International relations + MFL. Ideas about where please

[Sanddancing]

So it has taken a while but year 13 DS has decided they would like to do an international relations degree, with French and would like to learn Arabic from scratch.

Recent decision so trying to get to grips with options for Univerisites.
So far looked at St Andrews and Durham but DS keen to look at options in bigger or livelier places.
Ds is looking A star, A A and taking English lit, history and French . He has completed an EPQ based on human rights legislation, speaks fluent Spanish and has GCSE Spanish, French and German at grade 9.
Grateful for any help and thoughts

Are Oxford or Cambridge on your son's radar?
LSE
UCL
SOAS (safety)

There are literally tons of places but these would definitely be in livelier cities.

DS not sure about London so hasn’t looked but has mentioned UCL. We are familiar with London ( we are based in “the North”).

They kind of refused to look at Oxbridge when school offered support ( partly because they didn’t know what they wanted to do), so feels they have missed this window. Not looked at either place though

Heriot Watt is one of the most respected universities for languages and related degrees. Maybe have a look at their courses?

Bath!

Are you sure it is too late for Oxbridge? He comes across as very Oxbridge to me.

DD was planning similar though has changed what she wants to do now.

She was looking at Edinburgh, Trinity Dublin and Manchester. Plus Oxford.

DD is French Alevel and all 9s at GCSE so similar to your DS.

if they need to take any entry exams for language courses at Oxbridge you may have missed the window for 2026 entry. If none are required, they still need to have their application in by October 15th so need to get a wriggle on!

I think her son can aim a lot higher than Herriot Watt. It may rank 25th this year but last year it was 42nd

I was referring to languages specifically where they’re ranked 8th in the UK and have always been ranked in the top 10. I know plenty of students who’ve chosen it over more prestigious universities precisely because it’s so well-respected internationally.

Heriot Watt doesn’t have international Relations degrees as far as I know.

Sheffield, Bristol & Lancaster all offer a good range of languages. Not sure how good they are for International Relations.

Yeh the deadline for Oxford and Cambridge is in two weeks so that's a bit optimistic. Unless he wants to apply next year?

Great that he has so many MFL at GCSE in fact wow! I take it one is a native language for him?

Leeds does this degree and offers Arabic and is certainly a lively city. Might be a bit local for you tho (depends where "the north" is I guess). Offer is low for Leeds at ABB.

Mancheter is another big city, doesn't offer the MFL with its IR degree tho (offer AAA) altho you can study abroad. Then Birmingham is an excellent uni and a really lively vibrant city; offers IR with French. Offer is AAB.

Bristol is a high-ranking uni with a big big city vibe – not IR but Int Bus Management plus an MFL - offer AAA.

Any of those of interest? I went to Bristol and loved it but that was 1,556 years ago; DS loved Leeds and had it as his insurance. DD loved Birmingham and ditto, also a friend went there and had a positive experience.

Lancaster seems to be dropping its MFL programme - certainly no solo MFL offered for next year. Tho it is offering "languages and global cultures" where you study four MFL. But no Mfl on offer with the IR degrees. Also not a big city by any stretch.

Bath from another PP is a good shout tho don't think you can do Arabic; also not really a big city, Great uni tho and lovely place.

Most places people have listed (including UCL, Sheffield, Bristol and Lancaster) don’t offer de novo Arabic as part of a joint-honours course. He should be looking at Edinburgh, Exeter, Manchester, Leeds in addition to those he has already considered. Be aware that not all have courses named “Arabic and International Relations” but all of the above have courses with good IR content. E.g. Edinburgh’s Arabic and Politics includes strong IR choices, as do the similarly-named courses at Exeter (Arabic and Politics) and Manchester (Politics and Arabic) There is also scope to take credit-bearing modules in French or another language as part of the degree at most or all of these unis.

No undergraduate Arabic at Birmingham I don’t think, and none at all at Bath. NB Manchester has a whole range of relevant undergrad courses: Arabic Studies (BA), Politics and Arabic BA, and the brilliant International Humanitarian Response and Disaster Relief (with Arabic) BSc. All are 4-year courses including a year abroad. Manchester has open days coming up on 4 and 11 October.

OP see also my thread https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/higher_education/5395440-arabic-de-novo-undergraduate-degrees-some-questions?utm_campaign=thread&utm_medium=app_share and the thread linked in the first reply on there.

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

Bath!

Bath’s de novo language options are French, German, Italian, Mandarin or Spanish. No Arabic.

Thank you so much we'll have a look at the links. Lots to to think about

Thank you so much we'll have a look at the links. Lots to to think about

OP, I notice that you said he wanted to do IR with French, plus Arabic de novo; while my responses have focused rather on IR with Arabic, and a French elective. It is possible to lead with French and do Arabic on the side and may even widen the pool of universities. E.g. at Bristol one can do BA Politics and Modern Languages (French) while also doing 3 hours per week of beginners’ or post-beginners’ Modern Standard Arabic under their University-Wide Language Programme. That said, there’s clearly a ceiling on how much can be achieved in that time and there is no Intermediate or Advanced course in Arabic at Bristol to move onto. My own DD has been thinking about the same courses and has decided her priority is to become properly fluent in Arabic (including dialect) rather than dabbling in it. Your DS will have his own priorities. As you said, lots to think about!

Re St Andrews - bear in mind that, including a year abroad, the undergraduate course would be 5 years.

@Casparina good intel there. I must admit my brief research didn’t find much evidence of possibility of studying Arabic at many of the unis, but I was trying to give a flavour of where you could do IR (or something like it) and French. I guess for @Sanddancing's DS it depends how important the Arabic is vs the French. All the best to him.

Absolutely @clary. The good news is that many of the universities with good Arabic faculties have open days coming up in October, so a taster session or two here and there might well help in the decision-making.

Bristol: https://www.bristol.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/2026/modern-languages/ba-politics-and-modern-languages/
DD is currently at Bristol. She also decided against Oxbridge (4 x A*) and loves the city and its student life.

Sussex offers IR with a language including Arabic - a friend's daughter was there a few years ago and had a year at a university in Morocco.