Get degree ideas using our A level explorer tool

Politics and International Relations

Entry requirements


A level

A,A,A-A*,A,B

Typical Offer: AAA or A*AB in three A levels. Contextual Offer: AAB in 3 three A levels. Alternative offers with additional study: AAB in three A levels plus additional study - please see the course pages on our website.

Access to HE Diploma

D:36,M:3

A pass in the Access to HE Diploma with at least 36 credits achieved from units achieved at Distinction and 3 credits achieved at Merit or above. Although we do not specify any particular subjects or units, we expect at least one of your subjects to include academic essay writing.

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme

36

Typical Offer: 36 points overall and 6, 6, 6 or 7, 6, 5 in three Higher Level subjects. Contextual Offer: 36 points overall and 6, 6, 5 in three Higher Level subjects.

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)

DDD

DDD in the BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (RQF) in a relevant subject area. We prefer the above qualifications to be in a relevant subject area and are unable to consider qualifications in Public Services, Uniformed Protective Services, Travel and Tourism and other less relevant disciplines. If we make you an offer, we may specify particular units in which you will need to achieve Distinctions.

Scottish Advanced Higher

A,A

AA in two Advanced Highers. We make offers based on Advanced Highers. You will typically be expected to have completed five Scottish Highers and your grades in these will be considered as part of your application. We prefer applicants who have achieved at least AAAAB in their Highers.

UCAS Tariff

112-144

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

About this course


Course option

3years

Full-time | 2024

Subjects

International relations

Politics

Combine the study of politics and global affairs to develop the knowledge and skills needed to understand and respond to contemporary political challenges.

Deepen and develop your understanding of politics at local, domestic, regional and international levels.

You’ll gain the skills needed to critically analyse contemporary international and domestic socio-political challenges, from political polarisation to climate change. This will give you an effective platform to respond to key political factors that impact everyday life.

In Year 1, you’ll study topics such as political theory and analysis, international relations and British politics, the latter studied from a global and comparative perspective.

In Year 2, you'll increase your knowledge of political theory and international relations, and advance your skills in research design and data analysis. A range of optional units will give you the opportunity to specialise in areas such as foreign policy analysis or technology and politics.

In your final year, you’ll write a dissertation. You’ll also choose from a range of optional units, giving you the freedom to explore topics that interest you and prepare you for your potential future career. Optional units may cover areas like economic crises, war and peace or electoral politics.

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
Republic of Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£9,250
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

The Uni


Course location:

University of Bath

Department:

Politics, Languages and International Studies

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.

77%
International relations
77%
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.

Politics

Teaching and learning

79%
Staff make the subject interesting
85%
Staff are good at explaining things
85%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
69%
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

80%
Library resources
87%
IT resources
82%
Course specific equipment and facilities
63%
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?

77%
UK students
23%
International students
42%
Male students
58%
Female students
97%
2:1 or above
4%
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.

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.

£25,750
high
Average annual salary
98%
high
Employed or in further education
85%
high
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

19%
Business, research and administrative professionals
18%
Sales, marketing and related associate professionals
17%
Business, finance and related associate 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.

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.

£28k

£28k

£39k

£39k

£38k

£38k

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.

Share this page

This is what the university has told Ucas about the criteria they expect applicants to satisfy; some may be compulsory, others may be preferable.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

This is the percentage of applicants to this course who received an offer last year, through Ucas.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

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.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

Course location and department:

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.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

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.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

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.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

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.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

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.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

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

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

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