School of Social Sciences
The School of Social Sciences hosts a range of programmes across a variety of subject areas including Criminology, Education, International Relations and Politics, Philosophy, and Sociology.
Welcome from the Head of School
Professor Mark Featherstone, Head of School of Social Sciences
I am very pleased to welcome all undergraduate and postgraduate students to the School of Social Sciences. We hope you will feel very much at home within your subject area/s as well as part of the wider School.
Established in 2019, the school brings together academics from Criminology, Education, International Relations, Philosophy, Politics, and Sociology. Each subject has its own very distinct identity, and the School seeks to retain this, whilst also fostering an interdisciplinary approach.
We hope to transform the lives of our students by teaching subjects through the lens of cutting-edge research, developing your knowledge and skills, and sparking new ways of thinking through critical analysis and effective communication. Whether you are a criminologist, International Relations scholar, or sociologist, your learning in the School will be informed by the most recent research in your chosen subject, encouraging philosophical, theoretical, and practical responses to some of the challenges facing contemporary society. With this, you will be prepared for a variety of careers through personal and professional development.
Keele is a special place founded upon community and a sense of mission concerned with improving the social world. This social mission remains at the heart of our approach to the cultural and human sciences today.
We look forward to exploring these challenges with you over the course of your time at Keele and very much hope that you will enjoy your studies and the many diverse opportunities that university life unfolds.
Criminology at Keele
Hear from our students and staff – who share their personal experiences of studying and teaching at Keele.
Get to know your School
Politics and International Relations at Keele
Hear from our students and staff – who share their personal experiences of studying and teaching at Keele.
Parliamentary studies module
A total of just 23 UK universities including Keele have been granted the right to offer the unique and highly regarded Parliamentary Studies module from the academic year 2024/25, with Keele academics and officials from both Houses of Parliament co-delivering the module. Parliamentary Studies will be an optional module choice for final year undergraduate students on select courses.
Facts and figures
Global Top 300 for Education (Times Higher Education World University Subject Rankings, 2022)
Global Top 300 for Social Sciences (Times Higher Education World University Subject Rankings, 2022)
4th in the UK for Politics and International Relations (National Student Survey, 2021)
Keele is Gold in the Teaching Excellence Framework 2023
Top 10 in England for Student Satisfaction (Guardian League Table, 2021)
No. 1 in the UK Britain's best university, as ranked by students (Student Crowd University Awards, 2022)
600+ acres Britain's biggest single-site campus
Global Sustainability Institution of the Year (International Green Gown Awards, 2021)