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Politics and International Relations (Including Year Abroad)

Entry requirements


A level

B,B,B

Offers will be made in the range of BBB to BBC or 120-112 UCAS tariff points from a minimum of the equivalent of 2 full A-levels

Access to HE Diploma

D:6,M:39

We can only accept QAA approved Access to HE Diplomas

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme

29-30

"Or three Higher Level certificates with 555-554. We are happy to consider a combination of separate IB Diploma Programmes at both Higher and Standard Level. Exact offer levels will vary depending on the range of subjects being taken at higher and standar"

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)

DDM

Offers will be made in the range of DDM to DMM or 120-112 UCAS tariff points from a minimum of the equivalent of 2 full A-levels Entry requirements for students studying BTEC qualifications are dependent on subjects studied. Advice can be provided on an individual basis.

UCAS Tariff

112-120

Offers will be made from a minimum of the equivalent of 2 full A-levels.

About this course


Course option

4years

Full-time with time abroad | 2024

Subject

Politics

Why don’t democratic countries go to war with each other? Why don’t young people vote? Who should pay for climate change? Why do oil-rich states have worse human rights records? These are the kinds of questions addressed in our BA Politics & International Relations.

Based in one of the most prestigious government departments in Europe, this course enables you to learn how politics works within countries and between countries. We provide a thorough grounding in all major areas of political science and international relations and widen your awareness of the world system, while training you in the research and critical thinking skills that are prized by employers.

With this course you can explore a very wide range of topic areas, including:

- Human rights and global justice

- Elections, referendums and the psychology of voters

- Civil war and international peacekeeping

- The politics of natural disasters

- Protest, revolution and democracy

- Aid, trade and development

Studying Politics & International Relations at Essex will train you to question everything with confidence, to support opinions with strong evidence and have the courage to challenge others. We encourage you to be daring and bold, and to support your thinking with the broadest range of facts and ideas.

Our Department of Government has an outstanding record of teaching, research and publication. We are rated top in the UK for research (REF 2014), and have consistently been the highest-rated politics department in the country since national assessments began. We are also ranked 7th in the UK for Politics and International Studies in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2021.

Modules

Many of our courses offer a choice of optional modules to tailor your learning experience. More information about these can be found on the University of Essex website.

Tuition fees

Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:

Channel Islands
£9,250
per year
England
£9,250
per year
EU
£20,500
per year
International
£20,500
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Republic of Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£9,250
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

The Uni


Course location:

Colchester Campus

Department:

Government

Read full university profile

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.

83%
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

81%
Staff make the subject interesting
88%
Staff are good at explaining things
80%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
73%
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

81%
Library resources
92%
IT resources
85%
Course specific equipment and facilities
80%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

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

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

64%
UK students
36%
International students
52%
Male students
48%
Female students
86%
2:1 or above
10%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

C
C
B

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.

£19,000
med
Average annual salary
93%
low
Employed or in further education
53%
med
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

25%
Business, finance and related associate professionals
10%
Welfare and housing associate professionals
8%
Other elementary services occupations

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.

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

£23k

£26k

£26k

£36k

£36k

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 is what the university has told Ucas about the criteria they expect applicants to satisfy; some may be compulsory, others may be preferable.

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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:

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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