International Relations and Politics
Entry requirements
A level
96-112 points, to include a minimum of 2 A levels.
96-112 Tariff points from the Access to HE Diploma.
Cambridge Pre-U score of 42-46.
GCSE/National 4/National 5
3 GCSEs at grade C or above to include English and Mathematics/3 GCSEs at grade 4 or above to include English and Mathematics.
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
25 points from the IB Diploma, to include 3 Higher Level subjects.
Leaving Certificate - Higher Level (Ireland) (first awarded in 2017)
H3,H4,H4,H4,H4-H3,H3,H3,H3,H4
Acceptable when combined with other qualifications.
Acceptable when combined with other qualifications.
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
96-112 Tariff points to include a minimum of 2 Advanced Highers.
Acceptable when combined with other qualifications.
T Level
UCAS Tariff
96-112 points, to include a minimum of 2 A levels, or equivalent.
96-112 points from the Advanced Welsh Baccalaureate including 1 A level, plus the Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate.
About this course
This course has alternative study modes. Contact the university to find out how the information below might vary.
**This is a Connected Degree**
Portsmouth is the only University in the UK with the flexibility to choose when to do an optional paid placement or self-employed year. Either take a placement in your third year, or finish your studies first and complete a placement in your fourth year. You can decide if and when to take a placement after you've started your course.
**Overview**
Make sense of the world and the forces shaping nations. Understand the factors behind war, conflict and collaboration between states. Explore what democracy, freedom and equality mean to people at home and abroad.
On this BA (Hons) International Relations and Politics degree, you’ll analyse the global and local issues influencing society, from global migration to the rise of populist politics – and learn the skills needed to help enact change, shape opinions, and tackle inequality.
You’ll explore the latest developments in British and international politics, and set yourself up for careers in local and national government, international diplomacy, security, lobbying, academic research, the charity sector and the media.
**Course highlights**
- Learn from staff at our Centre for European and International Studies Research (CEISR), whose research impacts government policy
- Create policy briefing papers offering recommendations to practitioners on major recent international issues, such as the Ukraine Crisis, the 'MeToo' movement, the rise of terrorist organisations and the Arab Revolutions
- Attend events and talks led by people working in NGOs, local, national and international government, and journalism
- Go on field trips to locations such as the Houses of Parliament
- Take part in a simulated ‘academic conference’, where you’ll present a paper that will be discussed with your peers
- Have the chance to study abroad at one of our partner institutions – including Science Po Strasbourg (France), Maastricht University (Netherlands), Université libre de Bruxelles (Belgium) and University of Szeged (Hungary)
**Careers and opportunities**
Your ability to understand complex issues and find solutions to them means that roles across government agencies, NGOs, charities, think tanks and international organisations are all within your reach.
And there’s an ever-increasing demand for graduates with the knowledge required to ensure new developments are ethical.
When you finish the course, our Careers and Employability service can help you find a job that puts your skills and cultural experience to work.
Graduates from this degree have gone on to careers in the following sectors:
- local and central government
- embassies
- non-governmental organisations (NGOs)
- security services
- international organisations, like the United Nations (UN)
- international charities like War Child, Amnesty International or the Red Cross
- policy research and think tanks
- media and international business consultancy
- political risk analysis
- public relations
- voluntary organisations
- management
- banking and financial services
- tourism
What jobs can you do with an International Relations and Politics degree?
Recent graduates have gone on to roles including:
- political researcher, Houses of Parliament
- assistant to Member of Parliament
- civil servant, Department for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
- senior policy advisor, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
- communications officer, House of Commons
- local government administrator, Government of Jersey
- director of Language Studies for an international school
- public affairs consultant
- bilingual consultant
- multilingual project coordinator
- translator
- social researcher
- information officer
- conference producer
After you leave the University, you can get help, advice and support for up to 5 years from our Careers and Employability service as you advance in your career.
Modules
Year 1
Core modules in this year include:
- Analysing Politics: Britain and Beyond
- Global Development
- Key Themes in International Relations
- Political Thought
- Professional Practice: Skills for Academic and Professional Success
There are no optional modules in this year.
Year 2
Core modules in this year include:
- Bending the Truth a Little? Researching Politics and International Relations
Optional modules in this year currently include:
- A History of US Foreign Policy: From The Great War to 9/11
- Analysing Foreign Policy
- Autocracy and Democracy
- British Political Leadership
- Campaigning in Action
- Comparative European Politics
- Development and Democracy in Latin America
- East Asian States and Societies
- Empire and its Afterlives in Britain, Europe, and Africa
- Engaged Citizenship in Humanities and Social Sciences
- Global Security
- Ideology and Politics
- Intercultural Perspectives on Communication
- International Thought
- Introduction to Teaching
- Marketing and Communication
- Modern Foreign Language
- Modernity and Globalisation
- Nationalism and Migration: Chaos, Crisis and the Everyday
- News, Discourse and Media
- Principles of Economic Crime Investigation
- Professional Experience
- Rethinking Nazi Germany: Politics, History, Society
- Space, Place and Being
- Transitional Justice and Human Rights
- US Politics
- Wildlife Crime: Threats and Response
Placement year (optional)
On this course, you can do an optional work placement year between your 2nd and 3rd years to get valuable experience working in industry. We’ll help you secure a work placement that fits your situation and ambitions. You’ll get mentoring and support throughout the year.
Year 3
Optional modules in this year currently include:
- Digital Media and Democracy
- Dissertation (International Relations)
- Dissertation (Politics)
- France in the World: Global Actor or Global Maverick?
- Global Capitalism: Past, Present and Future
- Global Health
- Independent Project (International Relations)
- Independent Project (Politics)
- International Security in the Asia-Pacific
- Looking for Utopia, Finding Dystopia? Ideas and Ideologies in the New Millennium
- Major Project
- NGOs and Social Movements
- Politics and Culture of the Hispanic World in 20th Century Literature and Film
- Post Brexit Politics
- Professional Development: Recruiters and Candidates
- Professional Experience
- Religion and Politics in Global Perspective
- Security Challenges in the Twenty-First Century
- The European Union: A Global Power in the Making?
We use the best and most current research and professional practice alongside feedback from our students to make sure course content is relevant to your future career or further studies.
Therefore, some course content may change over time to reflect changes in the discipline or industry and some optional modules may not run every year. If a module doesn’t run, we’ll let you know as soon as possible and help you choose an alternative module.
Assessment methods
You’ll be assessed through:
- written exams
- coursework: article reviews, essays, projects, briefing papers
- individual and group presentations
- simulations, podcasts and creative videos
- 10,000 word dissertation
You’ll be able to test your skills and knowledge informally before you do assessments that count towards your final mark.
You can get feedback on all practice and formal assessments so you can improve in the future.
The way you’re assessed may depend on the modules you select. As a guide, students on this course last year were typically assessed as follows:
Year 1 students: 25% by written exams, 8% by practical exams and 67% by coursework
Year 2 students: 25% by written exams, 7% by practical exams and 68% by coursework
Year 3 students: 3% by practical exams and 97% by coursework
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
The Uni
University of Portsmouth
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
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)
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.
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
£23k
£27k
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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