We are delighted to offer this opportunity again this year to join undergraduate students in their first-year lectures and get a real flavour of what studying is like as an undergraduate student. The classes have been adapted for Open Campus students so there are no exams or assessments. They provide intellectually stimulating opportunities to undertake non-accredited learning in collaboration with the Department of Social Work and Social Policy. Social Policy looks at how societies produce, and sometimes fail to produce, human wellbeing. Access to an adequate income through work or social security; a warm, safe home; educational and career opportunities; good mental and physical health, and protection from crime are ideals that all societies aspire to, but often these are not the reality for everyone. Over seventy years after the development of comprehensive welfare states in many countries, they still experience social problems like poverty; economic, gender, race and disability inequalities; hunger and malnutrition; crime; housing insecurity and ill health, and some of these appear to be getting worse, not better. The Social Policy and Society in Contemporary Scotland module is an introduction to many of these issues, focusing on Scotland, and is now available to Centre for Lifelong Learning students, with the assessable elements removed so there are no exams or assignments. No prior knowledge of social policy is required.

A full induction session will be held on Monday 14 September at 11.00am in GH752, level 7, Graham Hills Building, 40 George Street, after which all students will have access to class materials and will attend class on campus each week. A full timetable will be provided at the induction session. There are 10 lectures in total. Please note the first lecture will be held on Monday 21 September at 11am and lecture two will be held on a Wednesday at 11am (due to university being closed for a public holiday on the 28 September). Classes thereafter are held on Mondays at 11 - 12pm.