Politics

Keith Wheatley

Duncan Taylor

Politics is a popular and demanding A-level, highly regarded by university admissions tutors because of the breadth of knowledge it requires. Each year approximately two-thirds of our Politics students achieve A or B grades in their final exams and many go on to take either Politics or International Relations at degree level.

The subject is taught within the department that also includes Economics, Business Studies and Law. As teaching materials for Politics evolve on an almost daily basis, the course makes maximum use of both online resources and the broadcast media.

In the first year students focus on the nature of democracy and elections before looking at the specifics of parties and pressure groups. Later there is more detailed study of how Parliament, Prime Minister and Cabinet interact, plus several visits to Westminster.

In the second year the focus moves to examining key politics issues both within Britain and in our relations with the EU. There is an annual visit to Prague inconjunction with Economics and Business Studies to study the social and financial effects of EU enlargement.