Intro

From climate change to extreme poverty, society faces a series of urgent challenges. This course provides you with an understanding of the political world that created these crises, along with the creative and digital skills required to contribute towards solutions.

In the Global Challenges Lab, we support you to conduct independent research projects that investigate solutions to current global issues. You will learn how to communicate your ideas, making films, podcasts and data visualisations, designing political and social media campaigns, and writing policy papers and political speeches.

You will have opportunities to study global, national and local politics, environmental politics, the politics of sex and gender, political theory and the politics of protest and social movements. A choice of options allows you to shape your course to reflect your interests.

This course has your future employability at its heart. You’ll gain experience working with employers on live briefs, placements, and political campaigns. We support you to develop a portfolio of work to showcase your skills to future employers.

You will graduate as an experienced digital communicator and researcher who understands how to practically apply their skills to transform the world.

We offer four other undergraduate courses within our politics subject area:

Key facts

Location Brighton: Falmer

UCAS code L201

Full-time 3 years

Book your place: Brighton Falmer campus open day

See all of our upcoming events

Apply now with UCAS for 2022

Course content

Year 1

In your first year we welcome you into the Global Challenges Lab where you learn how to design your own research projects and make films, podcasts and data visualisations. You will also take a range of modules that introduce you to key contemporary politics issues and debates.

Modules

Foundations in World Politics
Politics In Practice
Introduction to the Global Challenges Lab
Global Challenges Lab: The Global and the Local
Introduction to Environmental Politics: Climate Catastrophe, Animal Extinction?
Sex and Politics: Defining Contemporary Issues

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Year 2

In your second year, you will continue your research in the Global Challenges Lab and learn how to write political speeches, policy papers and press briefings, and design social media campaigns. You'll begin to specialise in the subjects that interest you most through choosing option modules.

Modules

UK Politics
We, the People
Global Challenges Lab: Research Communication
Global Challenges Lab: Policy Solutions

Options*

Choose one from:

Creative Writing: Process and Craft
Gender, Race and Environment
Authority, Democracy and Justice
Community Engagement
Unruly Bodies: Understanding and Contesting Normativity

Choose one from:

Gender and Sexuality
Researching Politics
Global Resistance: Social Movements and Mobilisation
International Institutions
Debating Community International Relations

*Option modules are indicative and may change, depending on timetabling and staff availability.

Final year

In your final year you will further develop your knowledge and skills working to develop a political campaign with an external third sector organisation, aimed at developing your thinking about how civil society groups can make interventions in the political sphere.

You also work on a major independent research project, supported by your academic supervisor. The project is an opportunity for you to develop an idea independently using your creative and digital skills. Option modules provide more opportunities to focus on subjects that interest and intrigue you.

Modules

Social Change Project
Activism and Social Change
Participation, Performance and Politics OR Public Journalism

Options*

Choose one from:

Community Placement: Theory into Practice
Global Environmental Politics
Global Social Policy
Radical Political Economy and Anarchist Politics
Race and International Relations

Choose two from:

Politics in the Middle East
Utopian Theory and Practice
Psychology of Poverty
Care, Ethics and Social Policy
Politics of the Right

*Option modules are indicative and may change, depending on timetabling and staff availability.

Meet the team

Dr Rebecca Searle, course leader

Rebecca Searle’s work focuses on the ways in which scholarly research can be used to make critical interventions in the politics of the present. She established and co-ordinates the Housing Forum, an initiative to bring together academics, community organisations and policy makers to develop local solutions to the housing crisis. She leads the crowd sourced research project Who Owns Brighton?, that works with the community to uncover patterns of ownership and investment in a set of recent developments in the city. Her research interests include the housing crisis; the global history of contemporary capitalism; gender and sexuality; the politics of twentieth century Britain; and war and conflict in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. She is a member of the Centre for Research in Memory, Narrative and Histories, and of the research cluster Understanding Conflict: Forms and Legacies of Violence. Read Rebecca's full profile.

Other staff who teach on the course include: Dr Clare Woodford, Dr Heba Youssef, Dr Chris Wyatt, Prof Mark Devenney, Dr Robin Dunford, Dr German Primera Villamiza, Dr Chrystie Myketiak and Dr Zoe Sutherland.

Our latest news

Lecturer’s new book looks at life histories of radical figures in relation to black liberation struggle

Revolutionary Lives of the Red and Black Atlantic since 1917 co-edited by Christian Høgsbjerg is published on 19 April 2022 and brings to light the life histories of those whose political activity in relation to the black liberation struggle was profoundly shaped by the global impact and legacy of the Russian Revolution of October 1917.

Lecturers give free online talks as part of University exhibition looking at how objects are seen, from treasures to junk

From ‘The Fetishism of Commodities’ and ‘Graphic Interventions’, to ‘The Social Life of Unwanted Things’ and ‘Tracing the pursuit of (modern) happiness’ sign up to what promise to be fascinating events.

‘Bad Scepticism and Democracy’ public lecture 27 Jan, 6.30pm

Join the Humanities Society at our Edward Street building (or online) for this lecture by Dr Robin Dunphy, expertin epistemology and metaphysics in the context of Classical German Philosophy and with the Pyrrhonian sceptical tradition.

Listen to staff and students on Spotify

Another chance to listen to our staff and students on our Humanities programme speak on a variety of subjects on our podcast series.

Careers

Prepare for your career

In your career you’ll need a combination of knowledge, skills, personal qualities and relevant experiences – which you’ll get from studying one of our politics courses. 

As a Politics and Social Change student, you have the opportunity to develop wide-ranging subject knowledge throughout your studies and expertise in an area of your choice through your final year project. 

You will be able to see beyond the obvious, to analyse and dig beneath the surface to the root of any problem.

You will be challenged and encouraged to become a skilled communicator across a range of media, including films, podcasts, policy papers, data visualisations, social media, political speeches and campaigns. 

You will gain experience of working with employers through placements and live briefs. You will leave with transferable skills including the ability to:  

communicate your ideas through films, podcasts, policy papers, data visualisations and political speeches.
work independently and in teams to design and conduct research projects, political campaigns and respond to briefs set by employers.
be an engaged global citizen who understands the key challenges the world faces and a range of possible solutions.

Throughout your course you will receive careers development advice to help you identify future careers and understand how to realise your ambitions. We support you to create an online portfolio to showcase the skills you have acquired to employers.

Graduate destinations

The range of skills you’ll develop – knowledge, practice and project-based – will prepare you for work in fields such as:

local, national and international politics
policy-making
quangos
national and international non-governmental organisations
public relations
charities
think tanks
law
academia and teaching
media and journalism
business management.

Further study

Studying politics also opens up a range of postgraduate study options. At Brighton, for example, you could progress on to:

You could also choose to complete your PhD at Brighton alongside our researchers.

Employment demand for social science graduates

The British Academy has compiled a report (May 2020) quantifying the demand for arts, humanities and social science (AHSS) skills in the workplace. It helps to answer the legitimate question of what the economic return is on undertaking a degree, both in time and money. 

According to the report:

As arts, humanities and social science (AHSS) graduates progress through the first ten years of their career they are able make strong progress up the career ladder into roles attracting higher salaries
Arts, humanities and social science (AHSS) graduates are employed in some of the fastest growing sectors including financial services, education, social work, the media and creative industries
Of the ten fastest growing sectors, eight employ more graduates from AHSS than other disciplines

This makes AHSS graduates at the heart of some of the most exciting, productive, largest and fastest-growing sectors of the UK economy.

Future skills demand

According to the report:

With the challenges the world is facing – climate change, global pandemics, the growth of populism – the UK needs the insights of the arts, humanities and social sciences (AHSS) as much as those from science, technology and engineering (STEM)
Evidence within the report shows that Arts, humanities and social science (AHSS) graduates are central to these challenges and changes – they will be vital in giving us the tools to examine and explain human behaviour, understand how society functions, learn from the past and apply those lessons to the present, and analyse the drivers and implications of a changing world and how different countries, places and cultures interact.

Supporting your employability

Outside of your course, our Careers Service is here to support you as you discover (and re-discover) your strengths and what matters to you. We are here for you throughout your university journey as you work towards a fulfilling and rewarding career.

Connect with our careers team

Find part-time work that you can combine with your studies.
Find, or be, a mentor or get involved with our peer-to-peer support scheme.
Develop your business ideas through our entrepreneurial support network.
Get professional advice and support with career planning, CV writing and interview top tips.
Meet potential employers at our careers fairs.
Find rewarding volunteering opportunities to help you discover more about what makes you tick, and build your CV.

Whatever your career needs, we are here to help. And that's not just while you are a student, our support carries on after you've graduated.

Find out more...

Entry criteria

Flexible admissions

When you apply to Brighton we want to hear about who you are. Grades are never the whole picture; we're interested in things like creativity, resourcefulness, persistence and the capacity to think big and find new ways of doing things. And we recognise that not everyone has the same background. That's why we treat everyone who applies as an individual. We recognise many qualifications and we care about all of your achievements and the experiences you've had that set you apart.

Find out more

Entry requirements

A-levels or BTEC
Entry requirements are in the range of A-level BBB–BCC (120–104 UCAS Tariff points), or BTEC Extended Diploma DMM–MMM. Our conditional offers typically fall within this range.

International Baccalaureate
26 points, with three subjects at Higher level.

Access to HE Diploma
Pass with 60 credits overall. Humanities, history or politics courses preferred. At least 45 credits at level 3.

English language requirements
IELTS 6.0 overall with a minimum of 5.5 in each element. Find out more about the other English qualifications that we accept.

International requirements and visas

International requirements by country
Country name
Albania
Algeria
Argentina
Australia
Austria
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Belarus
Belgium
Bermuda
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Botswana
Brazil
Bulgaria
Burma (Myanmar)
Cameroon
Canada
Chile
China
Colombia
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Ecuador
Egypt
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Ghana
Greece
Guyana
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
India
Indonesia
Iran
Iraq
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
Japan
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kosovo
Kuwait
Latvia
Lebanon
Liechtenstein
Libya
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macedonia
Malaysia
Malawi
Malta
Mexico
Moldova
Montenegro
Morocco
Namibia
Nepal
Netherlands
New Zealand
Nigeria
Norway
Oman
Pakistan
Palestinian National Authority
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Qatar
Romania
Russian Federation
Saudi Arabia
Serbia
Sierra Leone
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
South Africa
South Korea
Spain
Sri Lanka
Syria
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Tanzania
Thailand
Tunisia
Turkey
Uganda
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
United States
Uzbekistan
Venezuela
Vietnam
Yemen
Zambia
Zimbabwe

We can help you meet our English language or academic entry requirements.

Visit our language centre

For English language preparation courses.

Visit our International College

For degree preparation courses.

Visas and immigration advice

Applying for a student visa

Check out our step-by-step guidance.

Fees

Course fees

UK (full-time) 9,250 GBP

International (full-time) 14,892 GBP

What's included

You may have to pay additional costs during your studies. The cost of optional activities is not included in your tuition fee and you will need to meet this cost in addition to your fees. A summary of the costs that you may be expected to pay, and what is included in your fees, while studying a course in the School of Humanities and Social Science in the 2021–22 academic year are listed here.

For some assessments you may be required to print large format posters for presentations at a cost of £5–£10 per poster.
Most coursework submissions are electronic but you may wish to print notes and should budget up to £100 for printing.
Course books are available from the university but you may wish to budget up to £200 to buy your own copies.
Some courses include an optional placement module for which students will need to cover the costs of travel to and from the placement and DBS checks as required.
For the Humanistic Psychotherapeutic Counselling PGDip and Psychotherapeutic Psychodynamic Counselling PGDip, the following course-related costs are not included in the tuition fee:
- Supervision fees: £1,170 for each full year. Estimated based on £45 per hour with fortnightly meetings. In some agencies, supervision will be provided at no cost. Where students have to pay, the cost will only begin when supervision begins.
- Personal counselling/therapy: £2,000–£2,800 over the course. Estimated based on £40 per hour.
For a number of courses you will have the opportunity to attend field trips and off-site visits. These are optional and are not required to pass your course but under normal circumstances we would expect a budget of approximately £150 per year will cover the costs of particular trips. The amount spent would be based on location and number of trips taken.
You will have access to computers and necessary software, however many students choose to buy their own hardware, software and accessories. The amount spent will depend on your individual choices but this expenditure is not essential to pass any of our courses.

You can chat with our enquiries team if you have a question or need more information. Or check our finance pages for advice about funding and scholarships as well as more information about fees and advice on international and island fee-paying status.

Info

The fees listed here are for full-time courses beginning in the academic year 2022–23.

Further tuition fees are payable for each subsequent year of study and are subject to an annual increase of no more than 5% or RPI (whichever is the greater). The annual increase for UK students, who are subject to regulated fees, will increase no more than the statutory maximum fee.

You can find out more about our fees in the university's student contract and tuition fee policy (pdf).

The tuition fee you have to pay depends on a number of factors including the kind of course you take, and whether you study full-time or part-time. If you are studying part-time you will normally be charged on a pro rata basis depending on the number of modules you take.

Location

Campus where this course is taught

Falmer campus

Set in the South Downs, our Falmer campus is around four miles from Brighton city centre. 7,000 students are based here taking subjects including criminology, English, education, nursing and medicine, paramedic science, psychology and sociology. Brighton and Hove Albion's Amex stadium and beautiful Stanmer Park are right next door.

Specialist learning facilities at Falmer include the curriculum centre used by teaching and education students, which houses over 30,000 teaching resources and clinical skills and simulation suites used by health students. Psychology students learn in our applied cognition and flexible creative method labs.

Falmer campus has two halls of residence on site, as well as a library, restaurant, cafes, and a students' union shop and bar.

The campus sports centre has a fitness suite, activity studios and a sports hall. There is also a floodlit astroturf football pitch, netball and tennis courts.

Cycle lanes link Falmer with our other campuses and the city centre and there is a BTN BikeShare hub on site. There are regular bus services to the city centre and other campuses. Falmer train station is right next to campus and a nine minute journey to central Brighton.

Newly refurbished atrium in the Checkland Building

Accommodation

Brighton: Falmer

We guarantee an offer of a place in halls of residence to all eligible students who apply by 30 June.

Halls of residence
We have halls of residence across Brighton in the city centre, Moulsecoomb, Varley Park and Falmer.

You'll be prioritised for accommodation in the halls that are linked to your teaching base, subject to availability.
Falmer campus is linked to the halls on Falmer campus and at Varley Park. All halls are self-catered.
- Paddock Field and Great Wilkins halls are on Falmer campus and offer a range of rooms
- Varley Park offers a mix of rooms. It is around two miles from Moulsecoomb campus and four miles from the city centre. Public transport in the city is excellent.

Private renting
There's plenty of support if you opt for private renting. This is an option which offers choice and flexibility – enabling you to choose where you live and who with. Every summer we provide online events and resources, as well as other advice services, for students looking for a place to live and people to share with.

Outside views at Falmer accommodation

Extensive facilities at Falmer sports centre

Students dining at Westlain

Local area

About Brighton

The University of Brighton is at the heart of our city's reputation as a welcoming, forward-thinking place which leads the way when it comes to the arts, music, sustainability and creative technology. Brighton is home to a thriving creative community and a digital sector worth £1bn a year to the local economy, as much as tourism.

Many of the work-based learning opportunities offered on our courses such as placements and guest lectures are provided by businesses and organisations based in the city.

You can also get involved with city festivals and events such as the Brighton Festival, the Fringe, Brighton Digital Festival, Brighton Science Festival, the London to Brighton bike ride, and the Great Escape festival of new music to name but a few. Other annual highlights include Pride, the Brighton Marathon, and Burning the Clocks which marks the winter solstice.

You'll find living in Brighton enriches your learning experience and by the end of your course you will still be finding new things to explore and inspire you.

It's only 50 minutes by train from Brighton to central London and less than 40 minutes to Eastbourne. There are also daily direct trains to Bristol, Bedford, Cambridge, Gatwick Airport, Portsmouth and Southampton.

Maps

Falmer campus

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Sport at Brighton

Sport Brighton

Sport Brighton brings together our sport and recreation services. As a Brighton student you'll have use of sport and fitness facilities across all our campuses and there are opportunities to play for fun, fitness or take part in serious competition.

Find out more about Sport Brighton.

Sports scholarships

Our sports scholarship scheme is designed to help students develop their full sporting potential to train and compete at the highest level. We offer scholarships for elite athletes, elite disabled athletes and talented sports performers.

Find out more about sport scholarships.

Cricket Academy

New for September 2023, our Cricket Academy offers aspiring players the opportunity to continue their cricket development alongside studying for a degree. The programme offers a world-class training environment with the highest quality coaching.

Find out more about the Cricket Academy.

Stay in touch

Book your place: Brighton Falmer campus open day

See all of our upcoming events

Ask a question about this course

If you have a question about this course, our enquiries team will be happy to help.

01273 644644

Find out about Brighton student life at our social sciences blog.

Statistics

Find out more about how the academic year and degree courses are organised, and about learning and assessment activities you might get to grips with at Brighton. More specific information about this course is detailed in the programme specification (linked below). You can find out also about the support we offer to help you adjust to university life.

Course and module descriptions on this page were accurate when first published and are the basis of the course. Detailed information on any changes we make to modules and learning and assessment activities will be sent to all students by email before enrolment, so that you have all the information before you come to Brighton.

Discover Uni

Discover Uni enables you to compare information when choosing a UK university course. All UK universities publish Discover Uni data on their website.

Programme specification

The programme specification is the approved description of each course. They give a detailed breakdown of the content and structure of the course, and are updated following course changes.

Programme specification

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Find your course Find your course

Intro

Key facts

Course content

Our latest news

Lecturer’s new book looks at life histories of radical figures in relation to black liberation struggle

Lecturers give free online talks as part of University exhibition looking at how objects are seen, from treasures to junk

‘Bad Scepticism and Democracy’ public lecture 27 Jan, 6.30pm

Listen to staff and students on Spotify

Careers

Connect with our careers team

Entry criteria

Fees

Location

Falmer campus

Brighton: Falmer

About Brighton

Falmer campus

Sport Brighton

Sports scholarships

Cricket Academy

Stay in touch

Statistics

Discover Uni

Programme specification

Related 21 courses

Search again