Combined Honours in Social Sciences, BA (Hons)

Design your own bespoke degree in our flexible courses.Combined Honours in Social Sciences provides fantastic flexibility and choice across Durham’s breadth of world-renowned research-led education, allowing you to create a bespoke, academically ambitious degree suited to your individual interests, strengths and career plans. Our Combined Honours degree enables you to choose modules from two, three or even four subjects, enabling you to develop your expertise or to explore new interests. The course provides a flexible, multidisciplinary framework with the opportunity to spend a year abroad or on a work placement, preparing you for your career ambitions.You will be focusing on subjects in the Social Sciences, but you can take up to half of your credits in the Arts and Humanities.In the Social Sciences, the subjects currently available to you are: Anthropology / Archaeology / Business / Economics / Education / Geography / International Relations / Politics / Sociology and Criminology / Sport.Please note it is not possible to study Business and Economics alone or Politics and International Relations alone – for these combinations you would need to look at courses offered by the Business School or School of Government and International Affairs, respectively. In the Arts and Humanities, the subjects currently available to you are: Classics and Ancient History / English Literature / History / Music / Philosophy / Theology and Religious Studies / Visual Art / Arabic / Chinese / French / German / Italian / Japanese / Russian / Spanish.Year 1In your first year, you will choose 120 credits (typically six 20 credit modules) from two, three or four subjects.Year 2In your second year, you will choose 120 credits from two, three or four subjects.Year 3 (Year 4 if undertaking a Year Abroad)In your final year, you will undertake a major Research Project, and choose additional modules up to a total of 120 from two or three subjects.Your choice of modules is subject to availability, timetable constraints, and the approval of the Director of Combined Honours in Social Sciences. You will also need to meet subject-specific requirements.Placement Year You may have the opportunity to undertake an optional placement year during your time at Durham. Similarly to the ‘Year Abroad’, this will extend your degree by a year and take place between your second and final year. We review course structures and core content (in light of e.g. external and student feedback) every year, and will publish finalised core requirements for 2023 entry from September 2022.Study AbroadCombined Honours in Social Sciences - The Year Abroad (Modern Languages)If, in the first year, you are taking Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian, or Spanish, and you intend to continue studying one or more of these languages throughout your degree, you will insert a ‘Year Abroad’ into your course of study between your second year and your final year. The Year Abroad offers you an opportunity to study at a university, or to teach English in a secondary school, or to undertake an internship, in a wide variety of locations in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, or Latin America. You will be transferred from the three-year to the four-year version of your degree course at the end of your first year, giving you over a year in which to plan the Year Abroad, in consultation with your advisers in the School of Modern Languages and Cultures. If, however, you later decide to stop studying a language, at the end of your second year, you will transfer back to the three-year version of the course.Alternatively, you can study a language through the School’s Centre for Foreign Language Study (CFLS). The Centre teaches a number of European and Asian languages at beginners’, intermediate, and advanced levels but these do not lead to a Year Abroad.For more information on this course, please see our website.