How long is the BA in International Relations?

The BA in International Relations is a three-year full-time UK honours degree, with part-time and accelerated routes available online and through distance learning under a shared assessment calendar.

Can I study the BA in International Relations fully online?

Yes. The BA in International Relations is offered on-campus in central London, fully online with live seminars, or by distance learning with quarterly residentials for the crisis-simulation and Westminster modules.

Is the BA in International Relations recognised by UK employers and the civil service?

The BA in International Relations is a UK honours degree taught by faculty with policy and parliamentary experience, with the Political Studies Association and British Sociological Association informing its research-methods stream.

What are the entry requirements?

For the BA in International Relations you need three A-levels at BBC (or IB 28+, BTEC DMM), GCSE English at 5/C and IELTS 6.5; mature applicants may apply with a portfolio and interview.

What does the BA in International Relations cost and are scholarships available?

Fees for the BA in International Relations vary by route and domicile; means-tested bursaries and merit awards are reviewed each intake — contact LSCT admissions for the current fee schedule.

BA in International Relations (UK Honours) | LSCT London | Harold International College of London

Course Overview

The BA in International Relations at LSCT sits inside the Law & Social Sciences department and is a three-year undergraduate honours degree for students aiming at policy, diplomatic, NGO or international-research careers. Delivered on-campus in central London, fully online with live seminars, or through distance learning with structured deadlines, the programme combines political theory, international law, foreign-policy analysis and the quantitative skills employers in the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and think tanks expect.

From your first term you will be reading primary sources, writing policy briefs and analysing live international cases — Westminster select-committee evidence, UN General Assembly statements, World Bank country notes. By the end of the degree you will have produced a portfolio of briefings, a dissertation grounded in original research, and the analytical confidence to interview for a graduate scheme in policy or diplomacy.

The BA in International Relations timetable is built around UK assessment realities: continuous coursework that produces the artefacts employers actually ask for, plus end-of-module case-based assessments rather than rote examinations. Tutors include working practitioners drawn from the Inns of Court, the Royal Courts of Justice and Parliament Square — not only academics — so the standard being marked against is the standard legal and policy employers apply at first interview. Students join one cohort intake per year, so the cohort moves through the programme together and forms the working network that matters when first legal and policy-sector job applications start going out.

Key Features

UK honours degree taught by faculty with policy, parliamentary and NGO experience.
Three study modes — on-campus in central London, fully online with live seminars, or distance learning with quarterly residentials.
Westminster lobby module — students attend live committee hearings and produce filed briefings.
Crisis-simulation week co-run with student diplomacy societies and ex-FCDO mentors.
Quantitative methods stream covering R and basic data analysis for political research.
Language elective — students may take an additional modern language to working proficiency.

What You Will Learn

You will graduate able to write a clean two-page policy brief, defend a foreign-policy recommendation under questioning, code a basic regression in R, and place a current international event in its theoretical and historical context. Modules include:

International Relations Theory (Realism, Liberalism, Constructivism)
UK Foreign Policy and the FCDO
International Law and Human Rights
Global Political Economy
Security Studies and Conflict Analysis
Comparative Politics
Quantitative Methods for Political Research (R, basic statistics)
Diplomacy and Negotiation
Research Methods and Dissertation

Who This Course Is For

A-level leavers aiming for the FCDO, civil service Fast Stream or NGO graduate schemes.
International students who want a UK-recognised IR degree taught in English.
Mature applicants from the civil service, military or charity sector formalising existing knowledge.
Politics enthusiasts ready to convert engagement into a rigorous academic credential.

Career Pathways

Graduates move into UK and international policy roles, journalism, the diplomatic service and a range of analyst tracks. The degree opens both public-sector and commercial pathways. Typical first roles include:

Policy Officer (UK government, NGO, charity)
Civil Service Fast Stream entrant
Research Analyst (think tank, Parliament)
Compliance and Sanctions Analyst (City, banks)
Press and Communications Officer (international NGO)
Caseworker (immigration, asylum, human rights)

The degree is also a strong foundation for an LLM, MSc International Relations or postgraduate diplomatic-track study.

One pragmatic note for prospective applicants: UK firms, chambers and public-sector legal and policy teams continue to recruit at junior and senior level, and the BA in International Relations is designed to produce the documented portfolio that gets a CV read rather than only an academic transcript that does not. Coursework is structured so that, on graduation, you can hand a hiring manager three or four pieces of evidence — a project, a report, a deck, a documented intervention — that map directly to a published UK job description. Personal academic tutors also run two one-to-one careers conversations during the programme to keep that mapping honest.

Entry Requirements

Three A-levels at grades BBC or above, or an equivalent UK / international qualification (IB 28+, BTEC DMM, Foundation Year pass).
GCSE English Language at grade 5/C and Mathematics at grade 4/C (or equivalent).
IELTS 6.5 overall (no band below 6.0) for non-native English speakers.
A personal statement showing engagement with current international affairs; mature applicants (21+) may apply with a portfolio of relevant work, writing or campaign experience and a short interview.

Why Study at LSCT

The London School of Commerce and Technology (LSCT) is a specialist higher-education provider based in central London and part of Harold International College. We teach in small cohorts so every student is visible to their tutor, run a single intake schedule that students can rely on, and partner with UK professional bodies so qualifications carry weight with employers. London puts Whitehall, the City, Silicon Roundabout, the Royal Courts of Justice, the West End and the NHS estate within a short tube ride of every classroom — and our students use that proximity in their projects, placements and graduate job hunts. For International Relations students that is decisive: Westminster select committees, FCDO public events, Chatham House briefings and embassy lectures are within walking or a single tube journey of every seminar room.

The teaching model is small-cohort and tutor-led on purpose. Discussion-based seminars, regular formative feedback and structured peer-review are how forensic-judgement is built — none of which scales to large lecture halls. Personal academic tutors are assigned at enrolment, and every student has a named contact for academic, pastoral and career-related questions. UK and international students mix in every cohort, which becomes an active strength in case sessions, group projects and the legal and policy-sector network that follows you after graduation.

Beyond classroom contact, the BA in International Relations makes deliberate use of UK-specific resources that international comparators cannot reach as easily: open government data on the gov.uk estate, parliamentary publications, House of Commons Library briefings, Bank of England datasets, ONS releases and the open-access research output of British universities. Throughout the programme, tutors expect forensic writing — sourced, balanced, and precise about authority. Graduates often describe leaving LSCT with a set of writing and analytical habits they continue to use across a UK career — not only a transcript and a portfolio.

Apply for BA in International Relations

The BA in International Relations is built to launch your career in the Law & Social Sciences sector. Click Enrol Now to submit your application; admissions reply within one working day with intake dates, language-elective options and personal-statement guidance.