BASc Politics, International Studies and Global Sustainable Development
Bachelor of Arts & Sciences
Three Year Programme
Joint Honours with GSD and Politics Departments
Study abroad & work placement opportunities
Global Sustainable Development (GSD) requires a global political dialogue. Understanding key political concepts, ideologies, and practices of national and international governments is essential for providing solutions for sustainable development. Your studies will lead you into testing questions. Why do states marginalise human rights in place of geopolitical aims? Why has water and food security become a critical foreign policy consideration for national governments? Why does political gridlock on a national and international level frequently emerge in discussions about climate change? By combining PAIS with GSD, you will be seeking to answer these questions, combining theoretical and analytical approaches from Politics with the interdisciplinary outlook of GSD.
Duration*
- 3 years full-time; or
- 3 years full-time with integrated study abroad programme; or
- 4 years full-time with intercalated year spent either studying abroad or on work placement.
Entry requirements
A level:
- AAA
- You will also need grade B/grade 6 in English and Mathematics at GCSE
IB:
- 38 to include Mathematics and English
For more information please see here.
UCAS code
CATS
An Honours Degree requires a minimum of 360 CATS during the course, comprising 120 CATS per year. For this course of study, credits are normally split equally between Global Sustainable Development modules and modules offered by the Department of Politics and International Studies.
Qualification
Bachelor of Arts and Sciences (BASc)
Location of study
University of Warwick, Coventry
Tuition fees
Find out more about fees and funding
Warwick Undergraduate Excellence Scholarship 2021
This new scheme will offer international fee-paying students 250 tuition fee discounts ranging from full fees to awards of £13,000 to £2,000 for the full duration of your Undergraduate degree course.
Find out more about the Warwick Undergraduate Global Excellence Scholarship 2021
Additional course costs
There may be costs associated with other items or services such as academic texts, course notes, and trips associated with your course. Students who choose to complete a work placement or study abroad will pay reduced tuition fees for their third year.
* You will be automatically enrolled on the three-year course, however, you have the option to change to a four-year course with an intercalated year in your third year. During the intercalated year, you may pursue a study abroad programme or a work placement (subject to you meeting departmental academic requirements).
If you are interested in the world's problems, want to learn more about them and have a social conscience, then you should study GSD. If you are flexible and adaptable and able to consider global issues from different perspectives, understand their complexity, can think creatively about potential solutions and want to be equipped to make a real difference to the world, then you should study GSD at Warwick. You will take a holistic approach to exploring issues surrounding sustainability, including climate change, energy security, and wealth inequality. A BASc in Politics, International Studies and GSD encourages you to pose challenging questions about the complexity of global politics and the individuality of cultures and local systems of government. Upon completing your course, you will have developed vital knowledge of sustainability and a set of transferable skills to pursue a variety of career pathways.
"I feel really lucky to work with students from a broad range of disciplines"
"I have found PAIS and GSD to interlink so much, and any time I feel like I’m struggling with one side, I find the reading from the other somehow always links and helps me with my understanding of what I am learning. I feel really lucky to work with students from a broad range of disciplines, in seminars we constantly critically analyse global challenges and solutions from different perspectives, which for far too long have been separate discourses."
Hollie
PAIS and GSD student
Hear more from GSD student ambassador, Hollie
First Year
Core GSD modules (60 CATs in total)
- Economic Principles of Global Sustainable Development (GD104) (15 CATS, Term 1)
- Environmental Principles of Global Sustainable Development (GD105) (15 CATS, Term 2)
- Social Principles of Global Sustainable Development (GD106) (15 CATS, Term 1)
- Global Sustainable Development Project (GD107) (15 CATS, Term 2)
Core PAIS modules (60 CATs in total)
- Introduction to Politics (PO107) (30 CATS, Terms 1 & 2)
- World Politics (PO131) (30 CATS, Terms 1 & 2)
Certificates
- Certificate of Digital Literacy (Term 1)
- Certificate of Sustainability (Term 3)
- Certificate of Professional Communication with Work Placement
The work placement is completed over four weeks, but can be longer (Term 3)
Second Year
(remaining at Warwick)
Core PAIS module (30 CATs in total)
- Political Theory from Hobbes (P0201) (30 CATS, Terms 1 & 2)
Optional core GSD module (30 CATS in total)
- Health and Sustainable Development (30 CATs, Terms 1&2)
or
- Security, Sovereignty and Sustainability in the Global Food System (30 CATs, Terms 1&2)
or
- Inequalities and Sustainable Development: Inclusion and Dignity for All (30 CATs, Terms 1&2)
Optional module(s) with a GSD focus (30 CATS in total)
- Any approved optional module(s) with a GSD focus, including from other departments across the University (30 CATs, Terms 1&2)
Optional PAIS modules (30 CATs in total)
- Choice of second year modules offered by PAIS (30 CATS, Terms 1 & 2)
Certificates
- Certificate of Coaching Practice (Term 2)
- Certificate of Professional Communication with Work Placement
The work placement is completed over four weeks, but can be longer (Term 3)
Second Year
(integrated year with Terms 2 and 3 spent abroad)
Term 1
Core PAIS module (15 CATs in total)
- Political Theory from Hobbes (PO201) (15 CATS, Term 1)
Optional core GSD module (15 CATs in total)
- Health and Sustainable Development (15 CATS, Term 1)
or
- Security, Sovereignty and Sustainability in the Global Food System (15 CATS, Term 1)
or
- Inequalities and Sustainable Development: Inclusion and Dignity for All (15 CATS, Term 1)
Optional module with a GSD focus (15 CATS in total)
- Any approved optional module with a GSD focus, including from other departments across the University (15 CATs, Term 1)
Optional PAIS module (15 CATs in total)
- Choice of second year modules offered by PAIS (15 CATS, Term 1)
Terms 2 and 3
Terms 2 and 3 are spent abroad, where relevant courses are taught by a partner institution. Students are required to register on the module Study Abroad Part-Year (GD200) which recognises the period of study abroad.
Final Year
Core GSD module (30 CATs in total)
- Dissertation/Long Project (GD307) (30 CATs, Terms 1 - 2)
Core PAIS module (30 CATs in total)
- Issues in Political Theory (PO301) (30 CATS, Terms 1 & 2)
Optional module(s) with a GSD focus (30 CATS in total)
- Any approved optional module(s) with a GSD focus, including from other departments across the University (30 CATs, Terms 1&2)
Optional PAIS modules (30 CATs in total)
- Choice of final year modules offered by PAIS (30 CATS, Terms 1 & 2)
Explore the list of GSD and PAIS modules in full
Your university experience could be a truly global one by studying overseas. You can access study abroad opportunities via two routes:
1. Study abroad in terms 2 and 3 of your second year
Read the transcript for this video.
You could spend terms 2 and 3 of your second year studying abroad at our Department's partner institution, Monash University, home to the world-leading Monash Sustainable Development Institute. Our integrated programme is specifically structured so you can spend time abroad without having to extend the overall length of your course. Your academic achievements abroad will count towards your degree awarded by Warwick, meaning your studies will be both rewarding and rewarded! You will continue to pay your course fees in full to Warwick and you will also continue to receive your student loan, if eligible.
2. Year-long study abroad
You may, alternatively, choose to spend an intercalated year at one of Warwick's many other partner institutions across the world. You'll spend your first and second years at Warwick, studying abroad in your third year. You'll then return to Warwick for your final year. Your year abroad won't count towards your final mark, but it will be recorded on your Higher Education Achievement Report, giving you the freedom to take chances with your module choice and push yourself outside of your comfort zone with your learning. Please see here for more information about the intercalated study abroad opportunity.
Find out more about your options for studying abroad here.
In the GSD Department, we have a dedicated Employability and Placement Manager who’ll provide you with one-to-one careers guidance. They work in collaboration with employers, so you’ll be supported in securing appropriate work placements. You’ll have access to specialist pre-placement advice, guidance and preparation, as well as on-going support during your placement.
As a GSD graduate, you have a wide range of career pathways that are available to you. This is demonstrated by the variety of work placements that our students have completed with employers from different sectors.
Our students have been successful in securing work placements with employers from the private, public, and third sectors. This includes:
- Research Institutions
- Governmental Bodies
- Non-Governmental Organisations
- Intelligence Agencies
- Housing
- Sustainable Consultancies
- Finance
Our students have undertaken diverse roles such as:
- Marketing Assistant
- Sustainability Officer
- Intelligence Analyst
- Researchers
- Teaching
- Human Resources
You will learn valuable transferable skills that will help you with your employment prospects including:
- Analysing and problem solving: Through your study of economic principles and models, you’ll learn how to extract the essential features of complex systems, providing useable frameworks for evaluation
- Critical thinking: Assess arguments, make judgements, formulate reasoned debates and generate feasible solutions
- Communication: Develop advanced communication skills that enable you to communicate with a variety of audiences and in different settings
- Research: An integrated programme of research skills training, teaching you how to source, evaluate and use different forms of information and data
- Organisation: Through a rigorous assessment schedule and a compulsory dissertation module in your final year, you’ll learn the essentials of time management, prioritisation and how to be well organised
- Collaboration: You’ll have plenty of opportunities to work with others and nurture your emotional intelligence, developing a professional attitude
- Global Sustainable Development (Single Honours)
- Education Studies and Global Sustainable Development
- Economics and Global Sustainable Development
- History and Global Sustainable Development
- Sociology and Global Sustainable Development
- Global Sustainable Development and Business Studies
- Hispanic Studies and Global Sustainable Development
- Philosophy and Global Sustainable Development
- Psychologyy and Global Sustainable Development
- Theatre and Performance Studies and Global Sustainable Development
- Life Sciences and Global Sustainable Development