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International Relations (with integrated foundation year)

Entry requirements


The University welcomes undergraduate applications from students studying the Access to Higher Education Diploma, provided that relevant subject content and learning outcomes are met. We are not able to accept Access to Higher Education Diplomas as a general qualification for every undergraduate degree course.

About this course


Course option

4years

Full-time including foundation year | 2024

Subject

International politics

International Relations with integrated Foundation Year, at Aberystwyth University, is about how we tackle global challenges.

World politics stands at a fascinating but difficult historical juncture, one that as political beings, we all need to understand, explain and, in part shape. With the relative decline of the ‘West’, the emergence of new powers and actors, and the increasingly complex and intertwined nature of local, national, regional, international and global problems, ‘international politics’ is entering a new era.

The degree offers students the opportunity to study the concepts, practices, policies, histories and regions that make up international politics as a discipline and to explore the ways in which, all these factors are undergoing a radical transformation in the 21st century.

Benefits of Foundation Year:

A degree course with a foundation year enables you to gain the knowledge and skills required to succeed at degree-level studies. In addition, many of our Foundation year schemes offer some flexibility within the subject area giving you more time to decide on a specific subject pathway.

During the Foundation year of the degree, you will explore a range of subjects, develop essential skills such as research and critical analysis, developing arguments and self-evaluation.

Foundation year students have full access to all campus facilities, societies and everything else that Aberystwyth students’ community has to offer. You will be supported by the University personal tutor system and have access to Student Support and Careers Services. Funding and availability of student loans are identical to all other undergraduates and you can apply for a place through UCAS in the same way as any other of our undergraduate degrees.

There are few fixed entry requirements, but each applicant will be assessed on an individual basis to ensure that they are right for the course and that the course is right for them.

Tuition fees

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

Channel Islands
£9,000
per year
England
£9,000
per year
EU
£16,520
per year
International
£16,520
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,000
per year
Republic of Ireland
£9,000
per year
Scotland
£9,000
per year
Wales
£9,000
per year

Extra funding

Aberystwyth University offers a valuable package of scholarships and bursaries to support students. Our long-established Entrance Examination competition means you could get up to £2,000 a year towards your living and study costs. You can combine that with any or all of our other awards, to make your financial package more valuable. Our awards include Sport and Music Scholarships, Bursaries for Care Leavers/Young Carers/Estranged Students and a range of department specific awards. Please visit our website for full details.

The Uni


Course location:

Main Site (Aberystwyth)

Department:

Department of International Politics

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.

90%
International 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

87%
Staff make the subject interesting
95%
Staff are good at explaining things
89%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
79%
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

85%
Library resources
92%
IT resources
87%
Course specific equipment and facilities
87%
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?

82%
UK students
18%
International students
70%
Male students
30%
Female students
75%
2:1 or above
10%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

B
B
B

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.

£17,500
low
Average annual salary
96%
med
Employed or in further education
70%
high
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

17%
Business, finance and related associate professionals
15%
Teaching and educational professionals
15%
Sales, marketing 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.

£19k

£19k

£22k

£22k

£27k

£27k

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 criteria they expect applicants to satisfy; some may be compulsory, others may be preferable.

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

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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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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.

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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.

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.

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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.

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