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Politics and International Relations with a Foundation Year

Entry requirements


A level

D,D,D

Access to HE Diploma

D:9,M:6,P:30

72 Tariff points from your IB Diploma, Typically H4, H4, H4 or equivalent

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

MMP

UCAS Tariff

72

About this course


Course option

4years

Full-time | 2024

Subjects

International relations

Politics

Politics is everywhere. It’s exciting, but also frustrating, messy and complex. This is your time to make a difference - reshape the world and your future in it. Bring your determination to us and we will give you the skills and confidence to make a change.

Overview
Make sense of the complex world of politics and international relations. Whether it’s climate change, the rise of tyrannical leaders, gender politics, or the misuse of artificial intelligence and big data, you will understand today’s political problems and gain the skills to pursue a career that can solve them.

Reasons to study Politics and International Relations at Kent
- Job-focused skills. Your course is designed in partnership with former graduates and employers to prepare you for the world of work.

- Grow yourself. As your interests grow, add a year abroad, a year in industry, or a year in journalism, data analytics, computing or a language.

- Your learning journey. Learn, develop and collaborate with our world-leading experts.

- We know you. A close-knit learning community with fantastic student support to help you achieve your full potential.

- Join a supportive and welcoming community on our Canterbury campus, in the heart of a historic city.

What you’ll learn
- You will leave Kent as a literate and numerate graduate, equipped with the skills to make a difference in the world. Our alumna Grace Couch recently received the "Rising Star" award in the Municipal Journal Achievement Awards 2022 for her work as Climate and Ecological Emergency Project Officer.

- Understand our world today and its key political challenges. Stay up to date with what's happening globally, regionally and at the University by reading our School’s blog.

- Make persuasive arguments - students in our Model United Nations programme practise diplomatic and public speaking skills by debating on world issues in the United Nation. This year, the KentMUN society hosted its own conference and attended conferences in Warwick, London and Brighton.

- Understand how data and evidence are used and misused by governments, journalists and even academics.

- Conduct independent research and become a knowledge creator. Specialise in your research after your undergraduate degree by studying a postgraduate research degree.

- Acquire the transferable graduate skills that employers want—problem-solving, teamwork, communication, and data analytics. You will also have access to the Careers and Employability Service for advice on job hunting and interviews.

Modules

You learn to explore the challenges facing the world, utilising the different concepts and approaches of political theory. You benefit from the expertise of staff who have advised governments and conducted conflict mediation exercises, deepening your understanding and developing solutions to a range of issues, from terrorism to the impact of the pandemic on politics, and political polarisation.

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
£18,600
per year
International
£18,600
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:

University of Kent

Department:

School of Politics and International Relations

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.

64%
International relations
64%
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

77%
Staff make the subject interesting
86%
Staff are good at explaining things
77%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
67%
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

74%
Library resources
90%
IT resources
81%
Course specific equipment and facilities
52%
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?

67%
UK students
33%
International students
48%
Male students
52%
Female students
83%
2:1 or above
12%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

C
B
C

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.

£19,656
med
Average annual salary
97%
med
Employed or in further education
45%
low
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

13%
Public services and other associate professionals
13%
Sales assistants and retail cashiers
12%
Business, finance and related associate professionals

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.

£20k

£20k

£26k

£26k

£34k

£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.

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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 the percentage of applicants to this course who received an offer last year, through Ucas.

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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.

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.

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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.

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