Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences

Our teaching excellence and real world experience encourage wider thinking. We help our students realise their potential and make a positive impact on society.

Our academic departments

Our six academic departments are research active and teach our portfolio of courses.

Department of Economics

We conduct high quality research and teaching in economics. Our graduates have excellent employment prospects due to our established industry placements scheme.

Department of Education

Mother helping her son with his homework

We conduct research and teach courses to further our understanding of a range of education-related issues nationally and internationally.

Department for Health

We deliver highly-rated courses in sport, exercise and health, alongside research to promote wellbeing and enhance functional performance.

Department of Politics, Languages & International Studies

We offer a range of undergraduate and postgraduate degrees spanning politics, languages, economics, international studies and interpreting.

Department of Psychology

Two researchers using a computer in a dark room

A large and growing team of staff offers expertise in a broad spectrum of psychology topics, which allows our students to work across traditional boundaries.

Department of Social & Policy Sciences

One of the UK's leading centres for social sciences, we offer degrees in sociology, social policy, social work, international development and criminology.

Research Excellence Framework 2021

REF assesses the quality of research in UK higher education institutions. Find out how our research is having a positive impact around the world on physical and mental health, economic well-being, climate change, education and political policy.

Read more about our `REF 2021 impact case studies

Latest research

Our research solves real world problems.

Prison Crisis and the Penal Merry-Go-Round

Professor Yvonne Jewkes addresses the current prison crisis and how continual changes in leadership contribute to an unsustainable penal system.

Supporting social work services for children in China

Chinese children gather together laughing.

Dr Louise Brown talks about innovations to support service development in a huge country.

Groundbreaking workshops for autistic people applying for universities and jobs

Students attend an autism summer school at Bath

The prospect of attending university or applying for a job can be scary for anyone, but autistic people have particular challenges, says Professor Mark Brosnan.

Placements

Many of our undergraduate students take a placement year as part of their degree. They are supported by our Faculty Placements Team.

Placement bursary scheme celebrates four years of student support

A student on placement outside the UN HQ

The HSS fund set up to help with the costs of low or unpaid placements is helping more students than ever before.

Took off from Malaysia, landed a job at the Bank of England

Grace Ling is a recent graduate from BSc (Hons) Economics at the University of Bath. She shares the memories of her journey as an international student.

Rewarding placements in Nepal and a residential care home

Chloe Collins presenting her placement poster at the Faculty Posters Exhibition

Chloe Collins is a final year undergraduate student on the Education with Psychology course. Read more about her placement year experience.

Changing our attitude towards body image

Liza Liew spent her placement year researching the perception of body image in young children.

News

View latest updates from the Faculty

Bath named top 10 globally for sports and in world's top-100 universities for seven subjects

University of Bath has been ranked in the world’s top 100 places in the QS World University subject rankings

Future Faculty: Change Makers event in Humanities & Social Sciences

Students at a round table discussing issues and solutions with members of staff

The Faculty event brought together over 50 staff and students to discuss commonly raised issues and to collaboratively develop solutions.

About us

We offer a diverse range of undergraduate courses covering economics, education, psychology, policy and languages. We also offer a variety of taught and research-based postgraduate courses, from master's to doctorate qualifications.

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Our team

View our teams or contact one of our departments.