Study opportunities

The University of Southampton offers the following postgraduate programmes in Demography and Social Statistics:

Other programmes

The Social Statistics Division, as part of the School of Social Sciences, is committed to providing excellent teaching. It uses both innovative and traditional teaching methods to provide a top class student experience.

At the postgraduate instructional level the Division is responsible for the MSc Demography, MSc Social Statistics (Research Methods pathway), MSc Social Statistics (Statiscs pathway) and the MSc Official Statistics. Statisticians in the University collaborate closely over postgraduate teaching. A number of courses are taught jointly for students both on the MSc Social Statistics and on the MSc Statistics with Applications in Medicine which is run by the School of Mathematics.

The MSc Social Statistics has been awarded the highest classification by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and is an approved course for '1+3' training in both demography and statistics. Many of the students taking the MSc Social Statistics are from overseas.

The MSc Official Statistics was introduced in the 1999-2000 academic year. This course is unique in that it is tailored to the advanced training needs of government statistical agencies and is built around courses that are presented as intensive one-week "modules".

The School of Social Sciences is at the forefront of the development of postgraduate training in research for research students. All research students must attend a course on research training which runs throughout their first year and introduces them to all aspects of both the philosophy of social scientific research as well as to practical aspects of undertaking research. The Division is recognised by the ESRC for the receipt of research studentships, with its training classified as Mode A.

Continuing Professional Development is provided in survey methods and statistics. Together with the National Centre for Social Research, London and the University of Surrey, the Department jointly hosts the Centre for Applied Social Surveys (CASS), an ESRC Resource Centre. Through CASS, the Division contributes to a programme of short courses on survey methods aimed at a national audience, including participants both from universities and other organisations conducting surveys. In statistics a distance learning package preparing students for the professional examinations of the Royal Statistical Society has been developed and attracts around 20-30 students each year.