The Politics degree at SOAS is structured around four core subdisciplines, namely political theory, political sociology, political economy, and international relations. Students receive a thorough training in the theories and methods of these sub-disciplines, which are then applied to the analysis of real world political situations.
If you are interested in exchange programmes with European universities, please see www.soas.ac.uk/erasmus
By studying Politics at SOAS, students will gain detailed knowledge and a thorough understanding of some of the most important power shifts and conflicts of ideas unfolding in the world today. They will also learn to critically engage with and explore the relevance of social science concepts for understanding contemporary geopolitics, regional politics of Asia, Africa and the Middle East, as well as the ability to undertake analyses and comparisons of political developments in specific countries.
Teaching in the Department of Politics and International Studies combines an introduction to the discipline of politics as a comparative exercise together with awareness that comparisons must always respect the individuality of each country and population. This awareness is complemented by the work carried out in other departments of SOAS. A Politics degree at SOAS therefore gives our students a better opportunity than most to understand global politics since our courses cover the politics of three quarters of the globe. BA Politics may be taken as a single subject or two-subject degree. A sampling of the courses we offer include Government and Politics of Asia, of China, of the Middle East, and of Africa, International Politics, Islam and Democracy, Politics of Development, Globalization and Global Governance, and Politics of Culture.
Key Information Set Data
The information for BA, BSc, or LLB programmes refer to data taken from the single subject degrees offered at SOAS; however, due to the unique nature of our programmes many subjects have a separate set of data when they are studied alongside another discipline. In order to get a full picture of their chosen subject(s) applicants are advised to look at both sets of information where these occur.
Venue: Russell Square: College Buildings
Start of programme: September
Mode of Attendance: Full-time
Entry requirements
- A Levels:
- AAA
- IB:
- 37 (6/6/6)
View alternative entry requirements
BTEC: DDD
Access to HE: Minimum of 30 Level 3 Credits at Distinction
Scottish Highers: AAAAA
Scottish Advanced Highers: AAA
Irish LC: 360 points from 5 Higher level subjects at grade C1 or above
Advanced Placement: 4 5 5 (Two semesters - UCAS Group A) plus US HSGD with GPA 3.0
Euro Bacc: 85%
French Bacc: 15/20
German Abitur: 1.5
Italy DES: 85/100
Austria Mat: 1.5
Polish Mat: 80%
- duration:
- 3 or 4 years
Please see the Unistats data for the various combinations of this programme under the Combinations tab.
May be combined with:
- African Studies, TL52 BA/POLAF
- Arabic+, LT26 BA/PLOA
- Chinese+, LT21 BA/POLCH
- Development Studies, LL92 BA/POLDVS
- Economics, LL12 BA/POLEC
- Hebrew+, LQ24 BA/POLHE
- History, LV21 BA/POLH
- International Relations
- Japanese, LT22 BA/POLJ
- Japanese Studies, TL22 BA/JSP
- Korean+, LTFL BA/POLKO
- Law, LM21 BA/POLLW
- Persian+, LTG6 BA/POLP ( + Compulsory Year Abroad which is split between 2 countries)
- Social Anthropology, LL62 BA/SAPOL
- South Asian Studies, TLHF BA/SASPOL
- South East Asian Studies, TLH2 BA/POLSEA
- Study of Religions, LV26 BA/SRPOL
- Turkish+, LTF6 BA/TUPOL
Key Information Set data
Click on a combined programme to load KIS data
This information describes the Politics component of a two-subject degree. Students taking Joint Honours with a language that involves three course units are required to take Introduction to Comparative Politics in their first year. These students are required to take Introduction to Political Theory OR Introduction to Political Analysis subsequently.
Year 1
Compulsory Module
Students will take the following compulsory module:
And 30 credits from the First Year options list below;
Second Subject
Students will take modules to the value of 60 credits from their second subject.
Year 2
Credits must be taken in the following combination;
- 30 credits from Disciplinary options
- 30 credits from Regional options
- 60 credits from second subject
List A
Disciplinary Options
Regional Options
List A
List C:
Programme Specification
Important notice
The information on the programme page reflects the intended programme structure against the given academic session. If you are a current student you can find structure information on the previous year link at the top of the page or through your Department. Please read the important notice regarding changes to programmes and modules.
Year abroad
If Politics is combined with a language in a 4-year degree course, students spend a study year abroad Teaching & Learning
Classes are taught through lectures, tutorials and seminars. Assessment is by a combination of written examination and essays.
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