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Politics
Course Information
Course TypeSixth Form Centre
Course LevelA Level
Awarding BodyAQA
Entry requirements
- General College entry requirements.
- GCSE English at grade 4 or above.
- An active interest in current affairs.
Meet your teachers
Overview
Politics at Holy Cross provides lots of enrichment activities for its students. We are regularly visited by Aberystwyth and Salford Universities who provide lessons and talks on courses for our students.
We hold regular Q&A sessions with both Bury MPs, and have recently been visited by former student Lisa Nandy, and high-profile MPs such as Jess Phillips. We have been visited by news reporters from ITV, who interviewed our students for national news programs. We also ran a mock election to coincide with the 2024 general election, where students debated, filmed advertisements, and stood as candidates for a college election, something we will do when another election happens. We also run a trip to Westminster, where we listen to MPs, such as previous speaker Jacob-Rees Mogg and can ask them questions.
We conduct a work placement programme with local MP James Frith which last year resulted in one of our students introducing Keir Starmer at the Labour Party manifesto launch. Furthermore, a number of our former students have been politically active in our community and progressed to national prominence, such as Lisa Nandy MP and Bury Council Leader, Eamonn O’Brien.
Your future
Particular job areas include the civil service, social research, PA, consultancy work, charity work, human resources, local government, market research and sales, journalism, and PR.
Several professional organisations offer specialised positions for Politics graduates, such as Macmillan.
What we'll study
The syllabus includes three sections, one on British politics, one on American politics and one on political ideologies.
In the first year students will study British politics and topics will include the constitution, judiciary, Parliament, the Prime Minister and Cabinet as well as elections, voting behaviour and pressure groups.
In the second year of the course students will study political ideologies including conservatism, liberalism and socialism as well as US Politics, including US elections and voting behaviour, US political parties and pressure groups, the US constitution, executive, legislature and judiciary.
If you decide to pursue this subject at university, you don't just have to aim to be an MP if you graduate in Politics. Otherwise, your job prospects would not be high.
How you'll be assessed
You’ll sit a series of examinations at the end of your second year.
Subjects that combine well
Business Studies, Economics, English, History, Law, Media Studies, Sociology.
Contact us to discuss this course
If you'd like to discuss taking this course, please contact Mr Barrow, Curriculum Leader: