Politics and Philosophy
University of Nottingham
UCAS Code: VL52 | Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)
University of Nottingham
UCAS Code: VL52 | Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)
Entry requirements
A level
Excluding General Studies, Citizenship and Critical Thinking.
Considered on a case by case basis.
Cambridge International Pre-U Certificate - Principal
GCSE/National 4/National 5
GCSE English grade 4/C required
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
or 6,6,5 in three Higher Level Certificates
Considered on a case-by-case basis alongside one A Level.
Considered on a case-by-case basis alongside two A Levels.
Considered on a case-by-case basis.
Please contact the school for further information.
Scottish Advanced Higher
Scottish Highers at AABBB are also required
Scottish Higher
Scottish Advanced Highers at AA are also required
Welsh Baccalaureate - Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate (first teaching September 2015)
A Levels at AB are also required.
UCAS Tariff
We've calculated how many Ucas points you'll need for this course.
About this course
Are you curious about the ideas and ideals that underpin governments? Would you like to better understand the pressing philosophical debates of our day? Do you want to think more clearly about contemporary political issues?
Our BA Politics and Philosophy gives you the chance to learn new things, challenge yourself beyond what you know, and tackle the real issues and practices around the world. You’ll gain a deeper understanding of current affairs and learn how to apply critical thinking and effective problem-solving skills to contemporary political issues.
Our degree will equip you with a broad range of skills and knowledge that will open doors to a variety of career paths. You’ll explore a variety of political areas, including comparative politics, political theory, and global security. You’ll learn how to apply philosophy to contemporary issues, enabling you to think critically and effectively about the world around you.
By combining politics with philosophy, you will open a world of possibilities for your future career across the private, public or charitable sectors. Whether you're interested in working as a parliamentary assistant, councillor, civil servant, researcher, or policy analyst, our course can help you achieve your career goals. Our school alumni have secured jobs at top organisations such as AON, the BBC, Citibank, Civil Service, House of Commons, and Unison.
Modules
In year one, you will typically take modules that are designed to introduce you to key concepts and theories across the broad field of politics and philosophy.
You will explore political theory, comparative politics and start to learn about philosophical thinking. Optional modules cover gender, justice, and society; history of philosophy; metaphysics, science and language; and philosophy of religions.
In year two, you choose 60 credits from each politics and philosophy modules. You could choose to look at national identity or global security, ethics or European philosophy.
In year three, you will have the option to write a dissertation based on a topic of your choice under the supervision of a member of staff. You may also choose from a wide range of modules related to our research areas.
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
The Uni
University Park Campus
School of Politics and International Relations
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)
Philosophy
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.
Philosophy
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
Although there aren't a lot of jobs around for professional philosophers, philosophy degrees are a relatively popular option, with more than 2,000 students graduating in a philosophy-related subject in 2015 - a little down on previous years, but still healthy. Nearly a quarter of philosophy graduates take a postgraduate qualification, and it's a relatively common subject at both Masters and doctorate level — so if you think academic life might be for you, think ahead about how you might fund further study. For those who go into work, philosophy grads tend to go into teaching, accountancy, consulting, journalism, PR, housing, marketing, human resources and the arts while a few go into the computer industry every year, where their logical training is highly rated.
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.
£24k
£29k
£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.
Philosophy
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
£26k
£30k
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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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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