International Relations
University of Buckingham
UCAS Code: 9SIR | Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)
Entry requirements
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About this course
This course has alternative study modes. Contact the university to find out how the information below might vary.
Home of the two-year degree, the University of Buckingham, based in the South East of England, is ranked 6th for Student Satisfaction in the UK (National Student Survey, 2020).
We are proudly independent and not-for-profit, and offer courses in Allied Health, Business, Computing, Education, Humanities, Law, Medicine, Psychology and Security and Intelligence. We are one of the few universities in the UK that offer September and January start dates for almost all of our courses.
Based in Buckingham on a riverside campus, we are only 20 minutes’ from Milton Keynes central station and a short drive from Bicester, Aylesbury, Banbury and Northampton. There is free parking on-site and we are within easy reach of London and Oxford.
Our award-winning small class tutorials ensure every student is known by name and supported throughout their studies, including by dedicated personal tutors.
As pioneers of the two-year degree, we offer a condensed version of the traditional three-year degree, meaning you can gain a full honours degree and complete your studies a whole year earlier. Alternatively, you can complete both your undergraduate and master’s degree with us in just three years: saving you time and money.
The BA in International Relations provides a rigorous, wide-ranging education into the political structure of the world, and of a range of key countries and regions. Our degree focuses on how global order can be achieved even in the absence of world government. You will be taught about security, the world economy, globalisation, and the conflictual and cooperative engagement between states.
This is a 2-year degree, with entry points in September and January.
Graduates in International Relations are valued for their breadth of knowledge, critical thinking skills, writing and presentation abilities, and their capacity to work with others in groups. Our degree will equip you for high quality, graduate-level employment, as well as postgraduate study at Buckingham and other highly ranked universities. Buckingham itself is home to three important research centres, the Centre for United Nations Studies, the International Institute for the Study of Cuba, and the Buckingham University Centre for Security and Intelligence Studies (BUCSIS).
Central to the Buckingham experience is small group teaching and a problem-centred approach. Lectures themselves are interactive, with classes normally no larger than 50 students and tutorials – which the forum for group discussion – typically having eight students. Lectures and tutorials are taken by regular staff, who are experts in their field, and not by graduate teaching assistants. And academics have an open-door policy, so if you have problems or simply want to discuss further what has been presented in class you are welcome to do so.
Politics (which includes International Relations) was ranked Second in the UK in the 2022 National Student Survey. Buckingham is also strongly committed to free speech, as evidenced by its consistent awarding by Spiked magazine of "green" ("has not restricted or regulated speech").
Modules
Teaching is carried out through a combination of lectures supported by seminars and tutorials. A key feature of the Buckingham teaching method is the use of small tutorial groups which provide the most effective means of ensuring that the students benefit from the academic expertise at their disposal. It is also the philosophy of Buckingham’s faculty to be available to students outside the scheduled tutorial times and to encourage good working relationships between staff and students.
A range of activities is pursued within the tutorial groups depending upon the module. Some modules emphasise problem solving as a means of reinforcing and cementing the important ideas. Occasionally we use game playing to encourage discussion and understanding. Other modules place greater emphasis on writing short and accurate technical pieces or longer more discursive papers.
Assessment methods
The assessment of individual modules within each course varies according to the subject. Assessment is usually by examination, assessed coursework, or a combination of the two. Please check module information for more details.
Tuition fees
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The Uni
University of Buckingham
Humanities and Social Sciences
What students say
We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.
How do students rate their degree experience?
The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Politics
Teaching and learning
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
After graduation
The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Politics
What are graduates doing after six months?
This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.
Top job areas of graduates
The numbers of people taking politics degrees fell sharply last year and we'll keep an eye on this one - it can't really be because of graduates getting poor outcomes as politics grads do about as well as graduates on average. Most politics or international relations graduates don't actually go into politics - although many do, as activists, fundraisers and researchers. Jobs in local and central government are also important. Other popular jobs include marketing and PR, youth and community work, finance roles, HR and academic research (you usually need a postgraduate degree to get into research). Because so many graduates get jobs in the civil service, a lot of graduates find themselves in London after graduating. Politics is a very popular postgraduate subject, and so about one in five politics graduates go on to take another course - usually a one-year Masters - after they finish their degrees.
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This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).
This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.
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This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for undergraduate students only.
You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.
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Post-six month graduation stats:
This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.
It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.
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Graduate field commentary:
The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show
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The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.
While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?
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