Program Overview

International Relations MA (Honours) 2025 entry

Overview

The MA (Hons) in International Relations will teach you to explore issues such as the origins of war and peace, the making of foreign policy, trade regimes, international terrorism, human rights, international law, and the interaction of political and economic development.

Entry Requirements

Standard Entry Grades

• SQA Highers: AAAAB
• GCE A-Levels: AAA
• IB points: 38 (HL 6,6,6)

Minimum Entry Grades

• SQA Highers: AABB
• GCE A-Levels: ABB
• IB points: 36 (HL 6,5,5)

Gateway Entry Grades

• Applicants who have narrowly missed the minimum entry grades, but meet the University's contextual criteria, may be interested in one of the University’s Gateway programmes.

General Entry Requirements

• All applicants must have attained the following qualifications, or equivalent, in addition to the specific entry requirements for individual programmes.
• SQA National 5 (B) in English and one SQA National 5 (B) from the following:
  • Biology
  • Chemistry
  • Computing science
  • Geography
  • Applications of Mathematics
  • Mathematics
  • Physics
  • Psychology
• GCSE (5) in English language or English literature, and one GCSE (5) from the following:
  • Biology
  • Chemistry
  • Computing Science
  • Geography
  • Mathematics
  • Physics
  • Psychology

Course Details

Duration

• Four years full time

School

• School of International Relations

Modules

• First year:
  • Concepts in Global Politics
  • Foreign Policy and Diplomacy in Global Politics
• Second year:
  • Theoretical Approaches to International Relations
  • Studying International Relations
• Honours:
  • A wide variety of advanced options, including modules in conflict and conflict resolution, human rights, international law, international security, globalisation, terrorism, and comparative politics including Africa, Middle East, Latin America, China, Central and East Asia.

Teaching

• Research-led teaching brings cutting-edge research directly to the classroom.
• Lectures are supported by weekly small group tutorials (10 to 13 students) to discuss the material covered in lectures.
• Modules in international relations are assessed by a mixture of coursework and written exams.

Fees

• Scotland: £1,820
• England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland, Channel Islands, Isle of Man: £9,535
• EU and overseas: £31,670

Joint Honours Degrees

• You can also take International Relations as part of a joint Honours degree in which you will take core modules of your chosen subjects.
• Any combination of Arabic, French, German, Italian, Persian, or Spanish is available.

Careers

• International relations graduates are dynamic, globally aware, and self-motivated.
• They can transfer their critical reading, writing and communication skills, as well as advanced analytical abilities, to a variety of professional and internationally orientated environments.
• Recent graduates have gone on to work for:
  • United Nations
  • Red Cross
  • International Atomic Energy Agency
  • UNHCR
  • UNESCO
  • Carter Center
  • Stratfor
  • BBC
  • The Scotsman newspaper
  • armed forces
  • civil services
  • JP Morgan
  • Shell
  • KPMG
  • Cisco
  • Nomura
  • Deloitte