International Relations and History with a Year Abroad
Swansea University
UCAS Code: LV2D | Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)
Swansea University
UCAS Code: LV2D | Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)
Entry requirements
A level
Access to HE Diploma
Access to Humanities Course
We recognise the EPQ as an excellent indicator of success. If you are predicted a grade B or above in the EPQ, you will receive an offer with a one grade reduction, to include your EPQ with a grade B.
GCSE/National 4/National 5
GCSEs: English/Welsh Language Grade C.
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
Leaving Certificate - Higher Level (Ireland) (first awarded in 2017)
Swansea University accepts the Advanced Skills Baccalaureate Wales as fully equivalent to x1 A-Level.
B + BB at A-Level
UCAS Tariff
We've calculated how many Ucas points you'll need for this course.
About this course
International Relations and History explores globalization, human rights, international and regional politics, peace and conflict, political economy, security studies and strategic studies. You will also cover history through subjects including women’s history and gender, memory of war and conflict, and British social history.
You will have the competitive option of undertaking a work placement module with the Senedd Cymru/ Welsh Parliament, working closely with Ministers for one day a week for one Semester in your Final Year.
Swansea University is one of a limited number of institutions selected to partner with the UK Parliament to deliver an innovative Parliamentary Studies module. The module is taught by specialist academic staff and includes a series of sessions with experts and members of staff currently working in the UK Parliament. The module features a day long visit to Westminster including talks with Senior Members of Parliament.
You will spend a year abroad between your second and final year, broadening your skills and experience. Our partner institutions span the globe, with opportunities varying each year. If you wish to receive more information, please get in touch with us at [email protected]
Modules
The International Relations and History with a Year Abroad BA (Hons) degree structure is flexible, offering a wide-range of specialist modules, including international development, politics and democracy, which allow you to tailor your degree to suit your future career goals
Your first year of International Relations and History with a Year Abroad BA (Hons) degree will introduce you to ancient philosophy and rhetoric, ethics, justice and society. It will feature a mixture of compulsory and optional modules, with examples of compulsory modules from recent years including:
- Making History
- Introduction to International Relations
- War and Peace in the Nuclear Age
Your second year of degree studies will include a mixture of compulsory and optional modules covering a broad range of themes.
Examples of optional modules covered in recent years include:
- Global Justice and Human Rights
- Contemporary Moral Controversies
- Britain in the Early Middle Ages: Slaves, Dragons, Queens and Vikings
- Disunited Kingdom? Class, Race, Gender and Social Division in Twentieth-Century Britain
- Revolutionary America, 1760–1791
- Ruin and Renewal: Europe, 1918-1968
You will have the opportunity to spend a year abroad between your second and final year, broadening your skills and experiencing different cultures. Our partner institutions span the globe, with opportunities varying each year
In your final year you will complete an independent dissertation project or you have the competitive option of undertaking a work placement module with the Senedd Cymru/ Welsh Parliament. You will also complete
You will also complete a compulsory group work project plus optional modules chosen from a wide variety of subject areas.
Examples of optional modules from recent years include:
- Politics and International Development
- Shadow Wars: US Presidents and covert action from the Cold War to Trump
- Histories of Empire
- From Plague to Covid-19: Infections in Global History
- The Story of the USA on Film and Television, 1865–2008
For the full programme structure and module breakdown, please visit our webpage at https://www.swansea.ac.uk/undergraduate/courses/social-sciences/politics-philosophy-international-relations/ba-international-relations-history/or get in touch with us at [email protected]
Assessment methods
Throughout your undergraduate International Relations and History with a Year Abroad BA (Hons) degree, you will develop excellent research and analytical skills and learn to present your ideas effectively both verbally and in writing.
We offer a variety of assessment methods within our programmes. In addition to traditional examinations and essays, examples of alternative assessment include:
• Reading diary
• Literature/ article review
• Case study
• Critical review
For a full breakdown of course structure and assessment please visit our course page https://www.swansea.ac.uk/undergraduate/courses/social-sciences/politics-philosophy-international-relations/ba-international-relations-history/ or get in touch with us at [email protected]
The Uni
Singleton Park Campus
College of Arts and 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.
Politics
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)
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.
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.
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.
£19k
£24k
£25k
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
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
£22k
£26k
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 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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