MSc International Relations - Full-time

You should have a bachelor’s honours degree or international equivalent, typically a 2:1 or above.

To apply for this course you should have an undergraduate degree in an appropriate social sciences subject such as European Studies, International Relations, Modern Languages, Politics, History, Economics or Sociology. We will also consider graduates with an undergraduate degree in other subjects where you have substantial relevant professional experience.

We may make an offer based on a lower grade if you can provide evidence of your suitability for the degree.

For fees and funding options, please visit website to find out more

We’re offering over 350 scholarships worth between £3,000 and £10,000 for high-achieving students joining a full-time taught master’s course in September 2026.

Studying this course provides an excellent grounding for careers in politics and policymaking, consulting, policy-advocacy and foreign affairs, within international organisations, multinational corporations, public bodies, NGOs and think tanks.

Graduates from our politics master’s degrees have gone on to successful careers in a wide range of organisations, including:

• Danish EU Research Liaison Office in Brussels, Belgium
• Enel Green Power North America Inc, USA (Director of External Relations and Communications)
• European Parliament, Spain
• World Energy Council in Berlin, Germany

Others have chosen to continue their careers in academia.

Year 1

Semester 1

You’ll choose one optional unit.

Compulsory units

• Research methods in political science and international relations
• Theoretical approaches of international politics and foreign policy

Optional units

• Democracy v technocracy: modernity and risk
• European Union politics in a changing world
• Gender, security and transitional justice from Global South to Global North
• Memory cultures and memory politics
• The politics of the environment

Semester 2

You’ll choose three optional units.

Optional units

• Contemporary comparative Russian politics
• Gender theory
• Genocides, human rights violations, and transitional justice
• Statecraft and geopolitics in the Indo-Pacific region
• The global politics of cyberspace
• The politics of Asia and the world
• The politics of gender inequality
• The politics of organised crime
• The resurgence of reactionary politics
• Theories of conflict and conflict resolution
• War, politics and society in international security: from the mainstream to the critical margins

Summer

You'll complete a dissertation or consultancy project.

Optional units

• Consultancy project
• International relations dissertation