BSc International Relations and History

at London School of Economics

The degree involves studying courses to the value of 12 units over three years, plus LSE100. 

First year 
In the first year you will take two compulsory courses and two course options, including four history courses, one IR course, one language course and one approved outside option.

LSE100*
A half unit, running across Michaelmas and Lent Term in the first year, LSE100 is compulsory for all LSE undergraduate students, and is designed to build your capacity to tackle multidimensional problems through research-rich education. 

Second year 
In the second year you will take two international relations options from a choice of four, and two history options from a range of options.

Third year  
In the third year, you will take a further course from the choice of options in the second year, and will take courses to the value of one unit from a range of international relations options. You will also take one international history option from a selection. For your final choice you will either take an additional option from these lists, or will complete a dissertation.

Below we list our entry requirements in terms of GCSEs, A-Levels (the entry requirements should be read alongside our A-level subject combinations information) and the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma. We accept a wide range of other qualifications from the UK and from overseas.
 

GCSEs
 

• A strong set of GCSE grades including the majority at A (or 7) and A* (or 8-9)
• GCSE English Language and Mathematics grades should be no lower than B (or 6)
• We also consider your overall GCSE subject profile

A-levels*

AAA
We also consider your AS grades, if available.

Contextual admissions A-level grades**
AAB

IB Diploma
38 points overall, including 766 at higher level

Contextual admissions IB grades**
37 points overall, including 666 at higher level

Every undergraduate student is charged a fee for each year of their programme.

The fee covers registration and examination fees payable to the School, lectures, classes and individual supervision, lectures given at other colleges under intercollegiate arrangements and, under current arrangements, membership of the Students' Union. It does not cover living costs or travel or fieldwork.

Tuition fees

Home students:
The 2023 tuition fee for new Home students has not yet been set. As a guide the 2022 fee for Home students is £9,250 per year. The Home student undergraduate fee may rise in line with inflation in subsequent years.

Quick Careers Facts for the Department of International History

Through studying history you will learn how to analyse complex evidence from a variety of sources, to develop your analytical powers and to present your findings effectively. These skills and a broad knowledge of the development of the world around us are valued by many employers.

Past students have followed a range of careers in politics, journalism, media and publishing, advertising, marketing, and public relations, public administration, the foreign service, industry, the charity and development sector, finance, consulting and the legal profession, as well as in research, teaching, libraries and archives.

LSE history students continue to have one of the best rate of employability and earnings after graduation in the UK. The Complete University Guide 2020 places History at LSE 6th overall for job prospects. Guardian's University 2021 League Tables placed History at LSE in 2nd place for percentage of graduates who find graduate-level jobs, or are in further study at professional or HE level, within fifteen months of graduation. The 2019 report on Graduate Outcomes Subject by Provider from the Department for Education places History at LSE top of the table with earnings superior to any other university in the UK with 2010-11 LSE graduates' median salary at £43,200 5 years after graduating.

A report on relative labour market returns, also from the Department for Education, which calculated the difference in earnings by subject and university choice throughout Britain five years after graduation, ranked History at LSE number 1 in June 2018. The report illustrates the average impact the different universities and subjects would have on the future income of an individual. History at LSE averaged a lifetime earnings boost of £14,000 for men and £15,000 for women when compared with studying history at any other university in the UK, including Oxford, St Andrews, Cambridge, KCL and UCL.

Median salary of our UG students six months after graduating: £30,000

Top 5 sectors our students work in:
 

• Accounting and Auditing
• Consultancy
• Education, Teaching and Research
• Government, Public Sector and Policy
• Advertising, Marketing, PR, Media and Journalism

The data was collected as part of the Graduate Outcomes survey, which is administered by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). Graduates from 2018-19 were the second group to be asked to respond to Graduate Outcomes. Median salaries are calculated for respondents who are paid in UK pounds sterling and who were working in full-time employment.