BA Modern Languages and International Relations
About this course
BA Modern Languages and International Relations is a humanities and social sciences degree centred on modern languages alongside political systems and international affairs. Core topics include Research Methods. The course includes a compulsory year abroad where students undertake a work placement, study at a partner university, or work as a language teaching assistant. The first year covers foundational political challenges and language acquisition through modules such as Politics of Climate Change, International Relations, War and Warfare, and Beginners French, German, Italian or Spanish Language. In the second year, students build proficiency through modules like The Study of Politics, Global Order, and Intermediate French, German, Italian or Spanish Language. The third year is spent abroad on a study or work placement. The final year involves advanced language study alongside specialised modules such as Advanced French, German, Italian or Spanish Language III, Crisis, Change, Opportunity: Italy from 1968 to the Present, and Narrating the Colombian Conflict. Optional modules across the degree span topics in political science, culture, history, and literature, and students may undertake a dissertation or extended essay.
Written by AI from the university's course page and module list. It can get details wrong, so check the official course page before you rely on it.
Entry requirements
A level: BBB IB: 30 points overall
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What students say
Based on about 30 final-year students who answered, across similar courses at this university
- Teaching on my course: 88%
- Learning opportunities: 87%
- Assessment and feedback: 84%
- Academic support: 90%
- Organisation and management: 79%
- Learning resources: 81%
- Student voice: 83%
Do students stay on the course?
Based on about 20 students who started (a small group: a rough guide only)
- Continued on course: 80%
- Left higher education: 20%
What graduates do next
Based on about 8 graduates who answered, across similar courses at this university (a small group: a rough guide only)
- Working: 75%
- Working and studying: 10%
- Unemployed: 10%
Most common jobs
- Business and public service associate professionals: 30%
- Teaching and Childcare Support Occupation: 10%
- Business, Research and Administrative Professionals: 10%
- Finance Professionals: 10%
- Administrative occupations: 5%
- Find their work meaningful: 80%
- Feel on track for their future plans: 65%
- Use what they learnt on the course: 55%
Where graduates work (5 years on)
Based on about 55 graduates, across similar courses at this university
- North East: 1%
- North West: 3%
- Yorkshire and the Humber: 2%
- West Midlands: 4%
- East of England: 13%
- London: 28%
- South East: 33%
- South West: 11%
- Wales: 3%
- Scotland: 1%
Who gets in
Based on about 35 students who started, across similar courses at this university
- A levels: 95%
- Other HE qualification: 5%
Accreditation & quality ratings
TEF 2023 (whole university): Silver overall, Silver for student experience, Silver for student outcomes.
Modules
- Politics of Climate Change
- International Relations
- War and Warfare
- Beginners French, German, Italian or Spanish Language
- Intermediate French, German, Italian or Spanish Language
- Advanced French, German, Italian or Spanish Language I
- Ideas of Frenchness 1
- The Making of Contemporary Germany
- Making Italians: A Journey in the History and Culture of Modern Italy
- Introduction to Spanish and Latin American Culture
- Ideas of Frenchness 2
- Belonging in Germany
- Introduction to Linguistics (for students of Italian)
- The Making of Modern Spain and Latin America
- Liberty and Empire in the Making of the Modern World
- Introduction to Linguistics
- Thinking Translation: History and Theory
- The Study of Politics
- Global Order
- Intermediate French, German, Italian or Spanish Language
- Advanced French, German, Italian or Spanish Language I
- Advanced French, German, Italian or Spanish Language II
- How to Think in French
- Cinema of Germany
- Culture, communication and context: contemporary challenges in the interconnected world
- Society, Thought and Art in Modern Europe
- Unity, Nationalism and Regionalism in Europe
- Political Classics
- Contemporary Strategy
- American Government and Politics
- Political Thinking
- The Media and Politics
- Global Ecologies: Discourse, Environment and Society
- Children’s Books in France
- The First World War: Then and Now
- Glorification, Denial and Contempt – Reconstructing Austria's Past
- 'Apocalittici e integrati': Intellectuals and Society in Twentieth Century Italy
- One Country, Many Languages. Linguistic Variety and Society in Contemporary Italy
- Modern and Contemporary Spanish Narratives
- Transatlantic Exchanges: Latin America in the Global Nineteenth Century
- Culture and Revolution in Modern Latin America
- Study Year Abroad
- Advanced French, German, Italian or Spanish Language I
- Advanced French, German, Italian or Spanish Language II
- Advanced French, German, Italian or Spanish Language III
- Crisis, Change, Opportunity: Italy from 1968 to the Present
- Narrating the Colombian Conflict
- Dissertation
- Intelligence, War, and International Relations
- Risk
- British Foreign and Defence Policy since 1945
- American Foreign Policy Since the Vietnam War
- The Politics of Nuclear Weapons
- Politics and International Relations of the Middle East
- International Political Economy
- Gender and Politics
- Philanthropy à la française : The History of Ideas and Practices in the French Third Sector
- The German Language and National Identity
- Memory, Dictatorship and Cultural Resistance in the Southern Cone
- Language and Power
- May '68
- French Popular Music and Society
- War on Screen - Germany and its Films about WWII
- Language, Diversity, and Inclusion: The Representation of Otherness in the Italian Context
- Writers and Publishers in Spain
- Future Worlds in Film
- Extended Essay
Questions about this course
How much do graduates of BA Modern Languages and International Relations at University of Reading earn?
The median salary is £28,000 after 15 months, £27,000 after 3 years, £34,000 after 5 years. After five years the middle half of graduates earn between £27,000 and £44,000. The £34,000 median after five years is the same as the UK median for Politics.
What do graduates of BA Modern Languages and International Relations at University of Reading do next?
85% were in work or further study 15 months after finishing (Graduate Outcomes 2023-24).
Are students happy with the teaching on BA Modern Languages and International Relations at University of Reading?
88% of final-year students were positive about the teaching in the National Student Survey 2025-26.
What grades do I need for BA Modern Languages and International Relations at University of Reading?
The typical offer is BBB at A level, or 30 points in the IB. The average entrant had 120 UCAS points.
Does BA Modern Languages and International Relations at University of Reading include a placement year or year abroad?
The course has a compulsory year abroad.
How many students continue on BA Modern Languages and International Relations at University of Reading?
80% of students continued into their second year, and 20% left higher education.