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Politics and Philosophy

Entry requirements


A level

A,A,B-A,B,B

Extended Project

A

For applicants taking the EPQ qualification, an A in the EPQ can be recognised to lower the entry requirements by a single grade. For example, an AAB offer would be "AAB from 3 A-levels or ABB from 3 A-levels and a grade A in the EPQ". Please note that any subject specific requirements must be met.

GCSE/National 4/National 5

You must have or be working towards: - English language or Welsh language at GCSE grade B/6 or an equivalent (such as A-levels). If you require a Tier 4 visa, you must ensure your language qualification complies with UKVI requirements.

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme

32-34

34-32 overall or 666-665 in 3 HL subjects.

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

DDD-DDM

in any subject.

Acceptance of T Levels for this programme will be considered on a case-by-case basis by the Academic School. Consideration will be given to the T Level grade/subject and grades/subjects achieved at GCSE/Level 2.

The Welsh Baccalaureate Skills Challenge Certificate will be accepted in place of one A-level at the A-level grades specified, excluding any subject specific requirements.

UCAS Tariff

128-136

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

About this course


Course option

3years

Full-time | 2024

Subjects

Philosophy

Politics

Combining Philosophy with Politics enhances your ability to explore and test the basic beliefs and values that underpin our ideas about politics, and gives you sophisticated intellectual tools with which to do it.

In your first year you will concentrate on core modules. In your second and final years you can choose from a wide range of optional modules.

Politics as an area of study develops your knowledge and understanding of governments, governance and societies. Politics is central to our everyday lives. It explores people and power and involves drama and events of great significance both today and historically. Think of the electoral struggle between Left and Right, the power play of the Cold War, and the great enterprise of European integration.

Studying for a politics degree means investigating how politics works and delves into how parliaments and governments function while also allowing you to evaluate political ideas such as power, freedom, democracy, conflict, legitimacy and accountability.

Philosophy at Cardiff covers the full range of philosophical concerns, with a particular emphasis on ethics and aesthetics. Modules cover both the analytic and Continental styles of Western philosophy, which is unusual in the UK.

Distinctive features
•You will be taught by academics, many of whom are world experts in their field.
•Unrivalled academic links with the National Assembly for Wales via the Welsh Governance Centre and long established relationships with national and international organisations such as the Westminster parliament, European Union and NATO.
•A strong emphasis on ethics, politics, and philosophy of mind.

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
£22,700
per year
International
£22,700
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

Cardiff University has many scholarships on offer to our prospective students. Please see our website at http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/funding/scholarships for further information.

The Uni


Course location:

Main Site - Cardiff

Department:

School of Law and 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.

78%
Philosophy
73%
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

Teaching and learning

84%
Staff make the subject interesting
88%
Staff are good at explaining things
85%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
66%
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

79%
Library resources
83%
IT resources
73%
Course specific equipment and facilities
79%
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?

98%
UK students
2%
International students
41%
Male students
59%
Female students
87%
2:1 or above
9%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

B
B
B

Politics

Teaching and learning

85%
Staff make the subject interesting
90%
Staff are good at explaining things
83%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
67%
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

72%
Library resources
87%
IT resources
80%
Course specific equipment and facilities
60%
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?

92%
UK students
8%
International students
51%
Male students
49%
Female students
82%
2:1 or above
3%
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.

Philosophy

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.

£18,000
low
Average annual salary
95%
med
Employed or in further education
54%
med
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

17%
Sales, marketing and related associate professionals
13%
Administrative occupations: records
8%
Teaching and educational professionals

Although there aren't a lot of jobs around for professional philosophers, philosophy degrees are a relatively popular option, with more than 2,000 students graduating in a philosophy-related subject in 2015 - a little down on previous years, but still healthy. Nearly a quarter of philosophy graduates take a postgraduate qualification, and it's a relatively common subject at both Masters and doctorate level — so if you think academic life might be for you, think ahead about how you might fund further study. For those who go into work, philosophy grads tend to go into teaching, accountancy, consulting, journalism, PR, housing, marketing, human resources and the arts while a few go into the computer industry every year, where their logical training is highly rated.

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.

£19,500
med
Average annual salary
96%
med
Employed or in further education
54%
med
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

20%
Business, finance and related associate professionals
12%
Other elementary services occupations
9%
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.

Philosophy

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

£24k

£24k

£28k

£28k

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.

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.

£20k

£20k

£27k

£27k

£29k

£29k

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.

Explore these similar courses...

Higher entry requirements
Durham University | Durham
Philosophy, Politics and Economics
BA (Hons) 3 Years Full-time 2024
UCAS Points: 152-168
Lower entry requirements
University of Nottingham | Nottingham
Politics and Philosophy
BA (Hons) 3 Years Full-time 2024
UCAS Points: 112-147
Same University
Cardiff University | Cardiff
German and Politics
BA (Hons) 4 Years Full-time 2024
UCAS Points: 120-128

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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.

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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.

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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?

Have a question about this info? Learn more here