Politics with History
UCAS Code: L2V2
Bachelor of Science (with Honours) - BSc (Hons)
Entry requirements
104 UCAS Tariff points, including a minimum of 2 A Levels. General Studies is accepted.
Considered in combination.
Pass a named Access to HE Diploma in any subject with at least 33 credits at Merit and/ or Distinction.
Considered in combination.
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
To include a Grade 4 in any subject at Higher Level. Maths and English accepted within
Leaving Certificate - Higher Level (Ireland) (first awarded in 2017)
Considered in combination
D*D - any subject accepted.
Considered in combination
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
Any subject is considered.
Considered in combination
104 UCAS Tariff points, including a minimum of 2 Advanced Highers,.
Considered in combination with Advanced Highers.
UCAS Tariff
Including a minimum of 2 A Levels. General Studies is accepted.
Considered in combination.
About this course
How do politics of the past affect today? Explore wider political systems and start to find out. Develop your understanding of politics in modern societies, focusing on how countries are governed and the relationships between nations. You’ll study the political, social, economic, artistic, intellectual and cultural history of past societies, from the fifteenth century to the present day. You’ll also debate political processes and systems and learn to identify political issues and events.
You will explore all aspects of history and traverse the world’s continents, from Britain and Europe to the Americas, Africa or Asia with your choice of modules. You’ll learn from research-active staff who are leaders in their subjects. You will also enhance your employability by taking part in our weekly events and talks, organised by the student-run Politics and International Affairs society (PIASOC).
* Develop specific knowledge of the disciplines of politics – understand the significance and nature of political processes, the variety of forms of government and the concepts that inform their operation.
* Engage with political institutions and processes to acquire a detailed knowledge of these systems and how they interact. You’ll use current affairs as case studies to bring broader principles to life.
* Explore all aspects of history and traverse the world’s continents, from Britain and Europe to the Americas, Africa or Asia with your choice of modules.
* Learn from research-active staff, leading the way in their subjects. Members of the team are internationally renowned for their work on elections and electoral systems and ethnopolitics.
* Enhance your employability by taking part in extra-curricular events and talks organised by the student-run Politics and International Affairs society (PIASOC).
* Open doors to a wide range of career opportunities including journalism, advertising, teaching, non-governmental organisation work and academia.
Modules
In your first year, you’ll be introduced to the importance of the twin themes of democracy and democratisation, and examine how different countries rule themselves. You’ll explore current affairs through case studies and begin to understand questions such as ‘What is politics?’, ‘What is power?’ and ‘What is a political system?’ You’ll have the opportunity to study world history since 1850 and look at the political, social and cultural evolution of the United States from Settlement to Empire.
In your second year, you'll build on your knowledge and sharpen your understanding of key issues in politics. You’ll also delve into topics at the heart of 21st century debate, including the EU, democracy and globalisation.
In your final year, you'll deepen your knowledge by engaging with key concepts and debates in modern politics. You’ll investigate ethnopolitics in contemporary Europe, the politics of the US and elections in the UK.
The modules shown for this course or programme are those being studied by current students, or expected new modules. Modules are subject to change depending on year of entry.
Assessment methods
26% of assessment is by exam and 74% by coursework
Tuition fees
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The Uni
University of Plymouth
School of Law, Criminology and Government
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See your living costsWhat 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.
History
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)
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.
History
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
What do graduate employment figures really tell you?History is a very popular subject (although numbers have fallen of late) — in 2015, over 10,000 UK students graduated in a history-related course. Obviously, there aren't 11,000 jobs as historians available every year, but history is a good, flexible degree that allows graduates to go into a wide range of different jobs, and consequently history graduates have an unemployment rate comparable to the national graduate average. Many — probably most — jobs for graduates don't ask for a particular degree to go into them and history graduates are well set to take advantage. That's why so many go into jobs in the finance industry, human resources, marketing, PR and events management, as well as the more obvious roles in education, welfare and the arts. Around one in five history graduates went into further study last year. History and teaching were the most popular further study subjects for history graduates, but law, journalism, and politics were also popular postgraduate courses.
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
What do graduate employment figures really tell you?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.
Sorry, no information to show
This is usually because there were too few respondents in the data we receive to be able to provide results about the subject at this university.
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.
£17k
£19k
£20k
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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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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