BA Modern History and Politics with Year Abroad
About this course
Bachelor of Arts in Modern History and Politics with Year Abroad, a politics and international relations and history degree centred on historical and political analysis. Core topics include Research Methods, Ethics & Professional Practice, and Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning. Students spend the third year studying abroad at an international partner institution. The first year covers core subjects through Comparative Politics, Engaging Political Ideas, History Matters (Object, Image, Text), Introduction to International Relations, and World Histories Introduced, alongside optional choices such as Foundations of Modern Politics and The French Revolution. The second year focuses on preparation and public history with modules like Humanities Study Abroad Preparation Module, Making History: Historians and Audiences, The Struggle for Democracy, Year Abroad Report Module for Humanities Students, and Year in Employment, with further options including Chinese Politics and Democratic Theory. Optional modules across the degree span specialized topics such as political theory, global justice, and regional histories, culminating in independent research opportunities like the Dissertation in Politics & International Relations.
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: ABB IB: Pass, with 32 points overall with 16 points at Higher Level
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What students say
Based on about 123 final-year students who answered, across similar courses at this university
- Teaching on my course: 94%
- Learning opportunities: 85%
- Assessment and feedback: 82%
- Academic support: 96%
- Organisation and management: 86%
- Learning resources: 92%
- Student voice: 82%
Do students stay on the course?
Based on about 15 students who started (a small group: a rough guide only)
- Continued on course: 95%
- Left higher education: 5%
What graduates do next
Based on about 36 graduates who answered, across similar courses at this university
- Working: 57%
- Working and studying: 17%
- Further study: 11%
- Unemployed: 8%
Most common jobs
- Business and public service associate professionals: 20%
- Administrative occupations: 15%
- Elementary occupations: 10%
- Media Professionals: 10%
- Teaching Professionals: 5%
- Find their work meaningful: 75%
- Feel on track for their future plans: 55%
- Use what they learnt on the course: 40%
Where graduates work (5 years on)
Based on about 335 graduates, across similar courses at this university
- Yorkshire and the Humber: 1%
- East Midlands: 1%
- West Midlands: 2%
- East of England: 10%
- London: 32%
- South East: 41%
- South West: 10%
- Wales: 2%
Who gets in
Based on about 145 students who started, across similar courses at this university
- A levels: 98%
- Baccalaureate: 1%
- Foundation course: 1%
Accreditation & quality ratings
TEF 2023 (whole university): Silver overall, Silver for student experience, Silver for student outcomes.
Modules
- Comparative Politics
- Engaging Political Ideas
- History Matters (Object, Image, Text)
- Introduction to International Relations
- World Histories Introduced
- A (Dis) United Kingdom? An introduction to British Politics
- Foundations of Modern Politics
- Global Dilemmas: Reading Contemporary Politics
- Putin and the Politics of Post-Soviet Russia
- The Crimean War
- The First World War
- The French Revolution
- Humanities Study Abroad Preparation Module
- Making History: Historians and Audiences
- The Struggle for Democracy
- Year Abroad Report Module for Humanities Students
- Year in Employment
- AI Utopias and the Climate Crisis
- Building London: the history of a city, 1666 – 2012
- Children and Human Rights
- Chinese Politics
- Cities of the Dead: Death, Mourning and Remembrance in Modern Britain
- Comparative Party Politics
- Contemporary Theories of Justice
- Darwin and the Making of Evolutionary Thought: Myth, Memory, and Modern Society
- Data, Culture, and Justice
- Democratic Theory
- Digital Futures of the Past: Power, Ethics, and Representation
- Education Policy and Reforms: Global Experiences and Local Contexts
- Ethics of War
- European Power and the Geopolitics of Europe and Asia
- Gender, Power and Politics
- Global Justice: Poverty, Inequality and the Environment
- Globalisation and World Politics
- Green Political Thought: Humans and other stories
- Humanities and Professional Practice
- Introduction to Experiments in Social Science
- Islam's Identity Crisis: Between Violent Jihadism and Peaceful Reformation
- Jews in Germany before the Holocaust
- McCarthyism
- Migration, Borders, Refuge: Political Ethics in an Age of Mobility
- Napoleon and his legend
- Nelson Mandela: A South African life
- Partisans, Public Opinion and Elections: Understanding the Political Mind
- Political Thinking
- Politics and Protest
- Public Opinion in Action: What we know and how we know it
- Qualitative Research in Politics & International Relations
- Queering the Digital
- Ragtime! The Making of Modern America
- Reinventing Democracy: Innovation, Participation and Power
- Retail Therapy: A Journey Through the Cultural History of Shopping
- The EU and European Identity
- The Fall of the Russian Empire
- The Government Lab
- The Making of Modern India
- Theorising International Politics
- Vienna and Berlin: Society, Politics and Culture from 1890 to the Present
- A Short History of Exploration
- A Short History of the Far Right
- A Short History of the Populist Leader
- American Cinema Since 1965
- Children and Human Rights
- China in the Cold War – Part 1 (The Chronology)
- China in the Cold War – Part 2 (Themes)
- Chinese Politics
- Comparative Party Politics
- Contemporary Theories of Justice
- Crime and Punishment in England c.1688-1840 part 1
- Crime and Punishment in England c.1688-1840 part 2
- Democratic Theory
- Dissertation in Politics & International Relations
- Education Policy and Reforms: Global Experiences and Local Contexts
- Ethics of War
- European Power and the Geopolitics of Europe and Asia
- Gender, Power and Politics
- Global Justice: Poverty, Inequality and the Environment
- Globalisation and World Politics
- Green Political Thought: Humans and other stories
- Historical Memory in Modern Latin America
- History Dissertation
- Holocaust Literature
- Introduction to Experiments in Social Science
- Migration, Borders, Refuge: Political Ethics in an Age of Mobility
- Partisans, Public Opinion and Elections: Understanding the Political Mind
- Politics and Protest
- Public Opinion in Action: What we know and how we know it
- Reading Histories
- Reinventing Democracy: Innovation, Participation and Power
- The Government Lab
- The Hammer and the Scalpel: The American Precision Ethos and Culture of War (Part 1)
- The Hammer and the Scalpel: The American Precision Ethos and Culture of War (Part 2)
- The Third Reich 1
- The Third Reich 2
- The imperial Other: Race, Religion and Identity in modern Britain and France
- The imperial Other: Race, Religion and Identity in the Russian and Soviet empires
Questions about this course
How much do graduates of BA Modern History and Politics with Year Abroad at University of Southampton earn?
The median salary is £26,000 after 15 months, £26,500 after 3 years, £34,000 after 5 years. After five years the middle half of graduates earn between £27,500 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 History and Politics with Year Abroad at University of Southampton 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 History and Politics with Year Abroad at University of Southampton?
94% of final-year students were positive about the teaching in the National Student Survey 2025-26.
What grades do I need for BA Modern History and Politics with Year Abroad at University of Southampton?
The typical offer is ABB at A level, or 32 points in the IB. The average entrant had 135 UCAS points.
Does BA Modern History and Politics with Year Abroad at University of Southampton include a placement year or year abroad?
The course has a compulsory year abroad.
How many students continue on BA Modern History and Politics with Year Abroad at University of Southampton?
95% of students continued into their second year, and 5% left higher education.