International Relations and History with a Year in Industry
Swansea University
UCAS Code: LV2F | Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)
Swansea University
UCAS Code: LV2F | Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)
Entry requirements
A level
Leaving Certificate - Higher Level (Ireland) (first awarded in 2017)
UCAS Tariff
Swansea University accepts the Advanced Skills Baccalaureate Wales as fully equivalent to x1 A-Level.
About this course
International Relations and History explores globalization, human rights, international and regional politics, peace and conflict, political economy, security studies and strategic studies. You will also cover history through subjects including women’s history and gender, memory of war and conflict, and British social history.
This course offers you the opportunity to spend a Year In Industry, in the UK or overseas, giving valuable workplace experience. The University advocates for only paid placements which on average have a salary of over £20,000. Unpaid placements are considered on a case-by-case basis.
Based at our stunning Singleton Park campus, in parkland overlooking Swansea Bay on the edge of the Gower Peninsula, our International Relations and History course at Swansea University is highly regarded by students and employers:
Studying International Relations and History at Swansea you can:
• Choose a level 3 module The National Assembly for Wales Internship and work one morning a week for a semester at the National Assembly in Cardiff
• Participate in workshops and seminars run by guest speakers
• Study Welsh Medium modules
International Relations at Swansea is ranked:
• Top 5 in the UK for Teaching Satisfaction (Guardian University Guide 2025)
• Top 15 in the UK Overall (Guardian University Guide 2025)
History at Swansea is ranked:
• Top 15 in the UK for Student Experience (Times Good University Guide 2025)
You’ll be taught by History research and teaching experts who specialize in the medieval, early modern and modern history of the UK, Europe and the world.
You have the option of a semester abroad in your second year. You can choose to go East and study in Hong Kong, China or Singapore or West and study in North America.
If you prefer to stay closer to home, and want to enhance your student experience and career prospects, The Swansea University Work Placement Programmes offer three work place programmes: Week of Work (WOW); Swansea paid Internship Programme (SPIN) and Santander Universities Funded Placements.
You can also link up with the Swansea Employability Academy (SEA). It provides a network connecting students with employers. You can attend talks and workshops as well as student led networking events.
Students on this course typically develop excellent oral and writing skills and you will also learn to develop your ideas in a wide range of formats, along with strong research, analytical and problem-solving skills.
Our graduates are truly international and enter careers in a wide range of sectors including:
• Education
• Government and Politics
• Recruitment
• Media and Public Relations
• Heritage and Museums
• Business
• Business and Management
• Law and Public Services
Modules
In Year 1, you will typically study areas including:
Making History, Introduction to International Relations, War and Peace in the Nuclear Age, Europe of Extremes, 1789-1989, Politics and the People
In Year 2, you will typically study areas including:
Anarchy and Order: Theories in International Relations, Globalisation, The Practice of History, Global Justice and Human Rights, America in Crisis: From the Tet Offensive to Trump, The History of Political Thought
You will have the opportunity to spend a in industry between your second and final year, broadening your skills and experience. Although securing a placement is the responsibility of the student, we work with a number of organisations who provide a range of placement opportunities. Students are also supported throughout their application journey with advice, guidance and additional resources.
In your final year you will complete an independent dissertation project or you have the competitive option of undertaking a work placement module with the Senedd Cymru/ Welsh Parliament.
You will also complete a compulsory group work project plus optional modules chosen from a wide variety of subject areas including:
Philosophy, Mental Health and Illness, Capitalism and Justice, Digital Futures, Africa in International Relations, The Story of the USA on Film and Television, 1865-2008, The Rise and Fall of Wales? Politics, Culture and Society, 1847-1939, A History of Sex and Gender
Assessment methods
Throughout your undergraduate International Relations and History with a Year Abroad BA (Hons) degree, you will develop excellent research and analytical skills and learn to present your ideas effectively both verbally and in writing.
We offer a variety of assessment methods within our programmes. In addition to traditional examinations and essays, examples of alternative assessment include:
• Reading diary
• Literature/ article review
• Case study
• Critical review
For a full breakdown of course structure and assessment please visit our course page https://www.swansea.ac.uk/undergraduate/courses/social-sciences/politics-philosophy-international-relations/ba-international-relations-history/ or get in touch with us at study@swansea.ac.uk
The Uni
Singleton Park Campus
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
What students say
We've crunched the numbers to see if the overall teaching satisfaction score here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.
How do students rate their degree experience?
The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Politics
Teaching and learning
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
History
Teaching and learning
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
After graduation
The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Politics
What are graduates doing after six months?
This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.
Top job areas of graduates
The numbers of people taking politics degrees fell sharply last year and we'll keep an eye on this one - it can't really be because of graduates getting poor outcomes as politics grads do about as well as graduates on average. Most politics or international relations graduates don't actually go into politics - although many do, as activists, fundraisers and researchers. Jobs in local and central government are also important. Other popular jobs include marketing and PR, youth and community work, finance roles, HR and academic research (you usually need a postgraduate degree to get into research). Because so many graduates get jobs in the civil service, a lot of graduates find themselves in London after graduating. Politics is a very popular postgraduate subject, and so about one in five politics graduates go on to take another course - usually a one-year Masters - after they finish their degrees.
History
What are graduates doing after six months?
This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.
Top job areas of graduates
History is a very popular subject (although numbers have fallen of late) — in 2015, over 10,000 UK students graduated in a history-related course. Obviously, there aren't 11,000 jobs as historians available every year, but history is a good, flexible degree that allows graduates to go into a wide range of different jobs, and consequently history graduates have an unemployment rate comparable to the national graduate average. Many — probably most — jobs for graduates don't ask for a particular degree to go into them and history graduates are well set to take advantage. That's why so many go into jobs in the finance industry, human resources, marketing, PR and events management, as well as the more obvious roles in education, welfare and the arts. Around one in five history graduates went into further study last year. History and teaching were the most popular further study subjects for history graduates, but law, journalism, and politics were also popular postgraduate courses.
What about your long term prospects?
Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.
Politics
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£16k
£25k
£30k
Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.
History
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£16k
£21k
£26k
Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.
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This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).
This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.
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This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for undergraduate students only.
You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.
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Post-six month graduation stats:
This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.
It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.
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Graduate field commentary:
The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show
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The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.
While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?
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