Hispanic Studies & Politics/IR

[Calmmumnot]

My DS applies for University in September. He is looking at a combination of Spanish with Politics or IR. He isn't keen on London. At the moment he is considering Exeter, Durham, Edinburgh, Leeds, Newcastle & Manchester. Any others that are worth considering or anyone have their DC already doing a similar course? any advice or recommendations are appreciated. Thanks

Warwick and Birmingham would also be worth a look

Those are fairly equal choices, in terms of prestige / ranking and expected A level results, unless he has grades in hand he'd be better place to have a reach, two or three targets and a safety choice.

What are his A level subjects and expected, or achieved grades and what has he done so far to show interest in these subjects?

DD1 currently at Edinburgh doing Arabic and Politics and thoroughly enjoying it. I had never been there before and when we took her up in her 1st year, I was blown away - what a place to study in!

3rd year is year abroad and then back for 4th year - they do 4 years in Scotland - worth noting.

@Downwardkitty he is doing Spanish, Economics & Geography. Will have final predictions next term but on track for 3 A's. What do you see as a safety choice? Which one you place in the catergories you mentioned?

@mizu Its supposed to be stunning! its a hard one to get into though....

I am sure there'll be lots of differing opinions from others, but generally Edinburgh and Durham are going to be top ranking choices then the rest in this order - Exeter, Leeds & Manchester then Newcastle.
If you wanted 2 safeties you could drop Leeds or Manchester and add in somewhere like Cardiff which is on a par with Newcastle. Having said that I am pretty sure they're dropping a bunch of subjects including MFL which would affect Spanish.

Yes, DD1 got As but offer was ABB….. her back up was Leeds which she also really liked.

@mizu which others ones did DD apply for and what A Levels did she do?

@Downwardkitty it seems alot of universities are dropping MFL which is a shame. any thoughts on Warwick and Sheffield?

Warwick is very competitive for a lot of their subjects. I am less sure about how Sheffield fares these days, though my mother did MFL there a couple of decades back.

Have you looked at the Complete university guide and the UCAS pages on these subjects and universities? They are a good place to start / gain info:

https://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk

https://www.ucas.com/explore/search/subject-guides?query=

@calmmumnot she did English, Spanish and Politics. the places she applied to, there aren’t a huge amount doing Arabic …. Edinburgh, Leeds, Exeter (but she knew she didn’t want to go there) SOAS and Manchester.

Just out of interest, @mizu , where is your DD looking at for her year abroad? Which options have they been given? Edinburgh does indeed look like a fab place to study.

@mizu out of interest why was Exeter a no?

Honestly I’m not sure. Size perhaps? She wanted a big city. I have a friend whose daughter studied there though and loved it.

@LadyGreySpillsTheTea Cairo!!! They didn’t have a choice as that’s where the Arabic and Politics students go to. Others go to Oman, Jordan and Morocco I think. She’s been talking to 4th years who were in Cairo last year and it sounds amazing.

I have had the impression from a couple of people who have considered and decided against Exeter that it has a bit of a posh boy / sloaney culture of those who didn't make it to Oxbridge. It does have a good academic reputation, though.

I am sure that can't be universal, but it was unfortunately borne out by the one Exeter grad I worked with for a while, there was a bit of an entitled daddy's money attitude which I found odd (and fairly tiresome tbh). The attitude changed fairly fast when said grad found it didn't play well in the workplace, to be fair, but I suppose it was a reflection of what had worked for them up to that point.

Of course, that is a very small slice of the thousands of students that go there, so I am sure it's not the whole picture. I just found it interesting when the grad I worked with fitted the stereotype so strongly.

@Raquelos hmmm yes, I didn’t want to say but that’s probably partly why she didn’t want to go too!! We never visited Exeter though , we only visited Leeds and we also visited Oxford and she wasn’t keen.

https://www.bath.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate-2026/politics/ba-international-politics-and-modern-languages-with-study-or-work-abroad/

Surprised nobody has said Bath yet. DD just about to graduate doing Politics and IR and has had a blast.

DD is doing French and IR at Aberystwyth -they do offer Spanish as well.

She loves the course -the choice of modules is wide and varied - and the place. Has had two beach barbecues so far!

It's lower ranked overall than the others your DS has mentioned but is well ranked for both subjects. One to have in the back of your mind as a Clearing option if results don't go as planned.

@HPFA thank you! I will get him to look into this too.

You're welcome.

Oh brilliant, I bet she’s going to have a fab time!

Bath! My DD has just finished her first year at Bath studying spanish and politics and has had a blast. Amazing course, stellar student support, beautiful campus and city, accomodation was great. Truly don’t have a single bad word to say and would absolutely reccomend !

St Andrews is excellent for IR and can combine with Spanish. Will have classes full of Americans doing IR there - don’t know if he would see that as a good or bad thing, though

@Screwyoutwat Bath is a very competitive choice tho, isn't it? Alongside Durham and Edinburgh. I think OP is looking for suggestions of safe options at this point to put on the UCAS list.

I would have said Cardiff, as others have done but they're facing tons of cuts that have been discussed at length on MN, including some History (Ancient I think) and MFL. So probably not the safest bet right now.

What about UEA as a safety? Standard offer is ABB / contextual BBC

THere's a lot of detail here about the course offerings. Norwich is not far away, its a lovely place and they've got no current accommodation issues

https://www.uea.ac.uk/course/undergraduate/ba-international-relations-and-modern-language