Philosophy and Politics with a Year Abroad

Philosophy and Politics are disciplines that have been in conversation for more than two thousand years, and their combination makes natural sense. Philosophy provides the tools for rigorous argument: logic, conceptual analysis, the ability to identify assumptions and test them. Politics applies similar habits of thought to the study of power, governance, institutions, and the contested ideas about justice, freedom, and authority that shape how societies are organised.

Together, they produce graduates who can think clearly about what is actually happening in the world and why it matters.

This four-year, full-time programme at the University of East Anglia includes a year abroad, which is built into the degree structure and gives you the opportunity to study philosophy and politics in a different national and academic context. This international dimension enriches your understanding of how political ideas and institutions vary across cultures, and how philosophical traditions outside the Anglo-American mainstream have approached the fundamental questions of human life. At UEA you will engage with political philosophy, normative ethics, and the history of ideas alongside empirical politics, covering topics from democratic theory and international relations to environmental politics and the philosophy of mind.

A typical entry tariff of 120 UCAS points sets the baseline for entry.

The programme develops your capacity for careful analysis, structured argument, and written expression. You will learn to read difficult texts with patience and precision, to construct a case from first principles, and to evaluate competing positions without simply defaulting to the most familiar one.

Graduates from philosophy and politics degrees work in the civil service, politics and policy research, law, journalism, NGOs, international organisations, the charity sector, and business. The combination is particularly valued in any role where clear reasoning and principled judgement matter. Many graduates also pursue postgraduate study in political philosophy, law, international relations, or public policy.