Description
This qualification is only available until 31 December 2017.
To claim this qualification, you must complete the required 240 credits by this date.
If you have any questions about your eligibility for this qualification, please contact the Centre for Qualifications and Ceremonies on +44 (0)1908 653003 or by email.
Does material consumption make us happier? Is parenting a social as well as an individual activity? What impact is the financial crisis having on everyday households? In answering questions such as these, social science can change the way you look at the world forever. Social science studies how society is structured and the way that individuals, social groups and institutions interact and shape the world around us. This diploma course explores a range of subjects in the social sciences: sociology, psychology, social policy, criminology, economics, geography and politics. You’ll learn how social scientists go about their investigations, and how they find evidence to test their ideas and theories. You’ll also develop a wide range of skills enabling you to find and present information in different formats, and make robust social scientific arguments. You’ll have your own specialist, subject-based academic support for the Diploma of Higher Education in Combined Social Sciences, as well as opportunities to join in online communities of other social sciences students for teaching, learning and peer support.
This Diploma is designed to follow on from the Certificate of Higher Education in Social Sciences (C95) and if you have completed the certificate, you will already be half way towards this diploma. If you are awarded a Diploma of Higher Education in Combined Social Sciences, you will have completed study equivalent to the first two years of a full-time degree. Should you wish to progress to a degree it will provide both the subject knowledge and the study skills you need for Level 3 study.
The Level 2 compulsory module develops your knowledge across all the subjects of the social sciences and also offers you a diversity of key practical and professional skills – the building blocks for both independent learning and work-related skills.
There is a wide choice of social science subjects to choose from for the Level 2 optional module of this diploma.
Planning your studies
This diploma follows on from the Certificate of Higher Education in Social Sciences (C95), which forms the Level 1 requirement of this qualification, and leads to the BA/BSc (Hons) Combined Social Sciences (B69).
We strongly recommend that you complete the requirements of the certificate before you take any Level 2 modules and that you study the Level 2 compulsory module, The uses of social science (DD206), before progressing to an optional Level 2 module. Please see the guidance for the certificate to help you choose your Level 1 modules.
You should note that the University’s unique study rule applies to this qualification. This means that you must include at least 80 credits from OU modules that have not been counted in any other OU qualification that has previously been awarded to you. Before being awarded any intermediate qualifications, we advise you to check that you’ll have sufficient new credits to qualify for your diploma of higher education.
The modules listed can count towards this diploma after we have stopped presenting them for a maximum of twenty years for Level 1 modules and ten years for Level 2 modules.
Career relevance and employability
A qualification in combined social sciences could open up employment opportunities in business, banking, insurance, education, health professions, administration, law, social services, voluntary and campaigning organisations, the media, public relations, public service organisations and government (national and local), planning and environmental management, the criminal justice system and social welfare organisations.
The Diploma of Higher Education in Combined Social Sciences is equivalent to the first two years of a full time degree. A valuable qualification in its own right, it also provides a sound basis for further study. For example, you could progress to the BA (Hons) Combined Social Sciences or another of our social sciences degrees.
As well as the specific knowledge related to this diploma course, you’ll develop a wide range of transferable and work-related skills that are highly valued by employers. These include:
- clarity of written communication
- critical thinking
- retrieval, analysis and evaluation of information using ICT
- problem solving
- time management and self-motivation
- ability to debate arguments effectively
- manipulating numbers and basic statistical data
- use of critical feedback to reflect and improve.
Careers and Employability Services have more information on how OU study can improve your employability.
Modules
60 credits from the following optional modules:
Level 1 optional modules |
Credits |
Next start |
- Introducing the social sciences (DD102)
|
60 |
|
- Investigating psychology 1 (DE100)
|
60 |
|
- You and your money: personal finance in context (DB123)*
|
30 |
|
Or, subject to the rules about excluded combinations, the discontinued 60-credit modules D103, DD100, DD101, the discontinued 30-credit modules DD121, DD122, DD131, DD132, DSE141
*Can only be studied if you have already studied one of the discontinued 30-credit modules
And an additional 60 credits from modules listed above or from the following optional modules:
Level 1 optional modules |
Credits |
Next start |
- An introduction to health and social care (K101)
|
60 |
|
- Discovering mathematics (MU123)
|
30 |
|
- English for academic purposes online (L185)
|
30 |
|
- Environment: journeys through a changing world (U116)
|
60 |
|
- Essential mathematics 1 (MST124)
|
30 |
|
- Introducing statistics (M140)
|
30 |
|
- Investigating the social world (DD103)
|
60 |
|
- The arts past and present (AA100)
|
60 |
|
- Understanding the autism spectrum (SK124)
|
15 |
|
Subject to the rules about excluded combinations, the discontinued modules A103, AZX103, A173*, A181*, B120, D170*, D171*, D172*, K100, KZX100, MST121, MU120, SDK125, SK183*, T172, T175, TU100, U122, W100, Y151*, Y156*, Y157*, Y158*, Y159*, Y160*, Y161*, Y162*, Y163*, Y164*, Y166*, Y176*, Y177*, Y178*, Y179*, Y180*, Y181*, Y182*, Y183*, Y186*
And 60 credits from the following compulsory module:
Level 2 compulsory module |
Credits |
Next start |
- The uses of social science (DD206)
|
60 |
|
And 60 credits from the following optional modules:
Level 2 optional modules |
Credits |
Next start |
- Environment: sharing a dynamic planet (DST206)
|
60 |
|
- International development: making sense of a changing world (TD223)
|
60 |
|
- Living in a globalised world DD205)
|
60 |
|
- Living psychology: from the everyday to the extraordinary (DD210)
|
60 |
|
- Running the economy (DD209)
|
60 |
|
- Understanding politics: ideas and institutions in the modern world (DD211)
|
60 |
|
- Welfare, crime and society (DD208)
|
60 |
|
Or, subject to the rules about excluded combinations, the discontinued modules D218, DA204, DD201, DD202, DD203, DSE212, U213, U216
* You may only count up to 30 credits of 10-credit or 15-credit modules toward this qualification.
The modules listed can count towards this diploma for a maximum of twenty years for Level 1 modules, and ten years for Level 2 modules, after we have stopped presenting them.
Learning outcomes
The learning outcomes of this qualification are described in four areas:
- Knowledge and understanding
- Cognitive skills
- Practical and professional skills
- Key skills
Read more detailed information about the learning outcomes, and how they are acquired through teaching, learning and assessment methods.
Credit for previous study elsewhere
If you have already completed some successful study at higher education level at another institution we may be able to give you credit for this study that you can count towards this Open University qualification. You can find out more on our Credit Transfer site. If you make a successful claim for transferred credit it may affect your choice of courses so you are advised to investigate this option as soon as possible.
On completion
On successful completion of the required modules you will be awarded a Diploma of Higher Education in Combined Social Sciences, and will be entitled to use the letters Dip HE (Open) after your name.
Regulations
As a student of The Open University, you should be aware of the content of the qualification-specific regulations below and the academic regulations that are available on our Student Policies and Regulations website.
How to register
If you want to study for this qualification, read the description and check you meet any specific requirements (for example, some of
our qualifications, require you to be working in a particular environment, or be sponsored by your employer). Then select the
module you wish to study first and ensure it is suitable for you before following the registration procedure for that module.
During the registration procedure you will be asked to declare which qualification you are studying towards.
See a full list of modules available for this qualification