General entry requirements

Minimum requirements

2:1 undergraduate degree (or equivalent) in a related subject.

Visit our PAIS web pages for department-specific advice on applying to ensure your application has the best chance for success.

Postgraduate FAQs (PAIS specific)

Postgraduate FAQs (General)

English language requirements

You can find out more about our English language requirementsLink opens in a new window. This course requires the following:

• Band B
• IELTS overall score of 7.0, minimum component scores of two at 6.0/6.5 and the rest at 7.0 or above.

International qualifications

We welcome applications from students with other internationally recognised qualifications.

For more information, please visit the international entry requirements pageLink opens in a new window.

Additional requirements

There are no additional entry requirements for this course.

Core modules

Europe and the World

The changing international geopolitical context has intensified focus on the European Union’s foreign, security and defence policies. The EU, in response to challenges within its own borders, in its wider region and beyond, published its Global Strategy for European Foreign and Security Policy in 2016 and the Strategic Compass for Security and Defence was formally adopted by the EU member states one month after the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The British referendum result and Brexit also challenged the EU’s identity as a strategic actor in international affairs.

This module explores the evolution of the EU as a foreign, security and defence actor and the debates about its evolving identity. It does so through first, assessing the utility of conceptual and theoretical schools of thought in explaining and helping us to understand how integration has evolved in foreign and security policy, and second, in critically engaging in the debates relating to the EU’s identity as a global power and actor in the 21st century. The module applies the theoretical debates to practical examples of the EU’s capabilities in relation to its immediate neighbourhood, including issues of enlargement to the Western Balkans, the EU’s neighbourhood policy to the east and south, and the EU’s fitful relationships with Turkey and Russia. It also explores the way in which the EU can influence key global issues such as the environment, trade and cybersecurity and shape relations with key regional actors from Latin America and Africa.

Dissertation

The Dissertation is an opportunity to study a topic of your choosing, in autonomy and in-depth, under the guidance of an advisor selected among the many experts in the Department. The Dissertation topic should be related to your course. It is an original empirical and/or theoretical investigation, led over terms 2 and 3, that takes further the work done in regular seminars in terms 1 and 2. The Dissertation is the closest you will get to real research during your degree. It is a key experience if you have a PhD in view, or extra-academic research, or any future employment that will require the ability to lead investigations and write reports in autonomy.

Optional modules

Optional modules can vary from year to year. Example optional modules may include:

• Justice and Equality
• Theories and Issues in International Political Economy
• Secrecy and Spies: British Intelligence in the Modern World
• The EU in International Affairs: Concepts and Themes
• The EU as an International Actor: Engaging with the Neighbourhood

The optional module listsLink opens in a new window are updated regularly.

You will have the freedom to select 2-4 modules from our extensive range of optional modules, up to a total of 120 CATS of taught modules.

Teaching

Modules are taught via one 2-hour seminar per week. Every seminar will be based on extensive guided reading you will do each week, but there is no strict pattern to how sessions are run. This may include mini-lectures followed by discussion, Q&A sessions, organised debates, peer presentations, policy briefs, small group work, simulations and other projects.

You can also choose to study part-time with us. Find out more about part-time study on our PAIS web pages.

Class sizes

Normally a maximum of 18 per seminar group in PAIS delivered modules.

Typical contact hours

6 hours of seminars per week for 9 weeks in Terms One and Two plus advice and feedback hours when requested and Dissertation supervision in Terms Two and Three.

Assessment

Assessment methods include research essays and other (written) assignments throughout the year, culminating in a 10,000 word dissertation at the end.

Your timetable

Your personalised timetable will be complete when you are registered for all modules, compulsory and optional, and you have been allocated to your lectures, seminars and other small group classes. Your compulsory modules will be registered for you and you will be able to choose your optional modules in a module pre-registration process about which you will receive information at the beginning of September.

Careers and employability

Graduates from these courses have gone on to work for employers including: Action Aid; World Bank; UN agencies; UK and other universities; Deloitte; Office for National Statistics; Japan Ministry of Defence; Nationwide Building Society; Reddit; European Social Survey; the European Central Bank; and the UK Cabinet Office. They have pursued roles such as: communications officer for major NGOs; business and financial project manager; economist; finance officer; policy advisor; compliance analyst; data analyst; advisor in human rights; local council officer; and union campaigner.

Our department has a dedicated professionally qualified Senior Careers Consultant offering impartial advice and guidance together with workshops and events throughout the year. Previous examples of workshops and events include:

• Your future awaits - the many things you can do after your degree in the PAIS Department
• Careers in Government and Politics
• Warwick careers fairs throughout the year
• After your PAIS Master’s – What Next?
• Assessment Centres and Interviews: an overview of what to expect for PAIS students

We also invite alumni and other professionals to talk about their job search and job experience in various sectors of interest to our students. Recent talks have discussed the sectors of human rights and humanitarian work, PhD and academic research, recruitment in the digital industry, The National Graduate Development Programme for Local Government, the UK Civil Service Fast Stream, and the Crown Prosecution Service.

Politics and International Studies at Warwick

Join an innovative, creative and passionate department with a lively and interactive culture. Stretch and challenge yourself with the support of friendly staff and your peers.

Find out more about us on our website.Link opens in a new window

Our Postgraduate courses

• International Development (MA)
• International Political Economy (MA)
• International Politics and East Asia (MA)
• International Relations (MA)
• International Security (MA)
• Politics and International Studies (PhD)
• Political and Legal Theory (MA)
• Politics, Big Data and Quantitative Methods (MA)
• Politics of Climate Change (MA)
• Public Policy (MA)

Tuition fees

Tuition fees are payable for each year of your course at the start of the academic year, or at the start of your course, if later. Academic fees cover the cost of tuition, examinations and registration and some student amenities.

Find your taught course fees  

Fee Status Guidance

We carry out an initial fee status assessment based on the information you provide in your application. Students will be classified as Home or Overseas fee status. Your fee status determines tuition fees, and what financial support and scholarships may be available. If you receive an offer, your fee status will be clearly stated alongside the tuition fee information.

Do you need your fee classification to be reviewed?

If you believe that your fee status has been classified incorrectly, you can complete a fee status assessment questionnaire. Please follow the instructions in your offer information and provide the documents needed to reassess your status.

Find out more about how universities assess fee status

Additional course costs

As well as tuition fees and living expenses, some courses may require you to cover the cost of field trips or costs associated with travel abroad.

For departmental specific costs, please see the Modules tab on the course web page for the list of core and optional core modules with hyperlinks to our Module Catalogue (please visit the Department’s website if the Module Catalogue hyperlinks are not provided).

Associated costs can be found on the Study tab for each module listed in the Module Catalogue (please note most of the module content applies to 2022/23 year of study). Information about module department specific costs should be considered in conjunction with the more general costs below:

• Core text books
• Printer credits
• Dissertation binding
• Robe hire for your degree ceremony

How to apply

Applications are now open for courses that start in September and October 2025.

Applications will close on 2 August 2025 for students who require a visa to study in the UK, to allow time to receive a CAS and complete the visa application process.

How to apply for a postgraduate taught course