Politics and International Relations, BA (Hons)

This BA in Politics and International Relations explores how national relationships, power dynamics, and political processes influence global and domestic affairs. The programme covers core areas such as comparative politics, political theory, and international relations, equipping students with a thorough understanding of policy formation and its impacts. Through critical analysis, research skills, and theoretical exploration, graduates develop abilities valued in sectors like government, research, and charity, with career paths including civil service, data analysis, and parliamentary roles. Optional modules allow customisation to interests in areas like social justice, global security, or quantitative methods, including data science training for enhanced employability.The course structure begins with first-year modules introducing key concepts in politics and international relations, including British controversies, political ideas, and comparisons of democratic states. In the second year, students study elections and 20th-century politics while selecting from options in the core areas. The third year offers flexibility, with opportunities to write a dissertation, choose research-related modules, and pursue a quantitative methods pathway for specialised data analysis skills, tailoring the degree to individual career goals.

In year one, you will typically take modules which are designed to introduce you to key concepts and theories across the broad field of politics and international relations. You will explore controversies in British politics, key political ideas and historical developments, and compare modern democratic states. Year two covers core topics on elections and 20th century international politics. You will choose from range of optional modules from across the three core areas of political theory, comparative politics, and international relations. 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. You have free choice in this year and can tailor the course to your interests and career aspirations. You can take a specialised pathway to graduate with a BA Politics and International Relations (Quantitative Methods) degree. This pathway includes training in the quantitative analysis of a range of datasets.