Students and Teachers
Menu
Q-Step launched in 17 universities in 2013/14 as a response to the shortage of quantitatively-skilled social science graduates. An independent evaluation found that Q-Step training equips students with a deep and secure grasp of the skills needed to make sense of data in research and professional settings. It also boosts their employment prospects. Q-Step was created and funded by the Nuffield Foundation and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). In 2022, universities started to fund their Q-Step Centres directly.
Final year Q-Step undergraduates and graduates are invited to join a LinkedIn community where jobs and research ideas and papers can be posted, and networks can develop.
Social science explains how society works and is the key to making sense of data.
Menu
For students
Seventeen universities across the UK have a Q-Step Centre which supports the development and delivery of specialist undergraduate programmes.
This includes the creation of new courses, work placements, and pathways to postgraduate study with an emphasis on improving and growing undergraduates’ high-level quantitative skills.
Q-Step Centres deliver quantitative skills training that provides a deep and secure grasp of the quantitative research methods needed to evaluate evidence and analyse data. Courses include ‘3+1’ four-year degree programmes providing training equivalent to a combined Bachelors and Masters course – and sequences of courses leading to a BSc or BA. The majority of Q-Step Centres offer courses that provide links to Masters degrees.
Q-Step Centres also offer a broad range of summer schools, research placements and internships and most are engaged in outreach work with schools to support teachers and encourage student recruitment.
Why study a Q-step social science degree?
Social science is the scientific study of society and the ways in which we relate to one another. It helps explain how society works – from the causes of unemployment or what drives economic growth, to how and why people vote, or what makes people happy. Social scientists are influential because the work they do helps determine government policy and can change how we interact with the institutions and environments that influence our behaviour, such as the legal system, social services, our neighbourhoods, schools and universities.
During a Q-Step degree programme, you can learn how to:
Design surveys and experiments, and how to analyse and interpret the data they generate.
Analyse and interpret data from other sources, such as social media data, data collected by government departments and agencies, and data from longitudinal cohort studies.
Evaluate the quality of other people’s data collection and analysis, as well as developing an understanding of what constitutes good – and bad! – evidence and how you can use it to make decisions.
Plus, take part in work placements and apply your knowledge and skills in a professional environment. Q-Step students have completed placements in a range of organisations including Yougov, Office for National Statistics, Citizens Advice Bureau, HMI Probation and Ofstead.
Studying for a social science degree at a Q-Step Centre will enable you to ask important questions about society and give you the necessary skills to answer them. Why does life expectancy vary depending on where you live? Why do opinion polls sometimes get it wrong? Can we predict the next recession? Is the level of violent crime going up or down? Quantitative skills are highly desired by employees across all sectors and the skills you’ll learn during your Q-Step degree will equip you for a range of well-paid careers.
Q-Step career paths
Quantitative skills are interdisciplinary and transferable. With a Q-Step degree you could:
Pursue a career as a policy advisor or analyst in the public sector, in business or for a charity.
Work in market research for a professional services company, local government or a trade union.
Become an investigative or data journalist, an economist or statistician.
Undertake postgraduate study and become a researcher in your specialist area in a university, think tank, or the civil service.
Apply your skills in many different industries and services, such as healthcare, finance or education.
For employers
Seventeen universities across the UK have a Q-Step Centre which supports the development and delivery of specialist undergraduate programmes.
This includes the creation of new courses, work placements, and pathways to postgraduate study with an emphasis on improving and growing undergraduates’ high-level quantitative skills.
Q-Step Centres deliver quantitative skills training that provides a deep and secure grasp of the quantitative research methods needed to evaluate evidence and analyse data. Courses include ‘3+1’ four-year degree programmes providing training equivalent to a combined Bachelors and Masters course – and sequences of courses leading to a BSc or BA. The majority of Q-Step Centres offer courses that provide links to Masters degrees.
Q-Step Centres also offer a broad range of summer schools, research placements and internships and most are engaged in outreach work with schools to support teachers and encourage student recruitment.
Benefits to host organisations
Work placements give students the opportunity to use their training in quantitative research methodologies and contribute to a project with a significant data analysis component.
Most Q-Step degrees require students to undertake work placements, usually one day a week towards the end of their second year of study, or full-time over 4-8 weeks during the summer.
Provide invaluable experience to students with strong quantitative research skills.
Help develop talented students and offer graduate positions.
Provide staff the opportunity to mentor a student and develop their management skills.
Strengthen links with the higher education sector.
Working with Q-Step has given us access to strong students with good quantitative skills, who want to put these skills in practice. The Q-Step placement scheme is an excellent way that we can work together with social science students at the University of Leeds to undertake joint projects on important issues for the Yorkshire region.Mark Goldstone, Head of Business Representation and Policy, West and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce
Provide a work placement
Q-Step Centres are always looking for employers who are interested in providing work placements. If you would like to learn more, please contact your local Q-Step centre stating your organisation, the type of project you could offer a Q-Step student and where the student would be based.
Q-Step Evaluation
The Applied Quantitative Methods (AQM) pathway allows you to start a different conversation with employers – one about politics as an exciting, forward-thinking and data driven degree. As a student competing to get a job at a top agency, AQM has helped me stand out from other applicants. On my placement at Colchester Borough Council, I worked with huge datasets, learned a new programming language, and made an end product that I was proud of. The placement has helped me make decisions about what I want to do in life.James Potter, BA Politics, University of Essex
After completing his degree, James secured a job as a Marketing Executive for customer acquisition company, MVF Global.
Universities were selected to become Q-Step Centres through an open application process, with a panel of international peer reviewers and an independent selection board.
University of Bristol Q-Step Centre
BSc / MSci Childhood Studies with Quantitative Research Methods (L522/L523)
Visit Bristol Q-Step Centre
BSc / MSci Geography with Quantitative Research Methods (F802 / F804)
BSc / MSci Politics with Quantitative Research Methods (L202 / L203)
BSc / MSci Social Policy with Quantitative Research Methods (L402 / L403)
BSc / MSci Sociology with Quantitative Research Methods (L302 / L303)Cardiff University Q-Step Centre
BSc Social Analytics (J3G5)
Visit Cardiff Q-Step CentreCity, University of London Q-Step Centre
Visit London, City Q-Step CentreBSc Criminology with Quantitative Methods (4T82)
BSc Sociology with Quantitative Methods (L300)
BSc Criminology and Sociology with Quantitative Methods (L390)
BSc Media, Communication and Sociology with Quantitative Methods (PL33)The with Quantitative Methods courses are available to students at the end of their first year of study.
University of Edinburgh Q-Step Centre
MA (Hons) Government, Policy and Society with Quantitative Methods (L231)
Visit Edinburgh Q-Step Centre
MA (Hons) International Relations with Quantitative Methods (2W3A)
MA (Hons) Politics with Quantitative Methods (8M9D)
MA (Hons) Social Policy with Quantitative Methods (4T6H)
MA (Hons) Sociology with Quantitative Methods (5S9K)University of Essex Q-Step Centre
Visit Essex Q-Step CentreBSc Accounting and Finance (Applied Quantitative Methods) (N420)
BSc Banking and Finance (Applied Quantitative Methods) (N390)
BSc Finance (Applied Quantitative Methods) (N300)
BA International Relations (Applied Quantitative Methods) (L258)
BA Philosophy, Politics and Economics (Applied Quantitative Methods) (L0V0)
BA Politics (Applied Quantitative Methods) (L200)
BA Sociology (Applied Quantitative Methods) (L300)
BA Sociology and Criminology (Applied Quantitative Methods) (LM39)
BA Sociology with Social Psychology (Applied Quantitative Methods) (CL83)The Applied Quantitative Methods (AQA) pathway is available for over 30 different degrees at the University of Essex.
University of Exeter Q-Step Centre
BSc Politics and International Relations (L292)
Visit Exeter Q-Step Centre
BSc Sociology with Applied Data Analysis (L303)
BSc Criminology (M900)University of Glasgow Q-Step Centre
Visit Glasgow Q-Step CentreMA (Social Sciences) Sociology with Quantitative Methods (L292/L293)
MA (Social Sciences) Politics with Quantitative Methods (L302/L303)
MA (Social Sciences) Social and Public Policy with Quantitative Methods (L430)
MA (Social Sciences) Central and East European Studies with Quantitative Methods (RL84)
MA (Social Sciences) Economic and Social History with Quantitative Methods (V300)The with Quantitative Methods courses are available to students at the end of their first year of study.
University of Kent Q-Step Centre
BSc (Hons) Statistical Social Research (3+1 option) (L9G3)
Visit Kent Q-Step CentreUniversity of Leeds Q-Step Centre
Visit Leeds Q-Step CentreBA Politics with Quantitative Methods (L200)
BA Politics and Parliamentary Studies with Quantitative Methods (L242)
BA International Relations with Quantitative Methods (L254)
BA International Development with Quantitative Methods (L920)
BA Geography (with Quantitative Research Methods)All programmes are offered as a four-year variant including either a study abroad year or a placement year between years two and four. The with Quantitative Methods courses are available to students at the end of their first year of study.
Manchester Metropolitan University Q-Step Centre
BSc Sociology with Quantitative Methods (S5Q7)
Visit Manchester Metropolitan Q-Step Centre
BSc Criminology with Quantitative Methods (C268)
BSc Criminology and Sociology with Quantitative Methods (C2S7)
MSc Applied Quantitative MethodsUniversity of Manchester Q-Step Centre
BA Sociology and Quantitative Methods (52L8)
Visit Manchester Q-Step Centre
BA Politics and Quantitative Methods (P467)
BA Criminology and Quantitative Methods (C856)
BA Philosophy and Quantitative Methods (P567)
BA Social Anthropology and Quantitative Methods (S456)University of Nottingham Q-Step Centre
BA Criminology with Quantitative Methods
Visit Nottingham Q-Step Centre
BA Geography with Quantitative Methods
BA Law with Quantitative Methods
BA Politics and International Relations with Quantitative Methods
BA Sociology with Quantitative MethodsUniversity of Oxford Q-Step Centre
Visit Oxford Q-Step CentreBA Philosophy, Politics and Economics (L0V0)
BA History and Politics (LV21)Revised curriculum in Politics contains a compulsory Quantitative Methods component.
University of Sheffield Q-Step Centre
BA Quantitative Social Sciences (L435)
Visit Sheffield Q-Step Centre
BA Applied Social Sciences (L431)
BSc Applied Social Sciences (L305)
MA Social ResearchQueen’s University Belfast Q-Step Centre
BA Sociology and Quantitative Research (L301)
Visit Queen’s Belfast Q-Step CentreUniversity College London Q-Step Centre
BA Geography with Quantitative Methods (L700)
Visit UCL Q-Step Centre
BSc Philosophy, Politics and Economics (4V86)
BSc Population Health (170C)
BSc Social Sciences with Quantitative Methods (LG33)
BA European Social and Political Studies (R990)University of Warwick Q-Step Centre
BA Sociology and Quantitative Methods (52L8)
Visit Warwick Q-Step Centre
BA Politics, International Studies and Quantitative Methods (7L29)
Commonly asked questions
What subjects are offered at Q-Step Centres?
How do I apply for a Q-Step degree?
What are the entry requirements for Q-Step degrees?
How long does a Q-Step degree take?
Do I need to be studying a social science subject at A or AS level (or equivalent) to apply for a Q-Step degree?
Do I need to be studying maths to apply for a Q-Step degree?
I’m studying advanced maths – will a Q-Step degree enable me to use and develop my maths skills?
What are Q-Step work placements?
When do the Q-Step work placements happen?
Who organises Q-Step work placements?
What do Q-Step work placements offer students?
What do Q-Step work placement offer host employers?
What kinds of project could the Q-Step work placement cover?
What supervision or management is required by the host employer?
Does the host employer have to pay the student?
What are the health and safety obligations for employers?
What’s the process for applying to provide a Q-Step placement?
