In the first year of the course, you will consider important concepts such as democracy, power and influence.  You will learn how Parliament works, and why some are now calling for big changes to the system.

Topical questions tackled by our students include:

• Why do we have an unelected House of Lords making laws on our behalf?
• What sort of PM is Rishi Sunak?
• How has Keir Starmer changed the Labour party?
• Are our elections fair?

In the second year, you will focus on global politics and on the development of political ideology.  Political ideology is important because it allows us to ask the deep questions surrounding the nature of government and the role of the state.

Topical questions tackled by second year students include:

• How is individual freedom maximised?
• Is the Labour party socialist?
• Why is it so difficult to tackle climate change?
• Is global politics dominated by the rich and powerful?

A mixture of teaching methods are used in all lessons, including class and group discussions, debates, video clips, individual and group assignments and up-to-date research tasks. 

The contemporary nature of politics means that the textbook is of limited value; you will be expected to research a good deal of material independently via the internet or newspapers.  This is an essay based course so we will also be working on our exam technique. 

You will be invited to visit the Houses of Parliament in London. In addition, there is a vibrant student-led politics society which meets to discuss and debate the latest developments. We also run a Debate Team for those who are keen. MPs and other representatives are frequently invited to speak to students.

The course is assessed entirely by external examination.

Content overview - UNIT 1

Political Participation:

• democracy and participation
• political parties
• electoral systems
• voting behaviour and the media

 Core Political Ideas:

• Socialism and communism
• conservatism
• liberalism

Content overview - UNIT 2

UK Government

• The constitution,
• Parliament,
• Prime Minister and executive,
• Relationships between the branches.

Other Political Ideas:

• Feminism

Content overview - UNIT 3

Global Politics

• Theories of Global Politics,
• Sovereignty and globalisation,
• Global governance: political and economic,
• Global governance: human rights and environmental,
• Power and developments,
• Regionalism and the European Union

• Academic departmental lending library;
• Trips to Parliament;
• Student led Politics society;
• Extended reading assignments;
• 1-2-1s for students to work on areas of interest;
• Recommended podcasts on Brexit, UK politics and international relations (including Cambridge Politics Society);
• Comprehensive and extended video archive;
• Departmental Massolit achieve;
• MP speaking events allow the students to quiz our elected representatives;
• Academics visiting the College to talk about their recent work;
• Students are directed towards relevant MOOCS;
• 1-2-1 meetings with students applying to Oxbridge;
• Work with the LRC to build a range of extra-curricular resources.

This list is endless - because it is so relevant to everyday life, there is no subject that does not have some link with politics.  However, many of our students find that the course goes extremely well with history, law, philosophy, and sociology in particular.  It is also very useful to study economics in conjunction with politics as they are complementary in so many ways.

Politics links nicely with most humanities and social sciences and allows you to have deeper understanding of those topics. We also find that many students interested in STEM decide to take Politics as a third option to give them strong written and verbal communication skills.

Students who are interested in a PPE degree after Sixth Form are recommended to take Maths.

Students with an A level in Politics develop a wide range of transferable skills, such as collecting and analysing information, arguing complex positions and making reasoned evaluations.  With this, learners will build on their communication and writing skills, which are valued by employers as well as university admissions tutors.  The University of Cambridge regards Politics as a suitable course for their social science degrees.

The subject is of particular interest for those who might be planning a career in areas such as law, media, civil service or public relations.  The list of suitable careers, however, is endless.

Please see below for careers and labour market information for politics - use the refresh buttons to find out about different courses and careers, and use the left and right arrows to view more detailed information.

You can find the prep work for this course at prepwork.farnborough.ac.uk.

Q: Do I need any prior understanding of politics? 
A: No not at all.  We appreciate that politics is a new subject for you.  Some of you may already know a lot about politics, some of you will know nothing at all.  We don't mind.  We just ask that you come to class with an open mind and a desire to know more.

Q: How can I prepare for politics A level? 
A: Follow the news and read good quality journalism daily.  Try to get your information from a range of sources to give you a broad perspective. 

Q: What are the lessons and resources like?
A: We will study a range of topics from three areas of politics: British politics, political ideas and global politics. Each topic has a booklet that you work through as part of your classwork and homework.

We will assess you on your skills, knowledge and essay writing.  We will give you lots of support in structuring and planning your essays.  We also use a range of group activities, summary sheets, videos and presentations.