What to expect from the School of Politics
The University of Nottingham will provide you with the flexibility to carve your own learning experience and will be there to support and guide you along the way.
Tailor your degree to your interests and passions
Our politics and international relations courses cover the core areas of comparative politics, political theory and international relations. During your time with us, you will gain a comprehensive understanding of how our society functions and the intricacies of current affairs.
As well as the basics, we understand that personalisation is important to our politics students. So, we give you the freedom to choose which modules you study, tailoring your degree to your interests and career aspirations. Topics include social justice, global security and secret intelligence. Alternatively, BA Politics and International Relations students can complete a specialised pathway that includes quantitative analysis training.
No matter which modules you choose, you can rest assured that you’ll graduate with specialist knowledge, transferable skills, and the confidence you need to stand out to employers. Backed by our support and careers guidance every step of the way.
Your career journey
Each Nottingham student is different and therefore so are their journeys and aspirations. Some of our students know exactly what career they want to go into, while others are more flexible, which is why freedom and choice are so important to us.
The knowledge and transferable skills you’ll develop at Nottingham will set you up for success, however that may look to you. You will acquire a strong academic foundation and a range of excellent intellectual and transferable skills, such as the ability to study independently and communicate effectively, as well as several digital competencies.
Our graduates have gone on to careers in journalism, broadcasting, television and film production, advertising, marketing and commercial and financial sectors. Some have ventured into party politics and others work for the civil service in research and data analysis. No matter where they ended up, all our students were supported throughout their university journey and beyond, with a network of support services built around student needs.
Lydia studied politics at the University of Nottingham, graduating in 2012. In this video, she talks about her career path from graduating and working in PR to her current role as the Deputy Head of the Prime Minister's Business Team.
Cutting-edge research
As a member of the UK's prestigious Russell Group and the ’Universitas 21 (U21)’ global network of research-intensive universities, we deliver a high standard of education. We are a diverse, research-led school, which integrates research and teaching at every level. Our research covers almost all aspects of contemporary politics and international relations, and we aim to challenge and inspire you.
We are committed to offering our students a range of exciting work placements and opportunities to participate in research that is on the cutting edge of the discipline. We engage with the most fundamental political questions of our time organising our activity around the school's centres and institutes. This framework provides an integrative and dynamic environment for staff to pursue individual and collective research projects.
In the Research Excellence Framework 2021, 82% of our research output is rated as world-leading or internationally excellent.
