From the latest updates at Number 10 to political unrest overseas, you can be at the forefront of political change. Our BA Journalism and Politics expands your knowledge of global politics and develops your analytical ability. Coupled with the multimedia aspect of this course, you learn how to engage with a wider audience and develop your own journalistic style alongside building a solid understanding of the issues that shape the world around us.

You explore all major areas of political science, learning within the rated top for politics in the UK (REF 2014). This is combined with modules in practical journalism, where you use multi-media channels such as radio, television and online media, and deepen your knowledge of journalism on an international scale.

This course gives you the flexibility to choose the areas of the subject that interest you. Topics which you can study include:

International Relations

UK and European Politics

Democracy

Production skills

International journalism

A typical timetable involves a one-hour lecture and a one-hour seminar or a two-hour seminar for each module every week, but there are variations in place depending on the module.

During your final year, you have the opportunity to bring all aspects of the course together in a final multimedia project on a subject linked to political science.

As a student at one of the UK's leading social science institutions, you are uniquely placed to acquire a deep understanding of the world you report on. You will join our Department of Literature, Film, and Theatre Studies and our Department of Government where you will join our diverse community of students from all corners of the globe.

Study abroad

Your education extends beyond the university campus. We support you in expanding your education through offering the opportunity to spend a year or a term studying abroad at one of our partner universities. The four-year version of our degree allows you to spend the third year abroad or employed on a placement abroad, while otherwise remaining identical to the three-year course.

Studying abroad allows you to experience other cultures and languages, to broaden your degree socially and academically, and to demonstrate to employers that you are mature, adaptable, and organised.

If you spend a full year abroad you'll only pay 15% of your usual tuition fee to Essex for that year. You won't pay any tuition fees to your host university