International Relations and History
Entry requirements
A level
A Level - grades BBB-BCC usually including a Grade B in History or a related subject.
Access to HE Diploma
Typical offers for applicants with Access to HE will be the Access to HE Diploma or Access to HE Certificate (60 credits, 45 of which must be Level 3, at Merit or higher).
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
A minimum of 32 points are required.
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
Extended Diploma grades from Distinction Distinction Merit (DDM) to Distinction Merit Merit (DMM) in a related subject.
T Level
Grade Merit is preferred in a relevant subject.
UCAS Tariff
We've calculated how many Ucas points you'll need for this course.
About this course
- Analyse the influence of history on world politics and learn how to challenge the status quo.
- Merge theoretical study with practical research skills to create change and have an impact.
- Pursue your own passions by studying topics that interest you.
How did the world become a system of states? Why is war an enduring feature of world politics? How does colonialism shape the political possibilities of globalisation? To unpack the complexities of today’s world, we first need to understand how the past becomes the present. Our International Relations and History degree will help you to develop the knowledge and gain the practical skills required to engage meaningfully with the world, for a wide range of future career paths.
From the European 'discovery' of the Americas in the 15th century to the collapse of the USSR and the rise of China, you’ll explore both western and non-western political traditions and assess their relevance to contemporary global structures. There has never been a better time to address these questions, as the world grapples with its difficult histories while facing the climate crisis. This course will help you to become a conscious, informed citizen of the world, equipped with the knowledge and expertise required to collectively build better futures.
You’ll be taught by our team of approachable tutors, whose research crosses continents and embraces past, present and future. You'll analyse big data and tiny fragments of text. You’ll explore objects and images, and examine the contrasts between powerful institutions and the voices of ordinary people.
**Why study International Relations and History?**
Combining International Relations with History will deepen your understanding of world politics. International Relations gives you a broader global perspective on key developments and the nature of historical change, allowing you to make connections between events separated by time and place. History allows you to understand how the world came to be as it is, how and why it has changed over time, and where it might be going in the future.
Modules
An interdisciplinary first year introduces you to a wide range of ideas, approaches and concepts, which will underpin and inform your whole degree. Throughout, you'll develop the skills and insight you'll need to solve problems, work with others, ask questions, challenge your own assumptions, and interrogate evidence, data and opinions.
In the second year, you’ll focus on the mechanisms of foreign policy, intelligence and diplomacy and the connections that come from informal collaborations and creative action. Optional modules allow you to pursue your passion for particular periods or genres of history. You’ll apply your knowledge and understanding to a defined problem or case study of your choosing.
Alongside a range of optional modules, in the final year you'll bring together your theoretical and practical knowledge to devise, plan and implement your final project. This might be an extended piece of academic writing, but it might also be a pitch to a local employer, a community project, a policy brief or the creation of digital resources.
Assessment methods
We use a mix of assessments, including essays, group and individual presentations, online reports, surveys, project portfolios, campaign documents and context papers, podcasts, blog posts and vlogging. These have been designed to build practical skills that graduates can take into employment.
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
The Uni
Bath Spa University
School of Writing, Publishing and the Humanities
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.
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
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?
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
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
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.
History
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
£23k
£24k
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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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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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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