General entry requirements

Minimum requirements

2:1 undergraduate degree (or equivalent) in a related subject.

English language requirements

You can find out more about our English language requirementsLink opens in a new window. This course requires the following:

• Band B
• IELTS overall score of 7.0, minimum component scores of two at 6.0/6.5 and the rest at 7.0 or above.

International qualifications

We welcome applications from students with other internationally recognised qualifications.

For more information, please visit the international entry requirements pageLink opens in a new window.

Additional requirements

Read our department advice on applying to ensure your application has the best chance for success.

Core modules

Gender, Analysis and Development Practice

This module will give experience in applying different concepts and theoretical perspectives to practical issues and problems in gender and development, as a means of learning how to undertake rigorous analysis. It will include focused sessions on the research literatures, followed by group work analysing case studies from different regions of the globe. The specific case studies used illustrate current debates in the literature and address key issues in contemporary development practice.

Gender, Imperialism and International Development

This module fosters comprehensive, critical and advanced knowledge of theoretical approaches to gender and development. It starts by locating gender and development within a history of colonialism, imperialism and orientalism, asking how gender relations have shaped and been shaped by colonialism; how contemporary forms of western imperialism invoke ideas about gender; and how far western feminism has been able to resist orientalist ideas about a ‘modern’ west and a ‘backward’ east. Then it looks critically at some of the measures of gendered development today, including the GDI, GEM, Millennium Development Goals and the replacement Sustainable Development Goals.

Dissertation (Year One full-time and Year Two part-time)

The dissertation module gives you the opportunity to complete an independent piece of research on a topic of your own choice with the support of your dissertation supervisor, plenary teaching, and other online resources. The aim is for you to creatively use the substantive and methodological training acquired in the earlier part of your course to critically analyse a research topic of sociological relevance.

Optional modules

You can take four optional modules, at least one from List (A) and one from List (B). Further modules can be taken from any list but no more than one outside option can normally be taken, from the list of Recommended Outside Options (List D) or, by agreement with the Course Convenor, one module offered by another Department or Centre within the Faculty of Social Sciences.

List A

• Market Life: Wealth and Poverty in Global Capitalism
• Social Research for Social Change
• The Sociology of Urban Life
• Postcolonial Theory and Politics
• Transnational Media Ecologies
• Feminist Pedagogy Feminist Activism
• Queering Sociology
• Indigenous and Global South Feminisms
• Feminist Theory and Epistemology
• Feminist and Queer Thinking: Contemporary Challenges

List B

• Qualitative Methods in Social Research
• Quantitative Methods in Social Research
• Understanding Social Science
• Researching Inequality: Race, Class, Gender in Global Perspective

List C

• Politics and Social Theory
• Capitalism, State and Market
• State of the Art of Sociology
• Sociology of End Times
• Prisons, Punishment and Penal Policy: A Comparative Perspective
• Mastering Complex Real-World Data

List D

• Women’s Human Rights and Global Justice

Read more about our core and optional modules on the Sociology website.Link opens in a new window

Teaching

Each of our MA courses has specified core modules which will be studied alongside a range of optional modules. You will be required to choose four optional modules from our departmental list. All our MA courses follow a consistent structure meaning that you will follow a programme of taught modules, followed by a 15,000-word dissertation.

Class sizes

Class sizes can range from 6 to 30 students, dependent on each module.

Typical contact hours

Each module consists of at least 20 hours of teaching. Many modules are taught in 2-hour seminars of 10-15 students. Others follow a 1-hour lecture and 1 hour class format. You will also have a supervisor for your dissertation, who you will meet regularly to support this independent research project.

Assessment

Taught modules are assessed through written assignments. You will focus on your 15-000 word dissertation after the end of Spring Term.

Your timetable

Your personalised timetable will be complete when you are registered for all modules, compulsory and optional, and you have been allocated to your lectures, seminars and other small group classes. Your compulsory modules will be registered for you and you will be able to choose your optional modules when you join us.

Your career

Graduates from these courses have gone on to work for employers including various national and international Universities, NGOs and the charity sector, or the civil service. They have pursued roles such as: business and financial project management professionals; higher education teaching professionals; IT project and programme managers; legal professionals and research and development managers.

Our department has a dedicated professionally qualified Senior Careers Consultant offering impartial advice and guidance together with workshops and events throughout the year. Previous examples of workshops and events include:

• Make Your Mark - Careers with a degree in Sociology
• Working for More than Profit
• Warwick careers fairs throughout the year
• Your Sociological future: Sociology Alumni Evening
• My Sociological Future- What next? Career planning for undecided Sociology finalists

Sociology at Warwick

We have an international reputation for research excellence, a global and cosmopolitan perspective, and high-quality teaching. Our curriculum offers a comprehensive and up-to-date foundation with a diverse range of specialist options.

What does it mean to understand the world in which you live? What will your contribution be to this changing world? How do your own experiences and life chances compare to those of others?

Sociology – the study of humans in society – attempts to capture the rich variety and complexity of human social life. Indeed, it is difficult to think of any area of social existence that a sociologist wouldn’t be interested in examining, from the most intimate of personal relationships to the worldwide circulation of ideas, beliefs, products and people.

Find out more about us on our website.Link opens in a new window

Our Postgraduate courses

• Gender and International Development (MA)
• Gender and Sexuality (MA)
• Social and Political Thought (MA)
• Social Inequalities and Research Methods (MSc)
• Sociology (MA)
• Sociology (PhD)
• Women's and Gender Studies (PhD)

Tuition fees

Tuition fees are payable for each year of your course at the start of the academic year, or at the start of your course, if later. Academic fees cover the cost of tuition, examinations and registration and some student amenities.

Find your taught course fees  

Fee Status Guidance

We carry out an initial fee status assessment based on the information you provide in your application. Students will be classified as Home or Overseas fee status. Your fee status determines tuition fees, and what financial support and scholarships may be available. If you receive an offer, your fee status will be clearly stated alongside the tuition fee information.

Do you need your fee classification to be reviewed?

If you believe that your fee status has been classified incorrectly, you can complete a fee status assessment questionnaire. Please follow the instructions in your offer information and provide the documents needed to reassess your status.

Find out more about how universities assess fee status

Additional course costs

As well as tuition fees and living expenses, some courses may require you to cover the cost of field trips or costs associated with travel abroad.

For departmental specific costs, please see the Modules tab on the course web page for the list of core and optional core modules with hyperlinks to our Module Catalogue (please visit the Department’s website if the Module Catalogue hyperlinks are not provided).

Associated costs can be found on the Study tab for each module listed in the Module Catalogue (please note most of the module content applies to 2022/23 year of study). Information about module department specific costs should be considered in conjunction with the more general costs below:

• Core text books
• Printer credits
• Dissertation binding
• Robe hire for your degree ceremony

Scholarships and bursaries

How to apply

The application process for courses that start in September and October 2024 will open on 2 October 2023.

Applications will close on 2 August 2024 for students who require a visa to study in the UK, to allow time to receive a CAS and complete the visa application process.

How to apply for a postgraduate taught course