Program Overview

On our four-year BA Philosophy and Sociology (including foundation year), we work with you to develop your subject-specific knowledge, and to improve your academic skills. You receive a thorough grounding in these areas during your foundation year (known as Year Zero) to prepare you for a further three years of undergraduate study at Essex. Our five-year version of this course enables you to study abroad during your fourth year of study.

This course includes a foundation year (Year Zero), followed by a further three or four years of study, depending on whether you choose to study abroad for a year. During your Year Zero, you study three academic subjects relevant to your chosen course as well as a compulsory academic skills module, with additional English language for non-English speakers.

You are an Essex student from day one, a member of our global community based at the most internationally diverse campus university in the UK.

After successful completion of Year Zero in our Essex Pathways Department, you progress to complete your course with our School of Philosophy and Art History.

Philosophy analyses broad ideas around human life and the nature of existence. It concerns theories of reality, knowledge, morality, ethics, rights, legality and aesthetics. Sociology examines the different kinds of social tensions, interactions and networks that make up everyday life. It asks why individuals, groups, cultures and peoples are the way they are and how they might be different.

You will have the opportunity to study both disciplines and work with two of the UK’s leading departments – our School of Philosophy and Art History, and our Department of Sociology.

You study topics such as:

• Ethics
• Philosophy of religion
• Culture, identity and subjectivity
• Public policy regarding health, the environment, crime and aging
• Citizenship, multiculturalism and human rights

Study abroad

Your education extends beyond our University campus. We support you extending your education through providing the option of an additional year. The five-year version of our degree allows you to spend the fourth year studying abroad, while otherwise remaining identical to the four-year course.

Studying abroad allows you to experience other cultures and languages, to broaden your degree socially and academically, and to demonstrate to employers that you are mature, adaptable, and organised. We have exchange partners in the following areas:

• The United States
• Europe
• Canada
• Australia
• New Zealand
• Latin America
• The Middle East
• Hong Kong
• Japan

If you spend a full year abroad you'll only pay 15% of your usual tuition fee to Essex for that year. You won't pay any tuition fees to your host university