A knowledge of politics helps you to understand and explain what governments do. It also teaches you a great deal about human nature. Politics is not only what political scientists study, but also an activity in which professional politicians, civil servants and ordinary citizens take part. These degree programmes help you acquire important analytical skills. You learn to find your way among different arguments, rival theories and alternative explanations. You also learn about campaigns, elections, protest movements, policy issues and political ideals. Politics may be studied with another subject as part of a Joint Honours degree programme. In each year of the degree you take two or three political science courses together with courses in your second subject. In the first year you take a foundation course and a module in Classical Political Thought. In the second year you take any two or three courses selected from the many options available to Single Honours students. In the final year you select two or three courses from those available to third-year Single Honours students.

During the first year of your studies Careers Advisers from the University Careers Network team attend lectures in your course to support you with career planning from an early stage. The lectures will cover career planning, researching career and internship opportunities, developing the skills that graduate employers are looking for, and presenting yourself with impact to a potential employer.