English and Social Policy

English and social policy is a combination that connects the close reading of language and literature with the analysis of how societies organise welfare, address inequality and govern the conditions of everyday life. English develops the capacity to engage with texts with precision, sensitivity and critical depth: to understand how narrative, rhetoric and language shape what we think and feel. Social policy brings the sociological and political frameworks to analyse the structures and institutions through which governments respond to social need.

Together they develop graduates who are both analytically rigorous and genuinely literate, in the broadest sense.

At the University of Strathclyde, the English strand of this four-year degree offers a grounding in the classics of English literature alongside engagement with newer fields and contemporary writing, as the university's own description notes. You will study literature across periods and genres, developing your ability to read closely, interpret contextually and argue carefully about the meanings and effects of texts. The social policy strand gives you the analytical frameworks to examine welfare states, housing policy, health and social care, criminal justice, education and the political economy of inequality.

A year abroad is built into the programme, giving you the opportunity to study at a partner institution overseas and to develop an international dimension to both disciplines.

The skills the combination builds, including the ability to read complex texts, construct arguments, understand social structures and analyse policy, are valuable across a very wide range of professional contexts.

Graduates go on to careers in the civil service, social policy research, local government, health and social care, journalism, publishing, education, communications, third-sector organisations and many other fields. Further study in social policy, English, public administration or a related area is also a common route.