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York St John University

UCAS Code: L221 | Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)

Entry requirements

GCSE/National 4/National 5

1 GCSE at grade C/4 (or equivalent) including English Language.

UCAS Tariff

48

About this course

Course option

4years

Full-time | 2025

Subjects

Politics

International relations

Explore topics from the the past, present and future, as you question the nature of humanity and society from a local and international perspective.

Study diverse subjects from across humanities, social sciences, language and linguistics on this Liberal Arts foundation year. This course will give you both the skills you need to succeed in your degree, and an opportunity to go beyond your chosen subject and explore other specialisms.

This interdisciplinary foundation year you can to develop skills and knowledge both within and beyond the degree you will progress onto. The course allows you to explore different aspects of your own subject area, as well as a wider framework of contexts, approaches and crossovers with other subjects.

The foundation year provides a welcoming and encouraging environment in which you can first encounter those key questions and challenges that will later inform your undergraduate study. This is the course for you if are excited about getting into higher education but don't want to dive straight into an undergraduate degree. This might be because you have been out of education for a while, you do not yet have the entry requirements for the course you want to do, or you just do not feel ready yet.

When you study on this course we will introduce you to the major historical and contemporary figures, institutions, events, and processes behind national and international politics. You will also learn to analyse these processes using the theories and concepts that form the basis of these academic subjects, and engaging with the latest research in these areas. While you will also learn about regional and national politics, in choosing to combine Politics with International Relations you will take a largely global perspective.

Some of the topics you will investigate include:

Democracy and authoritarianism
Political parties
Political economy
International security
International organisation and the future of global cooperation
How states interact with each other, and the changing role of the state
How states respond to inequality, global health and threats to national security
Through this you will learn to explain the historical drivers of social change, analyse the current political landscape, and respond to the challenges which will shape our political future.

There are many ways you can take your learning beyond the classroom, including opportunities to:

Take part in local, national and international field trips
Undertake a work experience project
Study abroad in your second year
Hear from visiting speakers with many different specialist areas of expertise
Attend conferences, seminars, workshops and events

Modules

For module information about the Foundation Year, please click here and scroll down to Course Structure:

https://www.yorksj.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/foundation-years/liberal-arts-foundation-year/

For module information about the full course, please click here and scroll down to Course Structure:

https://www.yorksj.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/politics-and-international-relations/politics-and-international-relations-ba-hons/

Tuition fees

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

Channel Islands
£9,535
per year
England
£9,535
per year
EU
£14,000
per year
International
£14,000
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,535
per year
Republic of Ireland
£9,535
per year
Scotland
£9,535
per year
Wales
£9,535
per year

The Uni

Course location:

York St John University

Department:

Humanities

Read full university profile

What students say

We've crunched the numbers to see if the overall teaching satisfaction score here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.

84%
Politics
84%
International relations

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

87%
Staff make the subject interesting
93%
Staff are good at explaining things
84%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
68%
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

72%
Library resources
81%
IT resources
67%
Course specific equipment and facilities
84%
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?

96%
UK students
4%
International students
63%
Male students
37%
Female students
65%
2:1 or above
19%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

C
C
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.

£25,500
med
Average annual salary
95%
high
Employed or in further education
35%
low
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

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.

International relations

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.

£25,500
med
Average annual salary
95%
high
Employed or in further education
35%
low
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

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.

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.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

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.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

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