Russian Studies and Politics
Entry requirements
A level
Required subjects: A Levels: no specific A Level subjects required. GCSEs: a language other than English at B or 6 and English at C or 4.
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
36 points with 665 at HL - 34 points with 655 at HL. Required subjects: HL: no specific subjects required. SL: a language other than English at 5 and English at 5.
Scottish Higher
ABBB by end of S5 or AABB/ABBBB by end of S6. BBB must be achieved in one year of S4-S6. Required subjects: Highers: no specific Higher subjects required. National 5s: a language other than English at B and English at C.
UCAS Tariff
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About this course
Around 150 million people in the world speak Russian. It is the official language of four countries, is widely understood throughout Eastern Europe, and in the last thirty years has seen transnational mobility on an unprecedented scale.
As the world's largest country, Russia plays an important role in global cultural and political contexts. This makes Russian Studies and Politics an ideal joint honours combination.
**Russian**
On this joint honours programme, you will have the opportunity to develop advanced speaking, writing, reading, listening and translating skills in Russian.
Our Year 1 Russian courses are streamed according to how much of the language you already know, so it does not matter if you are a complete beginner.
Over the course of your four years, you will explore Russian literature and culture, past and present. You will also develop an awareness of Russia's international political and historical contexts.
**Politics**
Politics studies the theory and practice of how societies are governed. How do our political institutions create collective rules, who has the power to make them, and what are the consequences of political decisions? What is the nature of a just society, and how do we get there?
Drawing on the expertise of leading academics and researchers in the field, you will explore the origins and present-day contexts of societal conflicts about power, participation, and resources. You will not only study the processes of governance at the local, national, and international levels, but also the morality of political action, and the limits of freedom and justice.
**Why Edinburgh?**
Edinburgh is a world-leading festival city filled with cinemas, theatres, galleries, libraries and collections.
A cultural powerhouse, it is also a political city - seat of the Scottish Parliament, and home to a range of embassies and consulates.
Our four-year programme is flexible. In Years 1 and 2, you will choose option courses from a range of disciplines. You will then specialise as you progress through your honours years.
When you graduate, you will have the combination of language and humanities skills, and the international perspective, valued by employers worldwide.
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
The Uni
Central area campus
School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures
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.
Slavic 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)
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)
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.
Slavic 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
Most graduates studying a Russian and East European course studied Russian, and with Russia playing an important part in world business and politics, graduates are in demand. This is an elite group — 200 UK graduates got degrees in this subject in 2015, and they usually have amongst the best average starting salaries of all language graduates. London was by far the most likely place for Russian graduates to work in the UK and naturally, a reasonable proportion - about a fifth - went overseas to work. Postgraduate study (usually in law or languages) is also quite common — this is a growing area for the UK.
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.
What about your long term prospects?
Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.
Slavic 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.
£21k
£29k
£33k
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.
£23k
£31k
£33k
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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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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