History and International Relations (with a Foundation Year)
Staffordshire University
UCAS Code: VV16 | Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)
Entry requirements
A level
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
UCAS Tariff
About this course
Futureproof your learning by studying the past and unlock your understanding of how the world works today on this challenging new course from Staffordshire University’s brilliant History, Politics and International Relations team.
Combining the approaches and theories of International Relations with studies of modern and contemporary history, this course provides you with insight into understanding the rapidly changing world around us. Wars, revolutions, the global economy, Brexit, climate change, society, migration and power all come together as themes in this carefully designed, immersive and overlapping programme of study.
The International Relations: History and Global Politics award aims to develop your understanding of world events and global trends, knowledge of which is becoming increasingly essential in a less predictable world including a post Brexit Britain. The course focusses on the challenges of international relations today as well as providing, through the study of history, examples of the ways through which those challenges have been met in the past. It fosters your all-important problem-solving, communication, research and inquiry skills; providing study activities and assessments that encourage independence of thought, originality, critical self-awareness and advances your future employability prospects.
Small class sizes, ease of access to lecturers in tutorial classes, as well as the availability of one-to-one office meetings give the programme an intimate feel where political and historical problems are dissected and explored, and you are given the intellectual tools not only to think critically but to go and find out for yourself.
Guided by experts in international organisations, security and intelligence as well as historians with various national and thematic interests, Staffordshire University’s research-led approach allows you to really get under the skin of the subjects you choose, gradually specialising in a topic studied at significant depth for your dissertation.
The BA Hons International Relations: History and Global Politics aims to produce graduates who are reflective and critical learners with a global perspective. When you complete the course you will be aware not only of future challenges but of the importance of contextual understanding and research when facing them.
Our aim is that our graduates become professional global citizens, leaving them prepared for the world of work and ready to face the unpredictable future challenges of a globalised world.
The Foundation Year option is available for those who may not have the academic profile for direct entry onto the 3-year degree. It will prepare you for the International Relations: History and Global Politics degree by enhancing your skills with modules such as Introduction to Critical Thinking and Argument, Core Legal Skills and Academic Skills.
On successful completion of study, we will issue the following award: BA (Hons) International Relations: History and Global Politics.
Modules
Level 3: Introduction to Principles of Law, Academic Skills, Foundations of Legal Knowledge, Crime in Context, Core Legal Skills, Introduction to Critical Thinking
Level 4: Introduction to International Relations, International History in the 20th Century, History of Political Thought, Issues in Global Security, Global Life Stories, History of the United States
Level 5: International Society: From Westphalia to the Present, Northern Ireland: Conflict and Resolution?, Gender History and Sexual Politics, Designing Research Projects, International Relations Theory, French Revolution and Napoleon
Level 6: International Relations Project, Governments and Intelligence Agencies, Issues in European Defence, Modern Italy and Mediterranean Politics, Climate Change, Water and Conflict, Russian Security from the Tsars to Putin, Nomads, Tribal Groups and the State
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
The Uni
Staffordshire University (Stoke Campus)
Justice, Security and Sustainability
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.
International relations
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)
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)
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.
Social sciences
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.
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.
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.
£41k
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.
History and archaeology
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£16k
£23k
£20k
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.
- What's it like studying a degree in Social sciences
- What's it like studying a degree in Historical, philosophical and religious studies
- What's it like studying a degree in History and archaeology
- What's it like studying a degree in History
- What's it like studying a degree in International relations
- What's it like studying a degree in International history
Explore these similar courses...
Higher entry requirements
Nearby UniversitySame University
Lower entry requirementsThis is what the university has told Ucas about the criteria they expect applicants to satisfy; some may be compulsory, others may be preferable.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
This is the percentage of applicants to this course who received an offer last year, through Ucas.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
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.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
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.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
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.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
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.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
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
