Anyone with experience of International History and Politics at Leeds?

[NotDonna]

Has anyone’s young person done ir doing the International History & Politics (single honours) at Leeds please? DD liked the sound of the course at open day but is worried that despite wanting AAA, the hustory / politics subject rankings are 18 & 22. I’m wondering how much this matters and how to advise? I always thought Leeds was a decent ranking. The other history & politics degrees are dual award (York, Manchester, Birmingham, Sheffield etc). Ones wanting AAA are ranked in top ten for the subjects and AAB ranked in the teens. Love to hear from anyone with exp of this course at Leeds are similar at others.

I don’t know about this course but Leeds is a great uni. You talk about rankings but of course there are lots of different league tables anyway. For sure I would not suggest choosing a course and uni you liked less purely bc it was ranked 10 not 18 in a specific table.

If your dc liked the course, the city, the campus, then surely it’s a win. No future employer is going to look at a degree from
Leeds and say, oh that would be better if it were from Sheffield?

@NotDonna Employers are not poring over league tables and preferring students from Sheffield or Manchester. They are really quite similar. Go where he likes!

They are not top 10. None are for politics on CUG 2927 guide. Only York for history. They are all pretty similar so look at course content and where he wants to live.

How do you know what employers are doing?

This is out of date so probably irrelevant, but a family member did that course 20 years ago and has had a very successful intelligence/counter terrorism career, working with organisations like the UN and EU!

@LarissatheDragon Do you not read anything about employment and selection! HE boards on MN often mention it. Msny organisations like local government and civil service have done it for years! I’d read a bit more widely around the subject. It’s not so usual in SMEs but larger employers use tests and assessments, not university attendance. That doesn’t mean Oxbridge and Lse and imperial students are back numbers at the tests, but they aren’t chosen purely on university and others rejected. This is all about widening the net of applicants.

I think I probably read a lot more than you do, Tizerorfizz

Thanks all. @MeetMeOnTheCorner the ranking don’t just refer to career prospects though. Comparing York at 8 for history to Leeds at 22 & both wanting AAA makes DD wonder about the teaching etc too. These are the CUG rankings. Sheffield, Birmingham are ranked higher than Leeds for both history & politics but want AAB not Leeds’ AAA. There’s not a huge amount of difference in the course modules offered, Leeds city isn’t lovelier than any other so… Hence asking specifically if anyone’s young person had done that exact course at Leeds (their other history courses require AAB). When degrees cost what they do I think it’s important to find out as much as possible. Not just that employers don’t care. DD does!

@NotDonna Are you sure you are not thinking about this too deeply? Who is truly ranking “teaching”? It’s not school and this degree requires a good deal of self study. Lecturers vary a great deal and when my DD was taught by a top professor she wasn’t impressed. Teaching is very subjective. I think the ranking of Leeds means little in the big scheme of things. Sheffield and the others are not demonstrably better.

I’d look far more closely at what dc wants to do afterwards because this degree, and none of the universities, guarantee a career. Is it value for money to have no job after graduation? Many humanities grads face this. All the amazing teaching in the world won’t get her a job but maybe dd is too young to think about this? We had very different objectives and my DDs didn’t pore over details because they were flexible. The degree was the route to the career, not the end.

So whatever the courses are like (and they change modules) I’d go with which one she likes most because most dc have not done this degree so opinions might be difficult to get and, even if you do, they are a minuscule snapshot.

The tariff surely reflects popularity and that is not the same as league table position. It’s a reflection of what a uni needs to get bums on seats or choose the bums on seats if it’s more competitive.

My DS has just completed Year 2 and is really enjoying the course. Contact hours are low but not unusual for Humanities, I believe. He has found lecturers approachable if needed but has been fairly self sufficient. Loves the uni and city too.

Is this the course where you spend 6 months with an MP and 6 months with a Member of Congress in the USA? If so, a friend did it albeit years ago and it was amazing, and unique.

No sorry that must be a different course. This is in their History Dept and a single honours so quite history focussed (albeit with a political bias). I’m not even sure there’s a placement year & if there is it’s the usual style where students find their own work experience.

https://www.ucas.com/explore/courses/d0ee28ee-1376-dbff-5958-104da6de1960/international-history-and-politics?campus=Main%20Site&optionId=9bd0a8ac-84a7-4c53-aad2-dcacb56a025f&studyYear=2026. The most common set of grades held by students on this course is AAB. So they might ask for AAA but that's not what people usually get. The lowest accepted for this course are BBC

@whiteroseredrose How can any course guarantee that for every student? Surely impossible!

Yes I think a few with have EPQs which they drop a grade for plus those grades will include contextual offers. She did 4 AS (essay ones) so didn’t have the capacity for an EPQ & she’ll not be contextual. BUT thank you as perhaps there’ll be some wriggle room.