Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Politics and International Relations (with Placement Year)

at De Montfort University United Kingdom

This is a career-focused practical course, which will appeal to those with an understanding and exploring how organisations compete and co-operate around the world. The programme is designed to extend the knowledge gained during your two-year higher education degrees or diplomas and would help you prepare for an International career or a Master’s programme.

The Business modules give you a broad understanding of business concepts, models and issues, with a focus on leadership and innovation. The Finance modules develop your analytical and problem solving skills in areas such as risk management, banking system and financial markets.

The Finance and Investment BSc course at DMU provides a rigorous academic approach to finance with a focus on practical skills and employability. Students will be equipped with the advanced technical skillset, knowledge, and professional attitude necessary to excel in a career in the financial sector.

On this course, you will develop a comprehensive understanding of finance through exploration of the connected disciplines of accounting and economics. This programme is ideal for those interested in a mathematical approach, where strong emphasis is placed on quantitative data. The use of important industry-standard commercial databases and software, such as Bloomberg, Thomson Reuters Eikon, Matlab, and Python, are integrated into teaching to bridge the theoretical and practical aspects of finance.

Innovative modules will introduce you to new methodologies – such as Artificial Intelligence and Financial Applications, where you will gain hands-on experience of using, evaluating, and even developing your own AI applications, to solve real-life problems.

This program focuses on detailed decisions about the design and construction of buildings and their immediate surroundings. Architectural Technology is concerned with new and existing buildings and examines how detail relates to the design concept. This field is also central to the communication of design decisions to members of the construction team and vital to ensuring that work is carried out in the correct manner.  

Our course will help you evolve the knowledge and skills required in understanding, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation relative to design, technology, management, and practice. It will also help advance your architectural management proficiency by bringing together all aspects of the design process, from concept through to completion. 

In addition, this degree examines design strategies to promote and encourage sustainability. You will explore methods of sustainability to inform architectural design, and develop an awareness of ecological footprints, materials, and embodied energy along with processes of achieving sustainable design.

Arts and Festivals Management is the longest-running degree course of its kind in the UK and boasts enviable industry links.

In addition to deepening your understanding of academic debates, our course will equip you with the practical tools and skills needed to become a leader in key areas of the cultural arena, including theatres, music venues, galleries, museums and festivals.

You will develop a range of interdisciplinary skills such as teamwork, marketing and management theory, fundraising, business planning, licensing, health and safety, programming and cultural policy.

In your final year, you will have the opportunity either to produce a large-scale arts event of your choice or be part of the team producing, programming and running the high-profile annual Cultural eXchanges Festival. Previous events have featured inspiring guests such as Benjamin Zephaniah, Grayson Perry, and Meera Syal.

We will teach you to become an adept problem solver, with the ability to provide dynamic solutions within this continually changing and diversifying sector.

This programme will help provide you with transferable skills useful in the criminal justice sector and allied career fields. You can develop your practical experience through a wide range of volunteering opportunities in local criminal justice agencies, including HM Prison and Probation Service, youth offending services and victim support.

This is an applied course and you will learn first-hand from a team of experienced academics who have strong links with the British Society of Criminology and the British Sociological Association.

You will study a range of topics, including Crime and Punishment in Contemporary Society, Crime, Risk and Community Safety, and Young People and the Criminal Justice System. As the course progresses, you will have the flexibility to tailor your learning through optional modules to your desired pathway.

Upon graduation there are a variety of career paths available, including policing, private security, crime prevention, victim support, prison and probation service, youth justice and drug and alcohol services.

The Creative Writing MA is a practice-led programme, giving you the chance to develop your writing in chosen areas, or experiment with new forms and genres through exploratory writing exercises and craft challenges. The programme is designed to develop your writing practice in both research and professional contexts and so you will follow both craft and writing industry-focused modules. You will have the opportunity to graduate with an advanced understanding of the professional landscape and how to use the skills you have acquired to forge a career in a range of contexts.

The taught modules are divided into three areas. Researching as a Writer involves exploring practice research methodologies and research skills, giving you a toolbox for discussion of your practice from a theoretical perspective. Developing Writing covers a range of genre opportunities and exploratory writing tasks, while Writing Ecosystems focuses on networking, performance, manuscript presentation and publishing advice.

The programme culminates in a dissertation in which you will work independently on an extended creative writing project in a form or genre of your choice, with tutor guidance and feedback. You will shape and grow projects to a professional standard, while also learning how to provide a theoretical basis to discuss and conceptualise your practice.

You will also be encouraged to participate in the Leicester Centre for Creative Writing research culture and public engagement events, such as independent book festival States of Independence. Our diverse community of writers work in a wide range of forms and genres including long and short fiction, science fiction, autobiographical, crime, literary and experimental, as well as performance, poetry of all kinds, digital work and scripts for radio, independent film and graphic novel.

More than ever the world needs flexible and prepared thinkers, ready to build financially robust businesses that are able to deal with the unexpected and cope in a crisis. This joint honours degree will build on strong analytical skills, exploring the economics of markets such as money, capital, derivatives and foreign exchange, and the theory of modern finance in business.

Choose from a range of modules throughout your course, such as Crisis and Business Continuity Management, where you will learn to analyse vulnerabilities and deal with simulated business interruptions. Explore the top-level decision making in managing the direction and impact of organisations with modules on Management and Strategy.

The opportunity to grow a deep understanding of accounting through the join honours degree will enable you to appraise the role of accounting in society. Appreciate and critically analyse financial decisions taken by organisations, and the standards, laws, rules and regulations that qualified accountants must abide by.

Throughout the course we will expand your understanding of business concepts, ideas, models and methods, with strong focus on strategic management. This valuable expertise will help you to stand out in roles in corporations, finance, and the civil service, in the competitive business world.

Mathematics underpins every technological, scientific and engineering achievement and natural phenomenon we see around us. Mathematics is integral to the applications and technologies we rely on each day.

This course develops your practical skills to solve real life problems and enhances your professional skills, enabling you to effectively communicate mathematics in the work environment. You will develop rigour in your mathematical knowledge and your mathematical abilities/ skills will be stretched and challenged.

There is a shortage of graduates with analytical skills and this course meets the demands of industry. As a De Montfort University Mathematics graduate you will have logical and analytical thought processes, problem-solving abilities and good computing techniques, which will give you the opportunity to pursue highly sought-after careers in a wide range of fields including finance, credit risk, business intelligence, actuarial science, teaching, and research, to name just a few.

This title change follows a review of the programme and has been made to better reflect the content of the programme and terminology used within the industry, as well as to ensure that our students are well placed to secure graduate employment. 

The artificial intelligence industry is fast-growing and touches so many aspects of society, from business operations to our everyday lives. In this course, you will gain a detailed understanding of artificial intelligence concepts and techniques, and learn to use this knowledge to address contemporary problems and challenges such as the use of microprocessor-based systems to control home appliances and the detection and resolution of collisions in applied mechanics.

You will also be able to enjoy projects and extracurriculars related to your course. Get involved with our dedicated Robot Club, where you will solidify your skills by instructing secondary school children on robotic construction or take the opportunity to develop your own robot project, with the potential to compete in the annual international Robot Challenge in Vienna.

Mechatronics integrates the theory and practice of mechanical, electrical and computer based disciplines, to enable the design, modelling and development of intelligent machines, products and systems.

Mechatronic engineers are in great demand as more industries seek to apply the advances in computers, electronics, sensors, and actuators to improve their products, processes and services. Our course aims to produce dynamic graduates who can operate in industry at the highest level.

Course modules include Mechatronics Systems Engineering and Artificial Intelligence which introduces you to model-based system engineering and the mechatronic philosophies of design, Programming and Software Engineering to develop knowledge of efficient programming approaches to software engineering with an emphasis on practical programming skills and Engineering Business Environment which enable students to understand and reflect upon the role of business in a rapidly changing, globalised world.