Politics and International Relations

Politics and international relations together provide one of the most comprehensive frameworks for understanding the contemporary world. Politics examines the institutions, ideologies, and processes through which power is exercised and contested within states. International relations extends this to the global arena, investigating how states, international organisations, and other actors manage their relationships, cooperate, compete, and sometimes come into conflict.

Together they give you the tools to engage seriously with state power, international security, human rights, and global justice, the defining challenges of our time.

At York St John University this three-year, full-time programme includes an optional foundation year for students who want additional preparation before the main degree. The programme develops your analytical, research, and communication skills through engagement with both the theory and the empirical reality of politics and international relations, from the structures of democratic governance to the dynamics of geopolitics and the work of international institutions. A sandwich year, a year abroad, and work placement opportunities are all built into the programme, giving you professional experience and international exposure alongside your academic formation.

This combination of structural features makes the degree particularly well designed for students who want to connect academic study closely with real-world experience.

Graduates move into careers in government, the civil service, diplomatic services, international organisations, think tanks, policy research, journalism, NGOs, and advocacy. The combination of political knowledge and international awareness is directly relevant to a wide range of public and private sector roles, and the analytical and communication skills the degree develops are valued across virtually every professional context. Many graduates continue to postgraduate study in politics, international relations, international law, or a specialist area such as security studies or human rights.

The foundation year option makes the programme accessible to students who want to build their academic preparation before entering the full degree.