Best uni for politics and international relations, think my dc is going to exceed what’s needed for York or Nottingham

[Mouseinthehouseeattingcheese]

so entry requirements for York Nottingham Southampton
abb
following on from getting a good epq result

predicted grades have been aaa

bur course work and mocks been coming in at a stars
so I wouldn’t be suprised if this dc achieves 3 a stars

so what unis should we be looking at to upgrade to during clearing if this is a the case

dc not interested in Warwick or oxbridge

so would places like Edinburgh, Leeds etc have places in clearing or will they all be full already ?
what else is worth looking at through clearing ?
any other unis this dc should be looking at during clearing time ?

DD just about finish Politics and IR at Bath, had a blast, thrived, loved the 'concrete' campus. She didn't want to apply to Oxbridge as they don't offer IR which is where her passion lies. She is heading to London on a Government Grad scheme after beating off 9k applicants for just a handful of roles.

@Seeyousoonboo Of course mn students are succesful but many can really struggle. Look how many didn’t get the gig!

Last years clearing was an anomaly due to complications related to international students.

https://www.brightnetwork.co.uk/graduate-jobs/rio-tinto/external-affairs-internship-london-2025?search_id=019c20a6f46a7a55191f06b33ea126c7&search_position=4

There are websites where you can unearth possibilities. This is one open to P&IR students among others.

One of my DDs spent a semester in London (was at a US university) and did an internship in the econ/ development area.

Thanks @mathanxietyAware of the websites - Bright and RatemyPlacement was what my DS used to source his placement year.

Intrigued as to how these align with academic year - this RioTinto one says you must be returning to "school" for at least one semester post the internship - is the expectation from the universitiea that you take a full placement year and find other opportunities also ?

I have vaguely read through the thread and it seems quite a lot of people have got sidetracked in to trying to put your DC off the degree at all/mentioning 'downgrades'/ assuming some of the most competitive unis in the UK will be in clearing( they won't, and and nor will Bath for IR.)

Bottom line - York in particular is one of the OG politics universities and has a longstanding excellent reputation for its politics degrees. Just because its offer is ABB doesn't mean it is lesser.

As others have said, plenty of students at York will have higher than ABB. It's a pretty standard offer for a social science degree at a Russell Group type university.

And York is such a fantastic city!
Where one lives is relevant unless you just stick on campus all the time.
My ds loved York City and Bath too. He preferred the Bath course but no offence to York...just a preference.

My ds insurance was actually Surrey as loved look of course and enthusiasm of lecturers and students he met. Offer less than his predictions but he actually struggled choosing between Bath and Surrey...

Also, liked the Surrey campus and lake...
Environment important to him!

Presumably your DS was happy with his choices at those PGs when he applied. What has changed? Has he visited both or attended virtual offer holder days?

I believe the expectation in that instance is that you will complete the internship before your final semester. You do the internship work on top of all of your coursework - concurrently - which is what my DD did during her semester abroad in London (not with Rio Tinto).

Two of my DCs had research assistant gigs during their undergrad years in the US that required term time commitments of a certain number of hours per week each semester. Their time management skills were sharply honed by this experience.

Most students looking for graduate jobs that will set them firmly on a career track or make them attractive prospects for grad school will have demonstrated the ability to keep many plates in the air simultaneously during their undergrad years.

Me too! Southampton 1993 for me. My son is about to study the same at Aberystwyth:-)

@mathanxiety- tbh, I just don't see how this would work for courses that have a regular weekly timetable of lectures, seminars or tutorials etc.

Maybe Politics and IR isn't like that though.

My DS does Economics/Finance and just wouldn't be able to balance a full time internship with his academic timetable.

He's good at spinning multiple plates though - been doing that since 6th form

UCL Paris? Have a friends DD there and she’s loving it

I was amazed when DD told me she's sometimes been the only one in her French class.

I can understand sometimes not turning up at lectures which might not be that relevant and you can often watch online. But where are they going to practise conversational skills if they don't go to the language class?

Been good for her though to get some individual tuition!

@HPFA They don’t need to attend. They are already fluent. DD discovered this too. Students in her cohort graduated and she’d never seen them!

DD is doing French ab initio so this can't be the case.

This is definitely not how internships work in the UK. They are during the summer break or after university.

The PP also mentioned unpaid internships which, except under a set of very limited rules, are illegal now in the UK.

Having DS just gone through the application process for a placement year, that was my understanding too @Piggywaspushed

That's why I was intrigued by the Rio Tinto advert that @mathanxietyposted, as its only for 6 months.

The wording of the job specification is very US oriented though , e.g. "....returning to school for at least one semester...." so it's maybe targeted at US College students

Yes, very much so.

@HPFA So all are meant to be ab initio? DD was post A level but yes, they did split them. They still might not be truly ab initio though. Just don’t have the A level. They can easily be fluent!

Doesn't Bath split the placement year between year 2 and year 3, therefore a six month one would be okay? Or is / was that only for Architecture? (Or am I completely misremembering- DS2 looked at several universities for Architecture originally, than promptly changed his mind and decided to study something not offered by all of the places he'd already considered).

But yes re the unpaid part, so either not aimed at UK undergraduates, or in ignorance (or defiance?) of the rules here?

Sorry not completely engaged in this thread so also just skimmed. The internship post - I read that as, the student should either be in their penultimate year OR, final year of study with AT LEAST one more semester to go before graduating. In other words, it is not open to those who are in the final semester before grad date or have already graduated, and that this is a post open to those eligible to apply for London position.

It is therefore likely that those that are eligible to apply will be in their 3rd year of a 4 year course (and so applying in their 2nd year of programme), with the ability in their university to take either a semester, or a whole year in placement. The terminology of 'school' is just the tardiness of not changing the ad to be fully UK centric.

That would be my take on it.

@MarchingFrogsDS has school friends at Bath doing Business, Finance etc and their placement years run for an academic year in 3rd year.

I have a niece who did a Fashion/Design degree at Northumbria and her placement year was January to December. This was in 2019 - she did 2 6 month ones in London, both unpaid. One was with a small business, but the other was with Warehouse - i was shocked they didn't pay

@cyclingmum67 DD did a semester as an intern as part of her degree at LCF. No pay there either. You don’t even get advice that’s worth having. A few years ago now but all the overseas students just went home and staff? Who knows what teaching they did. £9000 for not a lot that year.