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American Studies and Politics (with a study abroad year)

Entry requirements


A level

B,B,B-A,B,B

You should have a broad range of GCSEs 9-4 (A*-C), including good grades in relevant subjects.

Pass Diploma with at least 39 level 3 credits at Merit or above including 21-24 credits at Distinction. The Access to HE Diploma should be in the Humanities or Social sciences.

We take the EPQ into account when considering your application and it can be useful in the summer when your results are released if you have narrowly missed the conditions of your offer. We do not routinely include the EPQ in the conditions of your offer but we sometimes offer alternative conditions that include the EPQ. If you wish to discuss this further please contact Admissions at [email protected]

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme

30-32

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

DDD-DDM

You should have a broad range of GCSEs 9-4 (A*-C), including good grades in relevant subjects.

Scottish Higher

A,B,B,B,B-A,A,B,B,B


If you are taking Advanced Highers we would normally expect you to have at least BBB.

UCAS Tariff

120-147

We've calculated how many Ucas points you'll need for this course.

About this course


Course option

4years

Full-time | 2024

Subjects

American studies

Politics

**2nd in the UK for American Studies (The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2023)**

**4th in the UK for American Studies (Complete University Guide 2024)**

**=18th in the UK for Politics (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2023)**

**About the course**

An understanding of modern politics cannot be complete without considering the influence of America.

With our American Studies and Politics BA, you’ll explore the literature, history and culture of a global powerhouse. You’ll also learn from leading political experts who influence debate on topics ranging from corruption to international governance.

You’ll join a politically engaged community in one of the UK’s most politically diverse cities. During your year abroad, you’ll gain first-hand experience of American culture and politics. We’re proud to have more prestigious American partner institutions – including UC Berkeley and Georgetown – than any other programme in England.

**About Sussex**

Sussex graduates change the world. Our students become the leaders of the future, making discoveries, improving lives and changing things for the better.

Study with us to join a welcoming and inspiring community of staff and students from more than 140 countries.

**Location**

We shape the world from a fantastic campus on the UK’s beautiful south coast.

We are the only UK university surrounded by a national park, so you can step off campus to explore the hills and woodlands of the South Downs. The vibrant, colourful and creative seaside city of Brighton & Hove is just nine minutes away.

With Brighton voted the happiest city in England for students, (Student Living Survey, Sodexo, 2018) there can be few better places to study.

Modules

See the modules you will study by year by going to the 'view course details' link.

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
£21,500
per year
International
£21,500
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:

University of Sussex

Department:

American Studies

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.

77%
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.

American studies

Sorry, no information to show

This is usually because there were too few respondents in the data we receive to be able to provide results about the subject at this university.


Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

97%
UK students
3%
International students
33%
Male students
67%
Female students
96%
2:1 or above
1%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

B
B
B

Politics

Teaching and learning

84%
Staff make the subject interesting
91%
Staff are good at explaining things
86%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
54%
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

68%
Library resources
88%
IT resources
71%
Course specific equipment and facilities
75%
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?

75%
UK students
25%
International students
50%
Male students
50%
Female students
80%
2:1 or above
7%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

B
B
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.

American and australasian 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.

£20,000
med
Average annual salary
94%
med
Employed or in further education
71%
high
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

36%
Sales, marketing and related associate professionals
10%
Media professionals
7%
Business, finance and related associate professionals

Just 615 UK students graduated with American studies degrees in 2015, so it's one of the smaller subjects in terms of student numbers and has lost numbers in recent years. Most graduates stay in the UK once they graduate - quite unusual for graduates in languages and studies of overseas cultures - and about one in six go into further study, mostly to take Masters degrees in subjects like journalism, languages, teaching and law. Graduates tend to go into any general graduate jobs, in industries such as education, advertising, social care and media and publishing. There might not be many jobs that specifically require a degree in American studies, but the skills you learn are useful in many roles.

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.

£20,000
med
Average annual salary
96%
med
Employed or in further education
66%
med
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

21%
Sales, marketing and related associate professionals
18%
Business, finance and related associate professionals
7%
Business, research and administrative 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.

American and australasian 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

£21k

£25k

£25k

£28k

£28k

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.

£21k

£21k

£27k

£27k

£31k

£31k

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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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