Entry Requirements

General entry requirements

A level:

• AAA
• You will also need grade B/grade 6 in English and Mathematics at GCSE
• We make differential offers to students in a number of circumstances at AAB, plus grade B/grade 6 in English and Mathematics at GCSE

IB:

• 38 to include Mathematics and English

BTEC:

• We welcome applications from students taking BTECs alongside one or two A levels
• You will also need grade B/ grade 6 in English and Mathematics at GCSE

Additional requirements

Second personal statement: If you meet (or are predicted to meet) the minimum entry requirements, we will invite you to submit a second personal statement to Warwick, addressing your reasons for applying to the course. We will contact applicants directly to request the second personal statement and provide guidance at that time.

English Language: You will also need to meet our English Language requirements. This course falls under Band C.

International Students

We welcome applications from students with other internationally recognised qualifications.

Find out more about international entry requirements.

Contextual data and differential offers

Warwick may make differential offers to students in a number of circumstances. These include students participating in the Realising Opportunities programme, or who meet two of the contextual data criteria. Differential offers will be one or two grades below Warwick’s standard offer (to a minimum of BBB).

Warwick International Foundation Programme (IFP)

All students who successfully complete the Warwick IFP and apply to Warwick through UCAS will receive a guaranteed conditional offer for a related undergraduate programme (selected courses only).

Find out more about standard offers and conditions for the IFP.

Taking a gap year

Applications for deferred entry welcomed.

Interviews

We do not typically interview applicants. Offers are made based on your UCAS form which includes predicted and actual grades, your personal statement and school reference. We will also consider your second personal statement when making offers.

Year One

Economic Principles of Global Sustainable Development

Why and how do economists address issues of global sustainable development? In this module, you’ll learn about the relationship between economic activity, social justice and environmental sustainability, the economic theories that underpin sustainable development policy interventions and how those theories impact upon policy design. After studying this module, you’ll be able to apply fundamental economic principles to the analysis of global sustainable development problems. You’ll also understand how economic policies intended to address those problems are developed and be able to offer informed critiques of such policies.

Social Principles of Global Sustainable Development

This introductory module examines in depth the concepts that allow you to analyse and interpret the social and political issues related to global sustainable development. You’ll learn to understand and evaluate the most pressing social and political dimensions of sustainability at national and international levels.

Upon completing this module, you’ll have acquired the knowledge and understanding to be able to offer a well-informed evidence-based explanation of the social and political dimensions of key challenges such as: inequality, environmental harm, health, and food. You’ll also be able to explain the threats to social cohesion caused by forms of economic development, reflect critically on the reasons why some countries are considered developed while others have stayed poor, and understand and write critically about the continuing challenges of attempting to provide “Education for all” and “Health for all”.

Environmental Principles of GSD

This module is structured around an emerging global consensus that humans are compromising the global biosphere by transgressing nine Planetary Boundaries: the result of which will be fundamental and unrecoverable change that significantly compromises the safe operating space for human development. We focus on the natural science of these environmental issues – covering well known topics like climate change and biodiversity loss, as well as less prominent problems, such as biochemical flows. We evaluate existing governance and management efforts, and develop innovative responses of our own. You’ll be taught how to write a policy briefing and will prepare one on your chosen subject aimed at a specific decision-making audience. Then, you’ll convert your brief to a policy pitch: a two minute ‘sell’ of your proposals. By the end of this module, you’ll possess key knowledge of environmental principles and also skills valuable for creating meaningful change in the world of work, governance and/or activism.

GSD Project

This is an innovative and practical module designed to give you crucial research and analysis skills linked to the important issue of sustainable transport. The module is taught by a number of experts in the field and working on your own and as part of a team, you’ll be required to carry out research that will advance your understanding of the application of theories you’ll have studied in your other first-year modules.

Introduction to Politics

Introduction to Politics gives you a broad overview of the main issues and theoretical perspectives within Politics. You'll learn first to understand and then apply the core concepts of comparative political science and theory to processes, institutions, ideologies and practical policy-making. You'll conduct a comparative study of different political systems and political change, both in writing and in open debate.

World Politics

In this module, you'll be introduced to world politics and the role that international relations plays in the interactions between nations. You'll gain a solid understanding of the historical underpinnings of the structure and systems of states, and become familiar with major theories of international relations post-1945. You'll analyse contemporary writings on world politics and engage critically, both orally and in writing, with key concepts and theoretical debates on the nature of international political systems.

Year Two

Health and Sustainable Development

Viable and equitable solutions in health and sustainable development require interdisciplinary and critical thinking. The first part of the module will introduce you to fundamental concepts of global health governance and health systems, and acquaint you with key global health priorities like drug resistance and mental health from the perspective of GSD. The second part of the module will focus on issues that relate to policies and behavioural change, and are also applicable beyond health, for example in areas like education or technology transfer. Alongside the module content, you’ll have the opportunity to develop your analytical skills to make independent, critical, and constructive contributions to Health and Sustainable Development.

OR

Security, Sovereignty and Sustainability in the Global Food System

The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), agreed in 2015, commit the international community to a set of 17 goals to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity. Of these, Goal 2 specifically aims to end hunger, end all forms of malnutrition, and ensure sustainable food production systems by 2030.

The pressing need for such initiatives is stark: we inhabit a world where at least 800 million people are chronically undernourished. The world population is projected to increase to a staggering 10 billion people by 2050, yet who will be responsible for ensuring all these mouths are fed? And can we ever produce and consume food for so many people without causing an unsustainable impact on our environment?

Food security, sustainability and sovereignty are thus crucial issues confronting the world today, and it is these issues which this module seeks to introduce and evaluate. The module is taught in collaboration with active researchers from across various disciplines at Warwick, especially those involved in the University’s Global Research Priority on Food.

OR

Inequalities and Sustainable Development: Inclusion and Dignity for All

This module focuses on how inequalities shape our societies, economies, environments and politics. Starting with the question ‘does inequality matter?’, you'll critically reflect on the UN's decision to integrate inequalities into the Sustainable Development Agenda. You’ll then explore six different dimensions of inequalities (work, politics, environmental justice, societal discrimination, automation and globalisation, opportunities and empowerment) and gain an understanding of the complexities of these problems. Finally, you’ll appreciate the challenges faced by today’s policy makers who aim to address issues of inequalities while taking into consideration all three pillars of sustainable development.

Political Theory from Hobbes: Seeking Freedom and Equality

How should human beings be governed? The thinkers you'll study – from Hobbes to Marx – had very different answers to this question. Building on your understanding of political philosophy, you'll read significant primary and secondary texts to develop your understanding of how political convictions are shaped by the context and history of individual thought and social interaction. You'll confront and assess complex ideas in political theory, and present and defend your point of view, both orally and in writing.

Year Three

GSD Dissertation/Long Project

In this final-year module you’ll bring together all of your learning and experiences on the course – the theoretical concepts and principles and your practical know-how – in order to address a specific sustainable development problem of your own choosing. This will be a problem that concerns you most and which you’d like to tackle.

You’ll be supported by an academic supervisor to devise a suitable project and to undertake research to explore the issue, taking a transdisciplinary approach to your investigation in order to produce an original research output. This may be a concept paper, a practical project, a film production, a long essay, an advocacy campaign etc. – use your creativity!

You’ll design a strategy for disseminating your findings (for example at a conference presentation, via online publication or an article in a journal or at a public meeting that you’ve arranged). This provides you with an opportunity to get your voice heard in a forum where it matters and could have lasting impact.

Issues in Political Theory

Should parents send their children to private schools? Is freedom of movement a moral right? Is it unjust to rear animals for food? Who should bear the costs of climate change? You'll explore fundamental questions of political morality by critically analysing complex arguments from contemporary political philosophy. You'll study closely John Rawls’s theory of justice, and consider the rival theories of Robert Nozick, G. A. Cohen and Ronald Dworkin. You'll have practical opportunities to develop and defend your own ethical standpoint through your considered judgements on current dilemmas, taking into account opposing arguments and perspectives.

Examples of optional modules/options for current students:

GSD Department

• Managing Natural Resources
• The Energy Trilemma
• Human Rights and Social Justice in Latin America and the Caribbean

• Realising Sustainable Development
• Multilingualism and Sustainable Development
• Surviving the Apocalypse

Please see here for a full list of optional modules offered by the GSD Department.

PAIS Department

• Public Policy for 21st Century Challenges
• States and Markets: An Introduction to International Political Economy
• Justice, Democracy and Citizenship
• Capitalism and Its Alternatives
• Gender and Development
• United States Foreign Policy

Tuition fees

Find out more about fees and funding.

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.

Warwick Undergraduate Global Excellence Scholarship 2021

We believe there should be no barrier to talent. That's why we are committed to offering a scholarship that makes it easier for gifted, ambitious international learners to pursue their academic interests at one of the UK's most prestigious universities. 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

Your career

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. These include:

• Research institutions
• Governmental bodies
• Non-governmental organisations
• Intelligence agencies
• Housing
• Environmental consultancies

Our students have undertaken diverse roles such as:

• Marketing Assistant
• Sustainability Officer
• Intelligence Analyst
• Researchers

You’ll 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: You’ll assess arguments, make judgements, formulate reasoned debates and generate feasible solutions
• Communication: You’ll develop advanced communication skills that enable you to communicate with a variety of audiences and in different settings
• Research: You’ll undertake 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

Helping you find the right career

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.

You’ll also have access to the University’s Student Opportunity resources (including careers counselling, employment advice, and job fairs).

Find out more about careers support at Warwick.

Be the change you want to be

Hear from GSD student Luke about how he's putting into practice what he's been learning on his degree. Luke has implemented a practical solution to a problem in the local area by setting up a social enterprise to help tackle food insecurity.