College of Social Sciences

Second year as a social sciences student

Registration and enrolment opening date for 2026 is still to be confirmed...

Second Year

In your second year, you will continue to study your two main subjects at level 2 (e.g. CEES2011, PUBPOL2010, etc.) while dropping your third subject and instead picking up other courses in its place to meet your credit requirements for the year (120 credits across both semesters). 

Both your main subjects should offer you a path to Honours even if you plan to study for a Single Honours degree. You will need to meet any credit requirements for these subjects. Often this will be 40 credits across both semesters, but for some subjects you may have to do more credits.

Your remaining credits should be used for choosing elective courses at level 1 (i.e. the same level of study as your first year courses). This is a good chance to try something new or to pick up courses that will help you develop different kinds of skills and knowledge. There are a wide range of course options available to you from across the University, and it can be quite difficult to know which to choose. To help with navigating these choices, we've highlighted a few different types of course that you may want to consider below. 

When making these choices, ensure that you will have at least 160 credits of qualifying social sciences courses by the end of year 2. If you transferred to the MA Social Sciences from another degree at the end of year 1, this requirement reduces to 100 credits.

All these coures should be available for you to select during enrolment. If you encounter any issues please contact the Curriculum Guidance and Support Team through the helpdesk rather than contacting the subject areas directly.

Answers to some of the most commonly asked questions about second year can be found below in our Q&A section.

Extended Orientation: Pathfinder

Pathfinder is unique to the MA Social Sciences and has been designed to be your guide as you move through your pre-honours years. Pathfinder is what we call an extended orientation; it follows on from your Orientation in Welcome Week and is intended to equip you with the information and tools you need to thrive at UofG, without overwhelming you by sharing too much all at once! New topics are released at specific points throughout the academic year, to align with key transition points in the pre-honours student journey.

Pathfinder has been co-developed by and for MA Social Sciences students and includes a mix of interactive activities including short videos, quizzes and games. You will also have opportunities to engage directly with our student tutor team and your fellow classmates through discussion forums. You can work through the Pathfinder content at your own pace, and you’ll receive emails whenever new content has been unlocked.

All second year MA Social Sciences students will be automatically enrolled in time for the Pathfinder launch in week 1 of teaching. You will receive an email when Pathfinder is live, so look out for an email from the College Student Experience team in September.

Interdisciplinary Learning: Curriculum for Life

Curriculum for Life (C4L) is a new initiative at the University which provides you with opportunities to develop yourselves as global citizens, creative leaders, change makers and social innovators. Students on the MA Social Sciences and MA had access to six new courses in 2025/26, to help you develop the skills to tackle real-world challenges and provide you with the opportunity to collaborate with people across different Subjects, Schools and degree programmes, broadening your perspective beyond the traditional learning environment. In 2026/27, there will be even more courses and we look forward to telling you all about them soon!

All C4L courses are designed to welcome students from any academic background, so there are no pre-requisites. Each course is worth 10 or 20 credits and is compatible with progressing to your preferred Honours combination. They will be counted as Social Sciences qualifying courses for progression purposes. 

Information about the existing courses is provided on the C4L web pages and will be updated for 2026/27 in March.

Semester 1

  • EDUC1138: Collaborations in Practice (20 credits)
  • SPS1001: Measuring Your Social World QM1 (20 credits)

Semester 2

  • LIBARTS1002 C4L Intercultural Literacies (20 credits)
  • MED1020: Making Sense of Problem Substance Abuse in Scotland (10 credits)
  • PSYCH1012: Applied Data Skills (20 credits)
  • SPS1010: Does Scotland Need Human Rights? Mobilising for Change with Civil Society (10 credits)

The courses should appear in your “add by requirements” in MyCampus, once you are in a position to enrol in August/September.

Learn a Language

The School of Modern Languages and Cultures offers a range of languages for international mobility courses. These are primarily aimed at students who are considering completing a semester abroad in the third year of their studies, but may also be of interest to students on a range of degree plans where some knowledge of another language may be beneficial. There are courses for complete beginners and those with some basic grounding in the following languages:

  • Arabic
  • Chinese
  • French
  • German
  • Italian
  • Japanese
  • Portuguese
  • Russian
  • Spanish
  • Ukranian

Typically, you can take up to 20 credits in these courses with 10 credits each semester. There are some other language courses offered by the School however these might not become available until closer to the start of semester (and we cannot guarantee that there will be space).

Introductory Science Courses

While social science students tend to be drawn to courses about the social, economic and political worlds, having a grounding in the natural sciences is essential in an ever more technology advanced world. The College of Science and Engineering offers a range of 20 credit introductory courses which may be of particular interest to MA Social Sciences students.

Some of these courses require you to take equivalent courses in both semester 1 and 2. Some of them also require you to have met some minimum grade requirements in some maths or science subjects at Higher level (or equivalent). Details can be found in the course links below.

Semester 1

Semester 2

Alternatively, you can take some other science course to make up credits. For instance, Physics run a course on the Science of Musical Instruments & Accoustics in semester 2.

Quantitative Methods and Statistics Skills

In our data-driven world, skills in statistical data and quantitative methods of analysis are increasingly important. As a MA Social Sciences student, you have various options available to you for developing these skills.

If you are studying one of the social science subjects offered by the School of Social and Political Sciences (CEES, ESH, IR, Politics, Sociology, or Social and Public Policy) then you could consider doing courses in quantitative methods as your electives:

You can do these courses for credit during your second year, and then decide if you would like to continue studying these as part of a 'with quantitative methods' degree. You can find more information on the Q-Step website.

Alternatively, you the School of Maths and Statistics offers introductory courses in Statistics which are designed for students from a range of different backgrounds.

Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences

There are a very wide range of courses offered by the Schools of Critical Studies, Culture & Creative Arts, and Humanities (all in the College of Arts and Humanities) which are open to MA Social Sciences. While you can enrol in most level 1 courses in these schools, there may be some restrictions due to capacity and timetabling constraints. For instance, you will not be able to enrol in Film and Television Studies or Cultural Industries.

There are also several social sciences courses available to year 2 students, noting that the list is subject to change in 2026/27. These include courses offered by the Schools of Education and Law.

Introduction to Business Reporting & Financial Accounting ACCFIN1001
Introduction to Management Accounting and Control ACCFIN1006
Introduction to Finance, Investments and Institutions ACCFIN1016
CEES 1A: Central and Eastern Europe in the Age of Stalin CEES1015
CEES 1B: Communism and its Collapse CEES1016
Introductory Economics ECON1010
Introduction to Alternative Perspectives in Economics ECON1011
Fundamentals of Education 1A EDUC1012
Fundamentals of Education 1B EDUC1013
ESH 1A: Economic and Social History in Global Contexts ESH1001
ESH 1B: Themes in Globalisation ESH1002
Geography 1: Living in a changing world GEOG1001
Business Law LAW1001
Public International Law LAW1006
Roman Law of Property and Obligations 1 LAW1007
Entrepreneurship: New Venture Creation MGT1003
Social and Public Policy 1A: Foundations of Welfare PUBPOL1010
Social and Public Policy 1B: Understanding Glasgow in a Globalised World PUBPOL1011

Any social sciences course not on this list is not open to select as an elective due to capacity and timetabling constraints.

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