Politics and a Modern Language (BA)

Why study this course

Our aim at the School of Law and Politics and the School of Modern Languages is for you to become a ‘global citizen’ who thinks critically, understands cultural diversity and has a wealth of transferable skills

On our 4-year Politics and a Modern Language (BA) programme, you’ll develop high-level communication and critical-thinking skills, and foster resilience and independence through time spent in immersive foreign language contexts.

The field of politics allows you to explore how parliaments and governments function and evaluate political ideas such as power, freedom, democracy, conflict, legitimacy or accountability as well as incorporating international relations.

Modules are varied, allowing you to explore how politics works in Wales, the UK, Europe, and across the globe, and to investigate how public policy is made. Other strands of work include justice, democracy, intelligence and security studies, human rights and international relations; providing you with a broad understanding of politics tailored to your own particular interests or future ambitions.

On the languages side of the programme, you can choose to study one of the three different languages we offer. These are Chinese, French, and Spanish.

We run 2 programme pathways. Those with an A-level or equivalent competence in a modern language will take an Upper Elementary pathway. Those with limited or no knowledge of a modern language take our Elementary pathway.

You’ll explore the language you’re studying and its social, political, historical and cultural contexts from a global perspective. Through a variety of language learning resources and materials, and range of student-centred learning activities, you’ll develop your reading, writing, oral, listening and mediation skills.

An integral part of this programme is the opportunity to spend time working or living abroad to experience life in the culture of the language you are studying. You’ll have the choice of either studying at a partner university or completing a work placement in each semester.

It’s important to remember that studying languages is not just about the language itself, it involves the integrated study of language, culture and society. As a Politics and Modern Languages (BA) student, you’ll find that often there are complementary issues and perspectives that link these subjects. Our joint honours programme offers challenging and stimulating modules emphasising diversity and celebrating cultural and linguistic mobility.

Graduating with a range of academic and practical skills – including teamworking, leadership and communication – the confidence to use them and the ability to see the big picture, you’ll be valued by employers and ideally placed to progress into a range of careers.

Careers

Career prospects

We’re committed to helping you achieve your professional ambitions, providing you with the skills, curiosity, and confidence to make your mark in a competitive job market. Whether you have a clear idea of what you would like to do after university, or no idea at all, we have the tools and support to guide you.

We encourage our students to think about life beyond university from day one, offering modules and support to give you a competitive advantage on graduating no matter what path you choose to follow.

Our Politics and a Modern Language (BA) programme equips you with important skills which employers’ value from collaborative working and communicating with a wide range of audiences to critical thinking and finding new ways to address problems.

We also provide you with opportunities to attain and develop enterprise skills as you progress from pitching your ideas on first year modules and working collaboratively on a project in year 2 to credit-bearing placements in year 2, Year Abroad and your final year. A range of option modules extend these opportunities and support you to develop these skills further.

Work experience and placements are great opportunities to enhance your employability and career prospects and can help you make decisions about your future career plans, and this programme includes placement learning as an integral element of your degree programme.

Training and careers events are delivered in and out of the curriculum with a focus on developing skills while in university and articulating those skills successfully in future applications. We work closely with Student Futures who not only deliver training and workshops on our core modules, but also offer a wealth of opportunities and help sourcing placements. Beyond your formal studies we run programmes that provide you with opportunities to engage with local schools and communities or work with local heritage organisations to develop your own skills and profile whilst allowing you to make a difference.

The Cardiff Award provides you with a framework through which to develop your employability, while you can take advantage of a wide range of university programmes from Languages for All (to try out a further language) to support from the Enterprise and Start Up team to bring your ideas to life.

Each term we advertise On-Campus Internships which are summer vacation opportunities for students to work under supervision on education innovation, professional services, and staff-defined research projects.

Our graduates flourish in the job market. Their international relations, politics and language degrees lead them into a diverse and exciting range of careers with roles and organisations including finance, the Public Ombudsman for Wales, the Department for Education, the UK Border Agency, international sport liaison roles, business consultancy, education, health, the media, politics, diplomacy, interpreting, translation, law and teaching.