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Philosophy, Politics and Economics

Entry requirements


A level

B,C,C-B,B,B

Typical Offer

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme

32

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

DDM

from relevant National Diploma

Scottish Advanced Higher

B,B,B

Scottish Higher

A,B,B,B

UCAS Tariff

104-144

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

About this course


Course option

2years

Full-time | 2024

Subjects

Philosophy

Economics

Politics

The University of Buckingham is:
- 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.

This degree combines the three important subjects of Philosophy, Politics and Economics. What makes it different to PPE offered in other universities is its integrated character, with a special focus on explaining how human behaviour shapes economic and political institutions.

In the Philosophy strand, you will take an Introduction to Philosophy module and study the Philosophy of Mind. In addition, there will be more specialised modules in political theory: Introduction to Political Theory; Freedom; Evolution and Human Cooperation. And students will receive a grounding in the Philosophy of Social Science. There is also an option to study Aesthetics.

The Politics element of the degree focuses on area and country studies, with a particular emphasis on political order and security challenges. Those challenges vary from region to region but typically take the form of political violence (war, terrorism and organised crime), mass migration and economic instability. Students are encouraged to approach these problems from a number of disciplinary perspectives. For example, the study of Latin America would consider historical, cultural and economic determinants of the region’s politics.

The Economics element of the PPE programme covers the core areas of Microeconomics and Macroeconomics. But in addition, there is an emphasis on the interaction between Economics and Politics.

This is the 2-year format of the degree. For the 3-year format of the degree see BA Philosophy, Politics and Economics | 3 Years.

Modules

Comparative Politics: Iran and Russia (Level 4),
The European Union in the International System (Level 4),
Introduction to Philosophy (Level 4),
Introduction to Political Theory (Level 4),
Philosophy of Mind (Level 4),
Principles of Macroeconomics (Level 4),
Principles of Microeconomics (Level 4),
Quantitative Methods 1 (Level 4) (3 year programme only),
The Economics of Europe (Level 5),
Freedom (Level 5),
Government and Politics of the UK and US (Level 5),
London Philosophy Programme (Level 5),
London Politics Programme (Level 5),
Macroeconomic Policy (Level 5),
Macroeconomic Theory (Level 5),
Microeconomic Policy (Level 5),
Microeconomic Theory (Level 5),
Politics of Latin America (Level 5),
The Politics of the Middle East: Issues and Concepts (Level 5),
US Foreign Policy in the Post Cold War Era (Level 5),
Welfare Economics (Level 5),
The Bipolar World 1945-1975 (Level 6),
Dissertation (Level 6) [15 units],
Economics of the Labour Market (Level 6),
Evolution and Human Cooperation (Level 6),
History of Economic Thought (Level 6),
Industrial Organisation and Strategy (Level 6),
International Economics (Level 6),
International Relations: Theories and Concepts (Level 6),
Issues in Developing Economies and the MENA Region (Level 6),
Jurisprudence (Level 6) (30 units – Summer and Autumn Terms),
Legal Economics 1 & 2 (Level 6),
Money, Banking and Financial Markets (Level 6),
The New International Society 1975-2005 (Level 6),
Philosophy of Social Science (Level 6),
Political Psychology (Level 6),
Public Sector Economics (Level 6),
Regulation and Privatisation (Level 6).

Assessment methods

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 – for example the module in Microeconomic Theory. Occasionally we use game playing to encourage discussion and understanding – for example when competing groups of students try to control a computer model of the economy in Principles of Macroeconomics. Other modules place greater emphasis on writing short and accurate technical pieces (Welfare Economics) or longer more discursive papers.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.

Tuition fees

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

Channel Islands
£27,750
for the whole course
England
£27,750
for the whole course
EU
£44,400
for the whole course
International
£44,400
for the whole course
Northern Ireland
£27,750
for the whole course
Republic of Ireland
£44,400
for the whole course
Scotland
£27,750
for the whole course
Wales
£27,750
for the whole course

Extra funding

A generous endowment from the Nobel Prize-winning economist Professor Ronald Coase has enabled us to offer new scholarships to study a range of Economics courses at the University of Buckingham from September 2021. Coase Scholarships have a value of £11,000 for a two year degree. Up to 14 scholarships are available per academic year and cover a range of economics programmes starting in January and September each year, including this one. The scholarships are open to undergraduate applicants that are UK nationals and should have, or expect to achieve, three A-level passes with at least one of these graded at B. Women, ethnic minorities and people from lower income backgrounds are especially encouraged to apply.

All awards are subject to your meeting the University’s academic entry requirements and abiding by the University’s rules and regulations. To be eligible to apply for a scholarship you will need to have been offered a place to study at Buckingham.

For details of our current range of scholarships and bursaries please see our website:

https://www.buckingham.ac.uk/admissions/scholarships

The Uni


Course location:

University of Buckingham

Department:

Economics

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.

86%
Economics
96%
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

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.


Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

72%
UK students
28%
International students

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

B
D
D

Economics

Teaching and learning

79%
Staff make the subject interesting
89%
Staff are good at explaining things
86%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
64%
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

100%
Library resources
68%
IT resources
79%
Course specific equipment and facilities
64%
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?

56%
UK students
44%
International students
77%
Male students
23%
Female students
77%
2:1 or above
19%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

C
A
C

Politics

Teaching and learning

88%
Staff make the subject interesting
88%
Staff are good at explaining things
85%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
85%
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

100%
Library resources
92%
IT resources
88%
Course specific equipment and facilities
85%
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?

49%
UK students
51%
International students
59%
Male students
41%
Female students
76%
2:1 or above
19%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

D
B
C

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.

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.

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.

96%
med
Employed or in further education

Top job areas of graduates

21%
Business, finance and related associate professionals
12%
Business, research and administrative professionals
10%
Public services and other associate 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.

100%
high
Employed or in further education

Top job areas of graduates

28%
Business, finance and related associate professionals
11%
Public services and other associate professionals
8%
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.

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.

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.

£49k

£49k

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.

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.

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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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