Politics with Foundation Year

Foundation Year
Our Foundation Year provides an excellent alternative route to Keele, providing a unique opportunity to better prepare for your chosen degree, and with guaranteed entry onto your undergraduate course once you successfully complete your Foundation Year. This extra year of study can improve your academic skills, expand your subject knowledge, give you a better understanding of higher education and, perhaps most importantly of all, build your confidence. On the Keele Foundation Year, you'll study on campus, joining our undergraduate community from the outset, with access to all the facilities and support that you'd get as an undergraduate student at Keele.

International Students
For International Students, Foundation Years are delivered through our dedicated on-campus provider, Keele University International College. Applications for International Foundation Years are also handled by KUIC; please do not apply via UCAS as the University will not be able to process your application and you may still be charged the UCAS application fee. To find out more and to apply for an International Foundation Year, visit https://kuic.keele.ac.uk/

Politics

Empowering you to create positive change, answer big questions and make sense of society in an ever-changing political world. Politics BA at Keele is designed to help you understand society and the events and forces that shape it. Our wide-ranging course develops your knowledge and understanding of government, people, ideas, institutions, and their interactions. Engage in real-world experiences that equip you with core skills in analytical thinking, problem-solving and research, ready to embark on a career of your choice across various sectors including government, public relations and business.

Why choose this course?

• No.1 in the West Midlands for Politics (Guardian University Guide, 2026)

• Politics ranked Top 10 in England (NSS 2025, broad-based universities)*

• Engage in work placement opportunities that provide a rich experience, preparing you for employment after university

• A chance to broaden your horizons and study abroad at a partner university

• Opportunity to gain hands-on experience in UK Parliamentary Studies in Year 3

Our Politics degree introduces you to the study of politics with insights into the concepts, ideas and the nature of power. You will focus on the processes of political change and the influences at a local, national and global level, with consideration of some of the biggest challenges to face global politics.

Our programme looks to make sense of politics, exploring the concepts of power, democracy and governance, and how we address the many contemporary challenges of the political world.

*We have compared the positivity ratings of all participating UK institutions using the NSS 2025 sector data to determine Keele's position relative to other broad-based universities (i.e. excluding specialist institutions and further education colleges).

About Keele

Keele University was established in 1949 by the former Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University. Founded to meet the needs of a changing world, Keele has always had a pioneering vision to be a different kind of university.

We excel in both teaching and research, with some of the most satisfied students in England, and research that is changing lives for the better at a regional, national and global level.

Our beautiful 600-acre campus is one of the biggest in Britain – but all the most important services and facilities are on your doorstep, with accommodation, teaching spaces, facilities including a medical centre, sports centre and pharmacy, and a range of shops, eateries and entertainment venues – including the Students’ Union – clustered around the centre.

For a list of indicative modules please visit the course page on the Keele University website.