University of Bristol
UCAS Code: RL52 | Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)
Entry requirements
A level
Standard offer: AAB including an essay-based subject. Contextual offer: BBB including an essay-based subject. Please visit: bristol.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/entry-requirements-qualifications/contextual-offers/ for more information about contextual offers.
Access to HE Diploma
Access to HE Diploma in Humanities, Social Sciences, Law or History (or similar titles). The 45 graded Level 3 credits must include: at least 24 credits at Distinction and 21 at Merit or above; and at least 12 credits (with 9 at Distinction) in a single essay-based subject. Mature students can contact [email protected] to check the suitability of their Access course.
Requirements for principal subjects are as for A-level, where D1/D2 is A*, D3 is A, M1/M2 is B, and M3 is C.
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
Standard offer: 34 points overall with 17 at Higher Level, including 5 at Higher Level in an essay-based subject. Contextual offer: 31 points overall with 15 at Higher Level, including 5 at Higher level in an essay-based subject. Please visit: bristol.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/entry-requirements-qualifications/contextual-offers/ for more information about contextual offers.
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
DDD in any Applied General BTEC National Level 3 Extended Diploma and including an essay-based subject.
Scottish Advanced Higher
Advanced Higher: AB including an essay-based subject.
Scottish Higher
Standard Higher: AAABB
Requirements are as for A-levels, where you can substitute a non-subject specific grade for the Welsh Baccalaureate Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate at that grade.
UCAS Tariff
We've calculated how many Ucas points you'll need for this course.
About this course
This course has alternative study modes. Contact the university to find out how the information below might vary.
This course combines politics and international relations with the study of Portuguese (from beginners level), a language spoken in a diverse range of countries around the world. The political importance of countries like Angola and Brazil means that Portuguese speakers are increasingly in demand. This combination provides a valuable skill set, ideally tailored to the increasingly globalised workplace.
You will study the politics of individual countries and governments and the relationships between countries, communities and individuals.
Politics is organised around three themes:
- political theory
- comparative and national politics
- international relations.
You will follow a structured language course that takes you from beginners to degree level in Portuguese, as well as explore the rich literature, cinema, history, thought, politics and visual culture of Portuguese-speaking countries and communities. You will spend your third year abroad in a Portuguese-speaking environment, extending your language skills and cultural knowledge. To find out more about studying abroad, visit the Centre for Study Abroad: bristol.ac.uk/centre-for-study-abroad
Both schools encourage strong synergy between research and teaching, resulting in a vibrant learning environment as staff respond to new research in their teaching. This course combination offers an enriching experience with exciting intellectual challenges, providing a range of options that allow you to pursue your own interests.
Teaching is delivered through lectures, tutorials, seminars, workshops, and one-to-one project supervision. Assessments may include presentations, essays, commentaries, exams, collaborative projects, debates, podcasts, video essays, and dissertations.
Our course will ensure you practise a range of skills, which will make you attractive to future employers in the sector of your choice.
All modern languages students have access to our state-of-the-art Multimedia Centre. You can also access extracurricular activities such as talks by visiting speakers, societies, language cafés, student newspapers, and talent shows.
Tuition fees
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What students say
We've crunched the numbers to see if the overall teaching satisfaction score 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)
Iberian studies
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.
Iberian studies
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
Very few graduates take this subject and so we can't say anything definitively about what graduates go on to do with these degrees - teaching, marketing and the arts and media were the most common jobs for graduates in Portuguese from 2015. That said, modern language grads usually have a range of opportunities available to them, both home and abroad. If you are interested in studying this subject, then it might be a good idea to go on open days and talk to tutors about what you might expect from the course and what previous graduates did.
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.
£25k
£35k
£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.
Iberian studies
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£24k
£30k
£34k
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...
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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