BASS Social Anthropology and Data Analytics

Overview

Course overview

• Explore societies and cultures across the globe in comparable perspective.
• Combine your studies with paid and relevant work experience, such as 6-8 weeks working with a local or national organisation.
• Enjoy the opportunity to study abroad or complete a professional placement on a four-year optional course.
• Study at a UK Top 10 and Global Top 25 university for Anthropology (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025).

Entry requirements

A-level

• ABB, including at least one of the following A-Level subjects (preference will be given to applicants studying two of these subjects):
  • Accounting; Economics; Finance; Business Studies; Development Studies; Government and Politics; Economic and Social History; Mathematics; Anthropology; Sociology; Philosophy; Religious Studies; English Language; English Literature; Geography; Psychology; Classical Civilisation; History; Archaeology; Communication Studies; Environmental Studies; World Development; Biology; Chemistry; Physics; Modern Languages.
• We accept native language A Levels providing they are taken in the same sitting as your other subjects. We will not accept the combination of Mathematics, Further Mathematics and a native language.
• Practical skills are a crucial part of science education and therefore will be a requirement to pass the practical element of any science A Level taken
• Applicants taking A Levels are normally expected to offer three full A Levels. If you’re taking more than three A Levels, these won’t be included in your offer. We will only make offers consisting of three A Levels.

A-level contextual offer

• BBC, including at least one of the following A-Level subjects (preference will be given to applicants studying two of these subjects):
  • Accounting; Economics; Finance; Business Studies; Development Studies; Government and Politics; Economic and Social History; Mathematics; Anthropology; Sociology; Philosophy; Religious Studies; English Language; English Literature; Geography; Psychology; Classical Civilisation; History; Archaeology; Communication Studies; Environmental Studies; World Development; Biology; Chemistry; Physics; Modern Languages.
• We accept native language A Levels providing they are taken in the same sitting as your other subjects. We will not accept the combination of Mathematics, Further Mathematics and a native language.
• Practical skills are a crucial part of science education and therefore will be a requirement to pass the practical element of any science A Level taken
• Applicants taking A Levels are normally expected to offer three full A Levels. If you’re taking more than three A Levels, these won’t be included in your offer. We will only make offers consisting of three A Levels.

UK refugee/care-experienced offer

• BBC, including at least one of the following A-Level subjects (preference will be given to applicants studying two of these subjects):
  • Accounting; Economics; Finance; Business Studies; Development Studies; Government and Politics; Economic and Social History; Mathematics; Anthropology; Sociology; Philosophy; Religious Studies; English Language; English Literature; Geography; Psychology; Classical Civilisation; History; Archaeology; Communication Studies; Environmental Studies; World Development; Biology; Chemistry; Physics; Modern Languages.
• We accept native language A Levels providing they are taken in the same sitting as your other subjects. We will not accept the combination of Mathematics, Further Mathematics and a native language.
• Practical skills are a crucial part of science education and therefore will be a requirement to pass the practical element of any science A Level taken
• Applicants taking A Levels are normally expected to offer three full A Levels. If you’re taking more than three A Levels, these won’t be included in your offer. We will only make offers consisting of three A Levels.

International Baccalaureate

• 34 points overall. 6,5,5 in Higher Level subjects
• Applicants studying the International Baccalaureate Career Related Programme (IBCP) should contact the admissions team prior to applying so that their academic profile can be considered.

GCSE/IGCSE

• Applicants must demonstrate a broad general education including acceptable levels of Literacy and Numeracy, equivalent to at least Grade 4 or C in GCSE/IGCSE English Language and Mathematics. GCSE/IGCSE English Literature will not be accepted in lieu of GCSE/IGCSE English Language.

Other entry requirements

• Other entry requirements exist for this course. You may view these by selecting from the list below.
• Scottish requirements
• Welsh Baccalaureate
• Foundation year
• Pearson BTEC qualifications
• OCR Cambridge Technical qualifications
• Access to HE Diploma
• T Level
• Extended Project Qualification (EPQ)

Fees and funding

Fees

• Fees for entry in 2026 have not yet been set. For entry in 2025 the tuition fees were £9,535 per annum for home students, and are expected to increase slightly for 2026 entry.
• Tuition fees for home students commencing their studies in September 2021 will be £9,250 per annum. Tuition fees for international students will be £19,500 per annum.

Policy on additional costs

• All students should normally be able to complete their programme of study without incurring additional study costs over and above the tuition fee for that programme. Any unavoidable additional compulsory costs totalling more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee per annum, regardless of whether the programme in question is undergraduate or postgraduate taught, will be made clear to you at the point of application.

Scholarships/sponsorships

• Scholarships and bursaries, including the Manchester Bursary, are available to eligible home/EU students.
• Some undergraduate UK students will receive bursaries of up to £2,000 per year, in addition to the government package of maintenance grants.

Application and selection

How to apply

• Apply through UCAS

Advice to applicants

• Applicants submitting mitigating circumstances
• Home-schooled applicants
• Non-standard educational routes

Course details

Course description

• BASS Social Anthropology and Data Analytics is one of the pathways within the BA Social Sciences degree.
• It is ideal if you want to keep your options open or study specific topics such as race, class, crime or religion, from different perspectives.
• This flexible degree lets you study at least three subjects in the first year, and then throughout the second and third year you deepen your understanding of the subjects you feel passionate about.

Special features

• Professional Experience Year Opportunity
• Paid placement opportunity
• Study abroad

Teaching and learning

• Course units feature formal lectures supported by smaller tutorials or seminars, where you explore the contents of lectures and recommended reading in greater depth.
• Tutorials and seminars are key in improving your written and oral communication skills through group discussions, essay-writing, and presentations.
• You are assigned an Academic Advisor who takes a friendly interest in your progress, and can advise you on selecting course units and career opportunities.

Coursework and assessment

• The way that you study and are assessed will depend on which course units you choose. Our methods are designed to promote in-depth learning and understanding, including:
  • essays, coursework, and other mid-term evaluations;
  • dissertations;
  • presentations;
  • group projects;
  • exams.

Course content

Year 1

• Year 1 gives you a broad introduction to the Social Sciences, enabling you to make an informed choice of areas to specialise in for your second and third years.
• Course units for year 1:
  • Key Ideas in Social Anthropology
  • Intro to Ethnographic Reading
  • Engaging With Social Research
  • Measuring Inequalities (Unequal Societies)
  • Applied Statistics for Social Scientists
  • Crime and Society
  • Criminological Research Methods
  • Foundations of Criminal Justice
  • Psychology, Crime and Criminal Justice
  • Making Sense of Criminological Data
  • An Introduction to Development Studies
  • Microeconomics 1
  • Macroeconomics 1
  • Criminal Law (Humanities)
  • Introduction to Ethics
  • Studying Philosophy
  • Critical Thinking
  • History of Philosophy
  • Introduction to Metaphysics and Epistemology
  • Introduction to Philosophy of Mind
  • Introduction to Comparative Politics
  • Introduction to Comparative Politics
  • Making Sense of Politics
  • British Politics: Power and the State
  • Politics of the Global Economy
  • Introduction to International Politics
  • Introduction to Political Theory
  • Power and Culture: Inequality in Everyday Life
  • Cultural Diversity in Global Perspective
  • Regional Studies of Culture: 1
  • Regional Studies of Culture: 2
  • Introduction to Business Anthropology: Consumers, Companies and Culture
  • Digital Sociology
  • Environment and Society
  • Inequalities in Contemporary British Society
  • Contested Foundations of Social Thought
  • Contemporary Social Thought
  • Global Social Challenges
  • Getting Personal: Intimacy and Connectedness in Everyday Life
  • Work, Organisations and Society
  • Understanding Social Media
  • Displaying 10 of 41 course units for year 1
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Year 2

• In Year 2 you begin to specialise. If you specialise in one subject you take 60 to 80 credits in it.
• If you specialise in two subjects you take 40 credits in each.
• Course units for year 2:
  • Essentials of survey design and analysis
  • Policing and the Police
  • Explaining Crime and Deviance
  • Making Sense of Criminological Data
  • Modelling Criminological Data
  • Understanding Punishment
  • Criminology and Criminal Justice in Action
  • Qualitative Approaches to Data Collection and Analysis in Criminology
  • Philosophy of Religion
  • Applied Philosophy
  • Philosophy of Race
  • Formal Logic
  • British Empiricism
  • Ethics
  • 20th Century Analytical Philosophy
  • Philosophy of Science
  • Existentialism
  • Hegel and Marx
  • Politics by Numbers
  • Security Studies
  • Questions About International Politics
  • Politics & Society in Britain Since 1940: From Blitz to Brexit
  • Arguing About Politics: Political Theory in the World
  • The Politics of Globalisation
  • The Politics of Development
  • Gender and Politics in Comparative Perspective
  • The Politics of Policy Making
  • Ideals of Social Justice
  • How to Conduct Politics Research
  • Injustice and Resistance
  • Environmental Politics
  • Comparative West European Politics
  • Asia-Pacific Security
  • Anthropology of Kinship, Gender and Sex
  • Anthropology of Religion
  • Political and Economic Anthropology
  • The Ethnographer's Craft
  • Materiality and Representation
  • The Human and the Digital
  • Understanding Violence and Social Disorder
  • Current Issues of Violence and Social Disorder
  • Capitalism and Work
  • Social Network Analysis
  • Qualitative Research Design & Methods
  • Sustainability, Consumption & Global Responsibilities
  • Global Migration
  • Social Change in China
  • Social Class and Inequality in Britain
  • Families, Relationships and Everyday Life
  • Gender, Sexuality and Culture
  • Racism and Ethnicity in the UK
  • Introduction to Population Development & Social Change
  • Displaying 10 of 52 course units for year 2
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Year 3

• In Year 3 you pick your final areas of specialisation. If you specialise in one subject, you take 60 to 80 credits in it.
• If you specialise in two subjects you take 40 credits in each.
• Course units for year 3:
  • Answering Social Research Questions with Statistical Models
  • Drugs and Society
  • Comparative Criminology
  • Journeys out of Offending
  • Victims, Crime and Justice
  • Understanding and Responding to Organised Crime
  • Criminology and Mass Violence
  • Youth, Crime and Justice
  • White-Collar and Corporate Crime
  • Crime Mapping: an introduction to GIS and spatial analysis
  • The Criminal Psychopath
  • Philosophy of Language
  • Metaphysics
  • Special Author:Wittgenstein
  • Environmental Philosophy
  • Philosophy of Action
  • Phenomenology
  • Advanced Topics in Aesthetics
  • Language & Oppression
  • The Politics of the European Union
  • The Politics and Philosophy of Nationalism
  • Gender, Sex and Politics
  • Elections and Voters in Britain
  • Dimensions of Peace and Conflict: Disciplinary and Regional Approaches
  • Political Morality and Dirty Hands
  • Chinese Politics
  • Public Policy Problems
  • Revolutions in Global Politics
  • Introduction to International Political Economy
  • Gender, War & Militarism
  • Africa & Global Politics
  • Children, Family and Social Justice
  • American Politics: Why Do They Do That?
  • Global Capitalism, Crisis and Revolt
  • Contemporary Parliamentary Studies and the British Political Tradition
  • Postcolonial Politics
  • Between War and Peace
  • The International Political Economy of Trade
  • United States Foreign Policy: Dominance and Decline in a Complex World
  • Race, Ethnicity, Migration
  • Ukraine Rises: Democracy, Protest, Identity and War in Comparative Perspective
  • Capitalism and Sexuality
  • Indian Politics in Comparative Perspective
  • Decolonising Human Rights
  • Feminist Policymaking in Global Politics
  • Global Politics of LGBTQ+ Rights
  • Development, Conflict, and Democracy in Latin America
  • Anthropology of Development and Humanitarianism
  • The Anthropology of Health and Wellbeing
  • Urban Anthropology in Britain
  • Migrants, Borders and Im/mobilities
  • Dissertation B - 20 credit dissertation
  • Dissertation A
  • Screening Culture
  • Anthropology of Vision, Senses and Memory
  • Food and Eating: The Cultural Body
  • Extra-Terrestrial Anthropology
  • Sociology of Life and Death
  • Sociology of Human Animal Relations
  • Forced Migration
  • Racism and Resistance in Education
  • Material Culture: The Social Life of Things
  • A Sense of Inequality
  • Connections matter: Sociological Applications of Social Networks
  • Power and Protest
  • Social Thought from the Global South
  • Art and Society
  • Theory & Method in Demography
  • Network Analysis
  • Data Science Modelling
  • Quantitative Text Analysis in the Social Sciences
  • Causal Inference for Policies, Interventions and Experiments
  • Displaying 10 of 72 course units for year 3
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Careers

Career opportunities

• The University of Manchester has an excellent reputation for employability. For the past 5 years, we have been in the UK's Top Two most targeted universities by the UK's top 100 employers (High Fliers Graduate Market Report, 2020 - 2024).
• Our graduates pursue a variety of careers including journalism and media, charities, consultancy, civil service, finance, marketing, social work, teaching, law and postgraduate study.
• Recent graduates have gone on to work at:
  • the Royal Bank of Scotland;
  • the Department for Work and Pensions;
  • Manchester City Council, Social Services;
  • the South Omo Research Centre.

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• The University of Manchester is regulated by the Office for Students (OfS). The OfS aims to help students succeed in Higher Education by ensuring they receive excellent information and guidance, get high quality education that prepares them for the future and by protecting their interests. More information can be found at the OfS website.

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University of Manchester

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The University of Manchester is a renowned public research university located in Manchester, England. It is known for its academic excellence, research impact, and vibrant campus life.

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