社会政策是对社会内部福利和福祉分配以及影响该分配的政策的研究。首先，重点是社会和经济变化，其成因及其对社会的影响。具体而言，社会政策考虑了社会保障，健康，教育，住房，个人社会服务，刑事司法系统和劳动力市场等服务的组织如何影响和减轻社会变革的影响。通过反映政策的制定方式，学生将了解英国的政策制定过程（包括苏格兰和其他地方的权力下放）以及欧盟和OECD等国际机构的影响。爱丁堡的经验取材于大学在苏格兰政府所在地的位置，该大学负责大部分社会政策职能，并通过数十年来对该学科的教学和研究建立了从业者网络。
This popular joint degree programme provides a grounding in both Social Policy and Politics, two subjects which complement and enrich each other.<br>Year 1- You will take Social Policy & Society, which revolves around three main themes: social needs, social problems and social rights, and how different debates about welfare have been influenced by these themes. You will study Politics of the Welfare State, which examines social policy as a political issue in the UK. It introduces you to the politics of the area that constitutes one of the largest sets of government expenditure. You will be confronted with debates about the different ways of delivering welfare and the interplay between the state and the private sector. You can choose option courses from other academic areas and will also take the course Fundamentals of Social Policy, which provides the key subject-specific learning skills you'll use in your further years of study. Year 2- You will take European Social Policy, which compares different approaches to social policy in various European countries. You will also take Evidence, Politics and Policy as well as further Fundamentals courses, which will equip you with analytical skills needed to engage with controversial policy issues in public debate. You will also study other compulsory courses appropriate to your programme and will select one option course. Year 3- You can study option courses that cover areas such as family policy, labour market policies, social inequalities, criminal justice, health policy and education policy. You will also take at least one course on research methods. Year 4- You will continue to take social policy courses and will complete an individual research project. This may involve collecting and analysing data and information from sources such as the European Commission, UK Government, Scottish Government, local authorities and voluntary organisations.