Sociology is an extremely versatile degree in the employment market with 60% of graduates telling us that they have chosen to go directly into employment within 15 months of graduation.

Data obtained from

• Single and joint honours Sociology (BSc and MSci) courses, including those with study abroad
• Graduates from the UK 

Responses were received from 32 graduates from 2019/20; this is a response rate of 64%

Destinations

Most important activity	Percentage of graduates
Paid work for an employer	75%
Self-employment/freelancing	3.1%
Running my own business	0%
Developing a creative, artistic or professional portfolio	0%
Voluntary/unpaid work for an employer	0%
Engaged in a course of study, training or research	12.5%
Taking time out to travel	0%
Caring for someone	0%
Retired	0%
Unemployed and looking for work	6.3%
Doing something else	3.1%

Sector information

Many Sociology graduates are attracted to careers where they can explore areas of work focusing on their interest in society or supporting individual members of society. This is why careers in the charity and voluntary sector, education, law, and local or national government are consistently popular. We also see a constant flow of sociology graduates into careers in healthcare and media.

Employment sector	Number of graduates
General secondary education	2
Regulation of the activities of providing health care, education, cultural services and other social services, (not social security)	3
Other human health activities	2
Justice and judicial activities	1
Other sectors (12 sectors)	14

Employers and occupations

Other graduates of Sociology decide to use the range of transferable skills they have developed during their course at Bristol to enter a profession totally unrelated to their degree. Bristol Sociology graduates have a diverse range of abilities and strengths which appeal to employers recruiting into careers that do not require a specific degree. In fact 70% of jobs are open to graduates of any discipline. These include areas such as IT, finance and other commercial fields.

Examples of employers

• Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service
• Bristol City Council
• Imperial Brands
• NHS
• Welsh Assembly Government

Examples of occupations

• Assistant Researcher
• Civil Servant
• Commercial Analyst
• Project Officer
• Social Media Manager

Further study

Qualification type	Percentage of graduates
Higher degree, mainly by research (e.g. PhD, DPhil, MPhil, MRes)	0%
Higher degree, mainly by taught course (e.g. MA, MSc, MBA)	57.1%
Postgraduate diploma or certificate (including PGCE/PGDE)	28.6%
Professional qualification	0%
Undergraduate degree (including integrated master’s degrees) (e.g. BA, BSc, MBChB, MEng)	0%
Other undergraduate diploma or certificate not specified above	0%
Other qualification	14.3%
Not aiming for a formal qualification	0%