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Richmond American University London

UCAS Code: L210 | Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)

Entry requirements

Tariff point requirement for 2025/26 to be confirmed

About this course

Course option

4years

Full-time | 2025

Subject

Politics

**Constant political change and upheaval dominate our lives today. Go behind the headlines to discover the structures and ideas that shape global politics, and open up a wide range of exciting career possibilities with this BA**.

Whether it’s doing postgraduate study or working in government, international organisations, NGOs, business, social enterprises, finance, law, or the media, the choice will be yours.

You’ll focus on three core areas of Political Science: political thought, political systems and public policy, going from the theory of each to real world political situations.

Like our other programmes, our BA in Political Science is based on the American liberal arts tradition, which offers a multi-disciplinary approach, combining areas of study from the Humanities. That’s why your first year will include Scientific Reasoning and Creative Expression, as well as The Global Cold War and Comparative Political Systems.

You’ll enjoy a broad study of political thinkers and theories, going beyond the classroom to experience practical policy issues. Discover British politics in the setting of the Houses of Parliament.

From Global Development Politics to Policy Making in a Globalised World, our students gain a truly international understanding of politics and its processes.

Research plays an important role, so that you’ll acquire important skills using the latest technology which will be invaluable for any career. Some of our senior students have the opportunity to collaborate with academic staff on research.

A number of fascinating electives are on offer, giving you the chance to specialise in topics which appeal to you, such as ‘Gender, Politics and IR’, ‘Democracy and Democratization’, ‘Politics of Environmentalism’, and ‘Religion, Identity and Power’.

You can also take courses which allow you to specialise in the politics of different regions, including the USA, Latin America, the EU, Asia, Russia, Africa and the Middle East.

Many of our students also gain international political experience through an accredited internship, which helps shape their education and career choice.

**Top reasons to study this programme:**
- Learn within the flexible Liberal Arts framework. Choose your own path – find out more about the Liberal Arts - https://www.richmond.ac.uk/about-richmond/the-liberal-arts/

- Acquire an analytical grasp of contemporary social, political and economic issues of concern to policy makers, business, the media and civil society

- Access to leading non-governmental, governmental and political institutions will bring your studies alive

- Gain vital work experience with an international internship, enhancing your career opportunities, while building experience with writing in a range of professional formats from project evaluations, policy briefs and policy-maker profiles to NGO campaign analyses and project grant applications.

- Take part in field trips to the European Parliament, Council and Commission and NATO in Brussels and the International Court of Justice in the Hague

- Learn from faculty academics leading research in specialist areas from ‘Politics in the USA’ to ‘Religion, Identity and Power’

Modules

We offer 4-year Liberal Arts and Business BA degrees. Students entering with A levels or other level 3 qualifications usually gain exemptions from courses in the Richmond Core Curriculum which can mean that you should be able to complete your degree in less than four academic years. The interdisciplinary Liberal Arts approach offers not just breadth but also depth of study and encourages students to make sounds judgements and think independently. A Liberal Arts education is one which encourages you to explore a wide range of subjects and programmes. It reaches across disciplines, building connections between different academic areas such as literature, science, mathematics, writing, business and psychology. Upon entry to Richmond University all students study the Liberal Arts Core Curriculum before specialising in their chosen field.

The Uni

Course location:

Chiswick Park Campus

Department:

Richmond, The American International University in London

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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.

91%
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

82%
Staff make the subject interesting
82%
Staff are good at explaining things
91%
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

55%
Library resources
73%
IT resources
100%
Course specific equipment and facilities
45%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

After graduation

Sorry, no information to show

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Course location and department:

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Teaching Excellence Framework (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?

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