MA Social Change, Environment and Sustainability

• Explore the contribution of Sociology to addressing the global environmental crisis, and the challenges of building sustainable societies
• Engage with theories of social change and research on large-scale social transformations
• Gain the knowledge and skills to tackle complex problems around social change, the environment and sustainability
• Join one of the worlds leading universities for Sociology and Sustainability, ranked top 5 for Sociology in the UK and top in the UK (and second world-wide) for global impact against the UN's sustainable development goals (Times Higher Education, 2024). Our research leads the way and we're ranked in the UK's top three departments for sociology research (REF 2021)

The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report underscores that profound social change is urgently needed to mitigate climate change and meet other sustainability goals. Understanding processes of social, cultural, socio-economic, and socio-technical change and their dynamic relations to the global environmental and climate crisis is of profound importance and urgency.

The MA in Social Change, Environment and Sustainability responds to these needs by creating a world-leading postgraduate programme to develop a generation of graduates and researchers with the skills, knowledge and confidence to contribute to and lead in these transformational processes.

On this programme, you will explore the contribution of sociological understandings of social change to addressing the global environmental crisis, and the challenges of large-scale transformations towards sustainable societies. You will develop a theoretically sophisticated and empirically grounded understanding of processes of social change, and you will cover substantive knowledge of the relevant topics, issues and controversies from a social scientific perspective, such as:

• Energy use
• Climate change
• The global food system
• Biodiversity
• Green growth versus ‘de-growth’

You will also delve into cutting edge theoretical approaches to socio-economic, socio-technical and cultural change, and benefit from in-depth training in research methods and design.

Upon graduation, you will be equipped with the knowledge and skills to tackle complex problems rooted in the dynamic relationships between our socio-economic and socio-technical systems and the natural environment.

The University of Manchester is one of the UK’s leading universities for Sociology, and one of the world’s top universities for sustainability and global impact. Our Sociology department is ranked 5th in the UK (Times Higher Education, 2024), with its research achieving among the country’s top 3 universities for power and impact (REF 2021). The University is also ranked top in the UK and Europe (and 2nd world-wide) for global impact against the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (Times Higher Education Impact Rankings, 2024).

This MA is hosted in the Sociology department , and the core teaching team are members of the world leading Sustainable Consumption insittute . Sociology at Manchester is one of the UK's largest and most presitigious centres for the subject, with over 30 academic staff and 60 postgraduate researchers forming a diverse and rigorous academic community.

Full entry requirements

Applicants whose first language is not English should meet one of the following language requirements:

• IELTS Academic test score of 7 overall, including 7 in writing with no further component score below 6.5
• TOEFL IBT 100 with 25 in writing and no further score below 22 in each section. TOEFL code for Manchester is 0757
• Pearson Test of English (PTE) score of 76 overall, with 76 in writing and no further score below 70

Pre-Sessional English Courses

We will consider applicants who do not meet these scores but you may be required to complete a pre-sessional English language course at the University of Manchester prior to the start of the course.

To be considered for a pre-sessional English language course for this programme we require the following minimum IELTS (Academic) scores:

• 6 Week Pre-Sessional Course : IELTS 6.5 overall with 6.5 in writing and no more than one sub-skill of 6.0.
• 10 Week Pre-sessional Course : IELTS 6.0 overall with 6.0 or above in each sub-skill

If you have not yet completed your current academic study and are interested in studying a pre-sessional course, you must hold an IELTS for UKVI (Academic) test certificate to ensure that you are eligible for a separate visa for the English language course.

Career opportunities