rare occasions we may need to make unexpected changes to compulsory modules; in this event we will contact offer holders as soon as possible to inform or consult them as appropriate.

You will need to book the accommodation after you have been accepted.

You can choose to live on campus or off campus in private accommodation.

• Make a booking online after you have been accepted (in this case please let us know your choice when you apply).
• Register when you arrive - its not possible to reserve a room before arriving. You can arrive a few days before and book it