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Philosophy, Politics and Economics

Entry requirements


A level

A*,A,A

Please note that A-level General Studies, Critical Thinking, Thinking Skills and Global Perspectives are not accepted by King's as one of your A levels. Additionally, GCSE Maths at grade 7 or A (or equivalent).

Access to HE Diploma

D:39,M:6,P:0

Cambridge International Pre-U Certificate - Principal

D2,D3,D3

Please note that Global Perspectives is not accepted by King’s as one of your Pre-U Principal subjects. Combinations of Pre-U principal subjects and other qualifications (such as A-levels) will be considered. Additionally, GCSE Maths at grade 7 or A (or equivalent).

GCSE/National 4/National 5

All applicants must obtain or have obtained grade 7 or A in GCSE Mathematics

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme

35

including 7,6,6 at Higher Level. Note the total point score of 35 includes TOK/EE. Additionally, GCSE Maths at grade 7 or A (or equivalent).

Leaving Certificate - Higher Level (Ireland) (first awarded in 2017)

H1,H1,H1,H2,H2,H2

Please see our online prospectus for further details on our BTEC entry requirements.

Scottish Advanced Higher

A,A

Must be combined with three Scottish Highers. We do not count the Higher and Advanced Higher in the same subject. Applicants must also hold Standard Credit Grade 1 or 2/Intermediate 2/grade A National 5 in Maths or equivalent.

Scottish Higher

A,A,B

Must be a combination of three Scottish Highers and two Scottish Advanced Highers. We do not count the Higher and Advanced Higher in the same subject.

UCAS Tariff

93-152

We've calculated how many Ucas points you'll need for this course.

About this course


Course option

3years

Full-time | 2024

Subjects

Philosophy

Economics

Politics

Our Philosophy, Politics & Economics (PPE) BA/BSc is a high-quality, interdisciplinary course that will equip you with the skills and knowledge to understand and analyse the political and economic institutions of the 21st century, both in the UK and globally. This course is taught jointly by the Department of Political Economy and the Department of Philosophy.

Key benefits
- You will learn to think critically and independently about fundamental issues in philosophy, politics, and economics and about the interaction between these disciplines.

- The Department of Political Economy has an interdisciplinary ethos that cultivates a highly stimulating intellectual environment, which attracts leading scholars from all over the world.

- Our Philosophy Department is one of the largest and most prominent departments at King's and currently ranked as one of the top three in the UK.

- We offer a wide range of optional modules, covering many areas of philosophy, politics and economics and their interrelations.

- This course enables you to develop an understanding of the relationship between political and economic processes, institutions and ideas, and the broader philosophical questions underlying public policy.

- In the 2018/19 National Student Survey the BA/BSc PPE Programme received an 88% student satisfaction rate

Tuition fees

Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:

Channel Islands
£9,250
per year
England
£9,250
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£9,250
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

The Uni


Course location:

King's College London, University of London

Department:

Political Economy

Read full university profile

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.

74%
Philosophy
78%
Economics
80%
Politics

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.

Philosophy

Teaching and learning

83%
Staff make the subject interesting
88%
Staff are good at explaining things
81%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
59%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

75%
Library resources
79%
IT resources
86%
Course specific equipment and facilities
60%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

53%
UK students
47%
International students
45%
Male students
55%
Female students
94%
2:1 or above
10%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

A
A
A

Economics

Teaching and learning

78%
Staff make the subject interesting
84%
Staff are good at explaining things
84%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
67%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

82%
Library resources
87%
IT resources
88%
Course specific equipment and facilities
71%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

42%
UK students
58%
International students
52%
Male students
48%
Female students
91%
2:1 or above
8%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

A
A
A

Politics

Teaching and learning

85%
Staff make the subject interesting
88%
Staff are good at explaining things
83%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
55%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

73%
Library resources
88%
IT resources
86%
Course specific equipment and facilities
56%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

38%
UK students
62%
International students
38%
Male students
62%
Female students
94%
2:1 or above
6%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

A
A*
A

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.

Philosophy

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.

£20,500
med
Average annual salary
89%
low
Employed or in further education
44%
low
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

15%
Other elementary services occupations
11%
Teaching and educational professionals
11%
Business, research and administrative professionals

Although there aren't a lot of jobs around for professional philosophers, philosophy degrees are a relatively popular option, with more than 2,000 students graduating in a philosophy-related subject in 2015 - a little down on previous years, but still healthy. Nearly a quarter of philosophy graduates take a postgraduate qualification, and it's a relatively common subject at both Masters and doctorate level — so if you think academic life might be for you, think ahead about how you might fund further study. For those who go into work, philosophy grads tend to go into teaching, accountancy, consulting, journalism, PR, housing, marketing, human resources and the arts while a few go into the computer industry every year, where their logical training is highly rated.

Economics

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.

£25,000
med
Average annual salary
95%
med
Employed or in further education
81%
med
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

21%
Business, finance and related associate professionals
19%
Sales, marketing and related associate professionals
15%
Business, research and administrative professionals

This is a degree in demand, as business increasingly needs workers who can examine and explain complex data. And yet the number of economics graduates fell by nearly 10% last year, which means demand is even greater. As so many economic grads go into banking and finance, it's not surprising that over half of all 2015's economics graduates who did go into work were working in London. And don't think it's just the finance industry that's interested in these graduates - there's a significant number who enter the IT industry to work with data as analysts and consultants. It's quite common for economics graduates to go into jobs such as accountancy and management consultancy which may require you to take more training and gain professional qualifications - so don’t assume you won’t have to take any more exams once you leave uni. And the incentive to take them, of course, is better pay, which will be on top of an already healthy average starting salary of over £30,000 for graduates working in the capital.

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.

£24,000
high
Average annual salary
95%
low
Employed or in further education
75%
high
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

17%
Business, finance and related associate professionals
15%
Sales, marketing and related associate professionals
14%
Business, research and administrative professionals

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.

What about your long term prospects?

Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.

Philosophy

The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.

£21k

£21k

£30k

£30k

£36k

£36k

Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.

Economics

The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.

£30k

£30k

£36k

£36k

Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.

Politics

The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.

£24k

£24k

£31k

£31k

£34k

£34k

Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.

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This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.

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Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):

We've received this information from the Department for Education, via Ucas. This is how the university as a whole has been rated for its quality of teaching: gold silver or bronze. Note, not all universities have taken part in the TEF.

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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?

Have a question about this info? Learn more here