BASc Politics, International Studies and Global Sustainable Development
Bachelor of Arts & Sciences
Three years full-time programme
Joint honours degree
Study abroad & work placement opportunities
Studying BASc Politics, International Studies (PAIS) and Global Sustainable Development (GSD) enables you to take part in the critical analysis of political ideas in an international context. This degree will equip you with the theoretical foundations upon which you can build analysis of issue-based problems.
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 about entry requirements please see here.
UCAS code
CATS
An Honours Degree requires a minimum of 360 CATS during the course, comprising 120 CATS per year.
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 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.
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).
Global sustainable development 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. This course considers testing questions such as:
- Why do states marginalise human rights in place of geopolitical aims?
- Why has water and food security become a critical foreign policy concern for governments?
- Why does political gridlock frequently emerge in discussions on climate change?
You will seek to answer these questions, combining theoretical and analytical approaches from Politics with the transdisciplinary approach of GSD.
By studying GSD, you will confront issues from a diverse array of perspectives. You will need to be ready to think creatively and embrace new opinions from your peers from across the world. We will challenge you to become an active participant in your own learning.
You can enhance your skills and studies through optional work placements, study abroad, and certificates.
"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 graduate
Hear more from Hollie
First Year
Core GSD modules
- Economic Principles of Global Sustainable Development (GD104)
- Environmental Principles of Global Sustainable Development (GD105)
- Social Principles of Global Sustainable Development (GD106)
- Global Sustainable Development Project (GD107)
Core PAIS modules
Certificates
Second Year
(remaining at Warwick)
Core PAIS module
Optional core GSD module
You will choose one module from the following list:
Optional module(s) with a GSD focus
- Approved optional module(s) with a GSD focus, including from other departments across the University
Optional PAIS modules
Certificates
Second Year
(integrated year abroad with Terms 2 and 3 at Monash University)
Term 1
Core PAIS module
Optional core GSD module
You will choose one module from the following list:
Optional module with a GSD focus
- Approved optional module with a GSD focus, including from other departments across the University
Optional PAIS module
Terms 2 and 3
Students spend Terms 2 and 3 abroad at Monash University, studying relevant modules. 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
Core PAIS module
Optional module(s) with a GSD focus
- Approved optional module(s) with a GSD focus, including from other departments across the University
Optional PAIS modules
Explore the lists of GSD and PAIS modules
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
Single honours
Joint honours
- Economic Studies and Global Sustainable Development
- Education Studies and Global Sustainable Development
- Global Sustainable Development and Business Studies
- Hispanic Studies and Global Sustainable Development
- History and Global Sustainable Development
- Life Sciences and Global Sustainable Development
- Philosophy and Global Sustainable Development
- Psychology and Global Sustainable Development
- Sociology and Global Sustainable Development
- Theatre and Performance Studies and Global Sustainable Development