Finance for part-time students

Part-time students - financial help

The financial help available is the same for new and continuing part-time students. How much you may get depends on your personal circumstances and the type of course you do.

There are two types of non-repayable grant:

• fee grant (to help with tuition fees)

• course grant (to help with study costs such as books, materials and travel)

As well as these grants, you may also be able to apply for help through your college from:

• Access to Learning Fund

• Additional Fee Support Scheme

If you have a low income, you may also be entitled to claim certain income-related benefits.

On top of this, help is available if you are a student who has a disability or specific learning difficulty.

Fee grant and course grant

To apply for the fee grant and course grant, your course must last at least one year and not take more than twice as long to complete as an equivalent full-time course.

You apply for every year of your course, at the start of each academic year. How much you can get each year depends on your household income and whether you have a spouse, partner or children.

You do not have to repay this help.

Fee grant

The maximum amount of fee grant available also depends on the 'intensity' of your course. 'Intensity' means how long it takes to complete your course compared with an equivalent full-time course.

For example, if a three-year full-time course takes six years to complete part-time, then the part-time course has an intensity of 50 per cent.

Your college or university will be able to advise you regarding your intensity of course.

Course grant

You can apply for the same maximum amount of course grant no matter what the intensity of your course.

To find out more about the fee and course grant, including the amounts available, see the 'Fee and course grant for part-time students factsheet'.

Fee and course grant for part-time students factsheet

Access to Learning Fund

As well as a fee grant and a course grant, you may be entitled to extra support from the Access to Learning Fund. You apply for this help through your college or university. You can get money to help pay for things like books, childcare and equipment.

For more information, see the 'Access to Learning Fund factsheet'.

Access to Learning Fund factsheet

Additional Fee Support Scheme

Your university or college decides how much the tuition fees are for part-time courses; there is not a minimum or maximum amount. If you receive a fee grant that doesn't cover the fees charged to you, you may be able to get extra money from your college through the Additional Fee Support Scheme. Ask the student support office at your college or university for more information.

Disabled students - extra help

If you are a student with a disability or specific learning difficulty, you can apply for extra help from the Disabled Students' Allowances. The amount you can get does not depend on your household income.

You may also be able to claim help as a disabled student from the Access to Learning Fund.

For more information, see 'Disabled students - extra financial help'.

Disabled students - extra financial help (disabled people section)

Claiming benefits

As a part-time student, you may be able to claim income-related benefits. Any fee or course grant you receive is not counted as income when working out your benefit entitlement.

If you receive help from the Access to Learning Fund, it will generally not be treated as income for working out your entitlement to benefits.

For money information, see 'Benefits for students with low incomes factsheet'.

Benefits for students with low incomes factsheet

Other help

If your circumstances mean you are not entitled to financial help from the government, you may be able to apply for a Career Development Loan.

For more information, see the 'Career Development Loans' section.

Career Development Loans

Source

Finance for new full-time students

New full-time students can get loans, grants and bursaries to help with tuition fees and living costs. These help you study first, and pay back when you're earning.

Starting university or college: help with your costs

If you're a new full-time higher education student this year, or you're thinking of applying for next year, the financial help you can get includes loans, grants and bursaries.

If you've taken a gap year in 2005/2006, you'll be entitled to slightly different types of help - follow the link below for further information.

Gap year students and others qualifying under the 2005/2006 rules

Tuition fee loans

How much can you get?

Universities and colleges can charge new full-time higher education students up to £3,000 per year in tuition fees in 2006/2007 (£3,070 in 2007/2008).

Tuition fees and living costs

However, all eligible full-time students can now get a Student Loan for Fees (sometimes known as a ‘tuition fee loan’) to cover the full amount charged, so no one has to find the money for fees either before or during their course.

Student loan factsheet

How much will you have to repay?

If you take out a student loan, you won't have to start making repayments until you've left your course and are earning over a certain amount, currently £15,000 a year.

Your repayments will be nine per cent of your earnings over this set amount. So if, for example, you were earning the average starting salary of a graduate level job of £18,000, your repayments would be £5.19 a week.

The interest rate (currently 2.4 per cent) is linked to the rate of inflation, so the amount you repay is the same in real terms as the amount you borrow.

What if you don't earn enough to afford repayments?

Repayments are linked to how much you earn and not how much you owe. If your earnings were to drop below £15,000 at any time, your repayments would stop until you were earning over this amount again.

Repaying student loans (courses starting from 1998)

Living cost loans

You can also apply for a Student Loan for Maintenance (also known as a 'living cost loan') to cover the cost of living expenses.

How much can you get?

The amount depends on where you study, where you live while you study, and the academic year.

For example, if you live away from home and study in London you could get up to £6,170 in 2006/2007 (£6,315 in 2007/2008).

Or if you live at home you can get a loan of up to £3,415 in 2006/2007 (£3,495 in 2007/2008).
All full-time students can automatically get around 75 per cent of the full loan amount but how much you get will depend on your household income.

Student loan factsheet

What about repayments?

The repayment system is the same as for the tuition fee loan. You don't have to start any repayments until you have left your course and are earning over £15,000. If you take out the tuition fee loan and the living cost loan the amounts are added together so you only make one repayment.

Repaying student loans (courses starting from 1998)




Grants for living costs

Around half of all full-time students are also likely to be eligible for a yearly Maintenance Grant of up to £2,700 for 2006/2007 (£2,765 for 2007/2008). This grant is non-repayable.

How much you get depends on your household income and the year of study. For example:

* you will receive the full grant if your household income is less than £17,500 for 2006/2007 (£17,910 for 2007/2008)

* you will receive a partial grant if your household income is between £17,501 and £37,425 for 2006/2007 (£17,911 and £38,330 for 2007/2008)

If you receive means-tested benefits such as income support, you may receive the Special Support Grant in place of the Maintenance Grant.

Maintenance Grant and Special Support Grant factsheet

Bursaries and scholarships

If your tuition fees are over £2,700 in 2006/2007 (£2,765 in 2007/2008) and you receive the full Maintenance Grant, your university or college will give you extra financial help.

For example, if you are charged tuition fees of £3,000 this academic year, you will get a minimum bursary of £300.

Many institutions are offering more than the minimum amount, and some are offering bursaries to all students.

So, it's well worth contacting the universities or colleges that you're interested in attending to find out exactly what they're offering.

Bursaries and scholarships factsheet

Extra financial help

You can apply for extra help may if you have a disability or specific learning difficulty, or if you have children or adult dependants.

If you need extra financial support for your course or to stay in higher education, you may also be able to apply for help from the Access to Learning Fund.

Disabled students - extra financial help

Students with children or other dependants - extra financial help

Access to Learning Fund factsheet

Adding it all up: the student loan and grant calculator

The simplest and most convenient way to work out how much help you could get is to use the 'Student loan and grant calculator'.

The calculator asks you for details about your financial circumstances, and then gives you an estimate of the help you might receive.

It currently features financial help for the 2006/2007 or 2007/2008 academic years.

Student loan and grant calculator

How to apply

Not everyone is eligible for all the types of financial help outlined above. To find out if you qualify, follow the below link.

Do you qualify for student finance?

Apply online or on paper

To find out more about how and when to apply, see 'Applying for student loans, grants and bursaries'.

Applying for student loans, grants and bursaries

Source

Political science jobs

I compiled a small list of useful catalogues which may help you find some politics-related jobs:

http://www.jobs.ac.uk/browse/politics/
http://www.academicjobseu.com/content/categories/SocialScience-polit.asp
http://www.execsearches.com/exec/
http://www.apsanet.org/
http://www.aspanet.org/scriptcontent/index.cfm
http://www.cato.org/
http://www.heritage.com/
http://www.gopjob.com/
http://www.jobsinnonprofit.com/
http://www.opportunitynocs.org/
http://www.movingideas.org/
http://www.naspaa.org/
http://www.apsanet.org/jobplc/onlinejobs.cfm
http://www.brubach.com/opawebversion3/opa.htm
http://pss.la.psu.edu/
http://www.rollcall.com/
http://www.hillnews.com/
http://www.sector1.net/jobsearch/default.asp
http://www.delaware.gov/agencies/egovernment/agencyindex
http://www.rileyguide.com/
http://www.library.jhu.edu/researchhelp/polisci/jobs.html

This list is far from full - I will try to revise and append it in future.

British degree abbreviations

Degree abbreviations are used as an alternative way to specify an academic degree instead of spelling out the title in full, such as in reference books like Who's Who and on business cards. Many degrees have more than one abbreviation.

Note that usage in some Scottish universities, particularly the ancient universities, differs from that in England and Wales in that MAs are given out in place of BAs as first degrees, where the course of study is four years rather than the three years typical in England.

The usage in the two ancient English universities of Oxford and Cambridge also differs slightly from that in other UK universities - the MA degree is not a substantive qualification, but reflects the ancient practice of these universities of raising BAs to MAs (and thus full membership of the University) a few years after graduating. Conversely, some bachelor's degrees in the higher faculties (i.e. those other than arts) at those universities are postgraduate qualifications (e.g. the BCL and BMus at Oxford). Many have been changed to the corresponding masters degree (e.g. BSc is now MSc), but only within the last generation. The BD remains a higher degree at a some older universities (e.g. Oxford, Cambridge, St Andrews and Durham) but is an undergraduate degree at most (e.g. London, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Glasgow). Oxford and Cambridge grant BAs after three years to students on undergraduate courses lasting longer than this (the undergraduate masters degrees and the MB, ChB in medicine).

Undergraduate degrees may be awarded "with Honours" or may be "Ordinary" or "Pass" degrees. The meaning of non-Honours degrees changed in the course of the twentieth century, and varies somewhat between England and Wales on the one hand and Scotland and Northern Ireland on the other, and also between institutions. In some places to be awarded an Ordinary or Pass degree is nowadays a euphemism for failure, however, in the Open University and some of the newer universities with a strong commitment to broadening access to higher education, the Pass degree remains a valuable qualification though of a lower standard (or indicating a shorter period of study) than an Honours degree. Honours degrees are usually awarded with first, upper-second, lower-second or third class honours.

Usage of titles of masters degrees (in particular the undergraduate masters degrees) is in continuing flux, not least because of discussions of harmonisation of qualifications within the European Union as part of the Bologna process.

Bachelor's degrees

In England and Wales, almost all bachelor's degrees are awarded as honours degrees, sometimes indicated by '(Hons)' after the degree abbreviation without a space, for example 'BA(Hons)'.
At the Ancient universities of Scotland (St Andrews, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Dundee), a BSc(Hons) indicates a four year course, being the equivalent of the Scottish MA for science degrees. A Scottish BSc without honours indicates a three year course with less specialisation (a General Degree).

Some of the following are postgraduate degrees in a few universities, but generally bachelors are undergraduate degrees.

So, here goes the list:

• BA - Bachelor of Arts

• BAE - Bachelor of Arts and Economics

• BASc/BAS - Bachelor of Applied Science

• BCL - Bachelor of Civil Law

• BD - Bachelor of Divinity

• BDes - Bachelor of Design

• BDS or BChD - Bachelor of Dental Surgery

• BEcon - Bachelor of Economics

• BEcon&Fin - Bachelor of Economics and Finance

• BEd or EdB - Bachelor of Education

• BEng or BE - Bachelor of Engineering

• BFA - Bachelor of Fine Art

• BFin - Bachelor of Finance

• BHSc - Bachelor of Health Science

• BLitt or LittB - Bachelor of Literature or Bachelor of Letters

• BMedSc or BMSc - Bachelor of Biomedical science

• BMid - Bachelor of Midwifery

• BMin - Bachelor of Ministry

• BMus or MusB - Bachelor of Music

• BNurs or BN - Bachelor of Nursing

• BPhil - Bachelor of Philosophy

• BSc - Bachelor of Science

• BScEcon - Bachelor of Economic and Social Science

• BScEng - Bachelor of Science in Engineering

• BSocSc - Bachelor of Social Science

• BTech - Bachelor of Technology (not to be confused with BTEC)

• BTh, ThB or BTheol - Bachelor of Theology

• LLB - Bachelor of Laws

• MB or BM - Bachelor of Medicine

• BS, ChB, BChir or BCh - Bachelor of Surgery

• GCGI The Graduateship (post-nominal GCGI) awarded by the City & Guilds of London Institute is mapped to a British Honours degree

• ACGI The Associateship is conferred by the Council of the City & Guilds of London Institute on the recommendation of the Dean of the City and Guilds College in recognition of the ability to demonstrate, to the level equivalent to that of a degree of Bachelor of Science (Engineering), or Bachelor of Engineering, or Master of Engineering, the understanding and application of the principles of a branch of Engineering or of Computing Science approved by the Institute

Master's degrees

Undergraduate

These, like most bachelors degrees, are honours degrees, indicated by putting '(Hons)' after the degree abbreviation. The majority of undergraduate master's degrees are within science and engineering subjects. The undergraduate MAs of the ancient universities of Scotland are also honours degrees and may also add '(Hons)'. MEng used to be offered by some universities as a postgraduate degree, but is now an undergraduate degree.

• MA - with or without honours in Scotland or from Oxbridge

• MBiochem - Master of Biochemistry

• MBiol - Master of Biology

• MChem - Master of Chemistry

• MDiv - Master of Divinity

• MEcon - Master of Economics

• MEng - Master of Engineering

• MEnvSci - Master of Environmental Science

• MESci - Master of Earth Science

• MGeog - Master of Geography

• MGeol - Master of Geology

• MGeophys - Master of Geophysics

• MInf- Master of Informatics

• MMath - Master of Mathematics

• MNatSc - Master of Natural Science

• MNursSci - Master of Nursing Science

• MOcean - Master of Oceanography

• MPharm - Master of Pharmacy

• MPhys - Master of Physics

• MSci - Master in Science (Master of Natural Science at Cambridge University)

• MStat - Master of Statistics

• MTheol - Master of Theology

• MCGI - awarded by the City & Guilds of London Institute is mapped to a British Master's degree

Postgraduate

Postgraduate degrees are not honours degrees, and do not add '(Hons)' to indicate this. MA (Hons) is only used for the undergraduate degree of the ancient Scottish universities: as there are no examinations for the MAs in Oxford and Cambridge there are consequently no honours to be awarded. The Oxbridge MA may be differentiated by putting the name of the institution after the degree, thus 'MA (Oxon)' or 'MA (Cantab)'. The MPhil is normally reserved for longer (often two year) research-based masters degrees (as at Oxford), although at Cambridge the MPhil is generally a nine-month, mostly taught, degree. The MUniv is only ever an honorary degree. Postgraduate masters degrees are considered higher status than undergraduate masters. Postgraduate masters degrees are generally classfied as pass, pass with merit and pass with distinction. The percentage bandings for these award levels are 50%-59% (pass), 60%-69% (merit) and 70%+ (distinction). It is more difficult to obtain a postgraduate masters degree with distinction than a bachelors with first class honours.

• LLM - Master of Laws

• MA - Master of Arts

• MBA - Master of Business Administration

• MBiolSci - Master of Biological Science

• MClinDent - Master of Clinical Dentistry

• MDrama - Master of Drama

• MeB - Master of Electronic Business (eBusiness)

• MEd - Master of Education

• MFA - Master of Fine Art

• MJur - Master of Jurisprudence (Law) (Magister Juris at Oxford)

• MLib - Master of Librarianship

• MLitt - Master of Letters

• MMus or MusM - Master of Music

• MPH - Master of Public Health

• MPhil - Master of Philosophy

• MRes - Master of Research

• MSc - Master of Science

• MSSc/MSocSc - Master of Social Science

• MSt - Master of Studies

• MTh or MTheol - Master of Theology

• MUniv - Master of the University

British undergraduate degree classification

The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading scheme for undergraduate degrees (bachelor's degrees and some master's degrees) in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied (sometimes with significant variations) in other countries, such as India, the Republic of Ireland, South Africa, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Australia, Malta and Canada. The Latin honors system used in the United States is different but has some similarities.

Degree classification

A degree may be awarded with or without honours, with the class of an honours degree based on the average mark of the assessed work a candidate has completed. Below is a list of the possible classifications with common abbreviations. Honours degrees are in bold:

• First-Class Honours (First or 1st)

• Upper Second-Class Honours (2:1)

• Lower Second-Class Honours (2:2)

• Third-Class Honours (Third or 3rd)

• Ordinary degree (Pass)

• Fail (no degree is awarded)

The system does allow for a small amount of discretion and candidates may be elevated up to the next degree class if their average mark is close or the median of their weighted marks achieves the higher class, and they have submitted many pieces of work worthy of the higher class. However, they may be demoted a class if they fail to pass all parts of the course even if they have a high average.

There are also variations between universities (especially in Scotland, where honours are usually reserved only for courses lasting four years or more) and requirements other than the correct average are often needed to be awarded honours. (In Scotland it is possible to start University a year younger than is normal in the rest of the United Kingdom as the Scottish Highers exams are taken at age seventeen, not eighteen, thus four year courses end at the same chronological age as a rest of UK three year course, assuming no 'gap years'.)

When a candidate is awarded a degree with honours, '(Hons)' may be suffixed to their type of degree, such as BA(Hons) or BSc(Hons).

At Oxford and Cambridge, honours classes apply to examinations, not to degrees. Thus, in Cambridge, where undergraduates are examined at the end of each Part of the Tripos, a student may receive different classifications for different Parts. The degree itself does not formally have a class. Most Cambridge graduates use the class of the final Part as the class of the degree, but this is an informal usage. At Oxford, the Final Honour School results are generally applied to the degree.

In some universities, candidates who successfully complete one or more years of degree-level study, but choose not to or fail to complete a full degree, may be awarded a lower qualification — a Certificate of Higher Education or Higher National Certificate for one year, or a Diploma of Higher Education or Higher National Diploma for two years.

First-Class Honours

In most universities, First-Class Honours is the highest honours which can be achieved, with about 10% of candidates achieving a First nationally.

A minority of universities award First-Class Honours with Distinction, informally known as a "Starred First" (Cambridge) or a "Congratulatory First" (Oxford). These are seldom awarded. In Oxford, the Congratulatory First involves a ceremony where examiners give a standing ovation.

A "Double First" can refer to First-Class Honours in two separate subjects, e.g., Classics and Mathematics, or alternatively to First-Class Honours in the same subject in subsequent examinations, such as subsequent Parts of the Tripos at the University of Cambridge.

A Cambridge "Double First" originally referred to a first in two different Triposes. The phrase "Double First" originally referred to people who got firsts in both the classical and mathematical Triposes ("double men"). The two-Tripos criterion for a "double first", even in vaguely related subjects as English and History, constitutes a far higher hurdle than simply repeating the same performance in competition with the same students in a Part II of the same Tripos; it is harder because the subject matter is different, and the candidate has to reach a mark of excellence in competition with people who would have been studying the subject for longer at university level.
At Cambridge it is possible to obtain a Double Starred First (noted recipients being Quentin Skinner, Alain de Botton, Enoch Powell, Lee Kuan Yew and Orlando Figes), or, in extremely rare cases such as Maurice Zinkin and Abba Eban, a Triple-Starred First.

The Graduateship (post-nominal GCGI) awarded by the City & Guilds of London Institute is mapped to a British Honours degree.

The Associateship (post-nominal ACGI) is conferred by the Council of the City & Guilds of London Institute on the recommendation of the Dean of the City and Guilds College in recognition of the ability to demonstrate, to the level equivalent to that of a degree of Bachelor of Science (Engineering), or Bachelor of Engineering, or Master of Engineering, the understanding and application of the principles of a branch of Engineering or of Computing Science approved by the Institute.

Second-Class Honours

The bulk of university graduates fall into Second-Class Honours, which is usually divided into Upper Second-Class Honours and Lower Second-Class Honours. These divisions are commonly abbreviated to 2:1 (pronounced two-one) and 2:2 (pronounced two-two) respectively.

Third-Class Honours

Third-Class Honours is the lowest honours classification in most modern universities. (Until the 1970s, Oxford used to award Fourth-class Honours degrees, although they did not divide Second-Class Honours and so still had four classes like everyone else.) Roughly 20% of students achieving an honours degree receive a Third.

Third Class degree graduates can have very successful careers. Carol Vorderman, who received a Third Class degree, is well known for her skill at mental arithmetic and now co-hosts Countdown with Des O'Connor. Hugh Laurie also achieved a Third Class degree, and has become a very famous actor. Christopher Hitchens and David Dimbleby received Third Class degrees in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics.

Ordinary Degree

An Ordinary degree is a pass degree without honours. A number of universities offer Ordinary degree courses to students, but most students enrol in Honours degree courses. Ordinary degrees are sometimes awarded to students who do not complete an Honours degree course.

Aegrotat degrees

A candidate who is unable to take his or her exams because of illness can sometimes be awarded an aegrotat degree; this is an honours degree without classification, awarded on the understanding that had the candidate not been unwell, he or she would have passed.

Political science topics

Political science is the field concerning the theory and practice of politics and the description and analysis of political systems and political behavior. Basic topics in political science include:

• Political theory and philosophy
• Political systems
• Policy analysis/Policy studies
• Public policy
• Public administration
• Ideology
• Game theory
• Psephology (voting systems and electoral behaviour)
• Political economy
• Geopolitics and political geography
• Policy studies and public policy analysis
• Comparative politics
• National systems
• Cross-national political analysis
• Supranational and intergovernmental politics
• Globalization studies
• Political development
• International relations theory
• Foreign policy analysis
• Peace studies, conflict analysis, international law and politics, public administration and local government studies
• Political psychology, bureaucratic, administrative and judicial behaviour
• Legislative processes and public law
• Power in international relations and the theory of great powers and superpowers.

This may be useful if you are interested in political science, but have no idea which specific topic to choose.

University ratings

The first thing that students should be aware of concerning higher education in the UK is that unlike most other education systems, the UK system is subjected to strict quality control exercises carried out by government appointed independent bodies. This ensures that there are no poor quality institutions and so no matter where you study you will receive a first class education. The quality control exercises cover both the teaching standards and the quality of the research being done at postgraduate level. The quality control exercises are carried out at a departmental level rather than at an institutional level. Therefore there is no "official" government ranking for universities in the UK.

The Quality Assessment Exercise (QAE) takes place every four years and every department at every university in the country is subjected to it. At postgraduate level the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) checks the level of research being done in every department. Departments are rated from 1 to 5* with 5* being the highest rating. This is the most reliable way to choose an institution to undertake research. In the Teaching Quality Assessment (TQA?) departments are rated out of a maximum score of 24, 24/24 being the best possible score. The ratings indicate the quality of teaching, the standard of facilities and the quality of the courses being taught by the department. This is the most reliable way for a student to choose a taught course.

Students should be aware that there is no official government league table of universities in the UK. The only official government ratings are the "Research Ratings" and the "Teaching Assessment Ratings".
The Research Ratings take place every four years and, as their name suggests, they look at research undertaken in individual departments. Departments are ranked on a scale of 1 to 5*, with 5* being the highest ranking. The Research Rankings are more useful to students wanting to undertake research in the UK. Undergraduate students should pay more attention to the Teaching Assessment Ratings.

In addition to the above government ratings, there are also the unofficial newspaper rankings published every year by the Times Newspaper, The Telegraph and The Guardian. These league tables are often source of controversy with academics arguing about the way that they are compiled. Students should use the newspaper rankings as a general guide only.

NB. Students should not use ratings as the only factor when choosing a course. As stated above, due to strict quality control there are no poor institutions. Students would therefore be wise to make decisions, which also take into account the course content, and location in order to choose the most appropriate course and to ensure a suitable living environment. They should also take into account the government rankings above as well as how suitable a particular course is to their own needs and the location of the university. Students should aim to get into the university that is most suitable for them and not simply aim for the highest possible university based on the newspaper rankings.

Top 20 political science universities in United Kingdom (source: Times, 2005)

Rating. Name, Teaching, Research (4/5, A/B), Tariff, Destinations, Overall score.

1. Oxford, 24, 5*, B, 500, 80, 100.0
2. Warwick, 24, 5, B, 432, 75, 95.2
3. King's, College, London, 24, 5*, A, 395, 55, 95.1
4. Bath, 24, 5, A, 335, 80, 95.0
5. Sheffield, 24, 5*, A, 418, 50, 94.9
6. York, 24, 5, A, 427, 60, 94.3
7. St, Andrews, 5, A, 455, 60, 93.8
8. Essex, 24, 5*, A, 309, 55, 92.9
9. Birmingham, 24, 5, B, 367, 70, 92.7
10. Aberystwyth, E, 5*, A, 313, 55, 92.3
11. Nottingham, 24, 4, A, 404, 65, 92.0
12. Cambridge, 23, 4, A, 456, 85, 90.7
13. Bradford, 24, 5, B, 260, 70, 89.9
14. Bristol, 23, 5, A, 407, 70, 89.5
15. Manchester, 24, 5, B, 376, 45, 89.0
16. Salford, 24, 5, A, 253, 55, 88.9
17 Keele, 24, 5, A, 282, 40, 87.3
=18. Newcastle, 23, 5, B, 345, 75, 87.1
=18. London, School, of, Economics, 22, 5, A, 473, 80, 87.1
20. Strathclyde, E, 5, B, 326, 40, 86.1

Universities are ranked by the overall combined score from four indicators: assessments of teaching quality and research, average A-level scores of entrants and destinations. The destinations figure is the percentage of graduates who go on to graduate-type jobs or further study. Scores are weighted to ensure fairness when data is missing from one of the columns.

Source: http://www.thegooduniversityguide.co.uk/subject_tables_2006.php?selected_table=poli

List of universities providing political science degrees

Here goes the list of universities and their departments:

Aberdeen: Department of Politics and International Relations (http://www.abdn.ac.uk/pir)
Aberystwyth: Department of International Politics (http://www.aber.ac.uk/interpol)
Aston: School of Languages and European Studies (http://www.les.aston.ac.uk/)
Bath: European Studies and Modern Languages (http://www.bath.ac.uk/esml/politics/)
Birmingham: Department of Political Science and International Studies (http://www.bham.ac.uk/POLSIS/)
Brimingham: European Research Institute (http://www.eri.bham.ac.uk/)
Birmingham: Institute of Local Government Studies (http://www.bham.ac.uk/inlogov)
Bradford: Department of Peace Studies (http://www.brad.ac.uk/acad/peace/)
Bradford: Centre for European Studies (http://www.brad.ac.uk/acad/ssis/research/CES/)
Bristol: Department of Politics (http://www.bris.ac.uk/Depts/Politics)
Brunel: Division of Politics, International Relations and History (http://www.brunel.ac.uk/about/acad/bbs/)
Cambridge: Department of Politics (http://www.sps.cam.ac.uk/pol/index.html)
Cambridge: Centre for International Studies (http://www.intstudies.cam.ac.uk/)
Cardiff: Politics Section, School of European Studies (http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/euros)
Central England: School of Public Policy (http://www.lhss.uce.ac.uk/assets/social_sciences.html)
Central Lancashire: Department of Education and Social Science (http://www.uclan.ac.uk/facs/class/edustud/index.htm)
Cork: Department of Government (http://www.ucc.ie/acad/govt)
Coventry: Faculty of Business, Environment and Society (http://www.coventry.ac.uk/cms/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=128)
De Montfort: School of Historical and International Studies (http://www.dmu.ac.uk/faculties/humanities/his/histext.jsp)
De Montfort: Department of Public Policy (http://www.dmu.ac.uk/faculties/business_and_law/business/public_policy.jsp)
Dundee: Department of Politics (http://www.dundee.ac.uk/politics/)
Durham: School of Government and International Affairs, Department of Politics (http://www.dur.ac.uk/sgia/)
East Anglia: School of Political, Social and International Studies (http://www.uea.ac.uk/psi/)
Edinburgh: Department of Politics (http://www.pol.ed.ac.uk/)
Essex: Department of Government (http://www.essex.ac.uk/government/)
Exeter: Department of Politics (http://www.ex.ac.uk/shipss/politics/index.php)
Glamorgan: School of Humanities, Law and Social Science (http://www.glam.ac.uk/hass/)
Glasgow: Department of Politics (http://www.gla.ac.uk/departments/politics/)
Glasgow Caledonian: Politics Subject Area, Division of Social Sciences (http://www.gcal.ac.uk/)
Glasgow Caledonian: Globalization and Public Policy Subject Group (http://www.gcal.ac.uk/)
Greenwich: School of Humanities, Division of Politics (http://www.gre.ac.uk/schools/humanities/politics.htm)
Huddersfield: Division of Politics (http://www.hud.ac.uk/hhs/dbs/politics/index.htm)
Hull: Department of Politics and International Studies (http://www.hull.ac.uk/pas)
Keele: SPIRE: Politics, International Relations and Philosophy (http://www.keele.ac.uk/depts/spire/)
Kent: Department of Politics and International Relations (http://www.kent.ac.uk/politics/)
Kingston: School of Social Sciences (http://fass.kingston.ac.uk/faculty/schools/social_sciences/index.php)
Lancaster: Department of Politics and International Relations (http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fss/politics/)
Leeds: School of Politics and International Studies (http://www.leeds.ac.uk/polis)
Leeds Metropolitan: School of Social Sciences (http://www.lmu.ac.uk/as/ass/)
Leeds Metropolitan: School of Cultural Studies (http://www.leedsmet.ac.uk/as/cs/)
Leicester: Department of Politics and International Relations (http://www.le.ac.uk/politics/)
Limerick: Department of Politics and Public Admistration (http://www.politics.ul.ie/)
Lincolnshire: Department of Policy Studies (http://www.lincoln.ac.uk/policystudies)
Liverpool: Department of Politics and Communication Studies (http://www.liv.ac.uk/polcomm/)
Liverpool John Moores: School of Social Science (http://www.ljmu.ac.uk/learning/dc/media/default.asp)
London Metropolitan: Department of Law, Governance and International Relations, City Campus (http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/depts/lgir/gir/city-campus/welcome-note-city.cfm)
London Metropolitan: Department of Law, Governance and International Relations, North Campus (http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/depts/lgir/gir/north-campus/welcome-note-city.cfm)
London South Bank: Department of Social and Policy Studies (http://www.lsbu.ac.uk/ahssps/)
London: Birkbeck College: School of Politics and Sociology (http://www.bbk.ac.uk/polsoc/index.php)
London: Goldsmiths College: Department of Politics (http://www.goldsmiths.ac.uk/departments/politics/)
London: Institute for the Study of the Americas (http://americas.sas.ac.uk/)
London: Institute of Commonwealth Studies: Politics Staff (http://www.sas.ac.uk/commonwealthstudies)
London: King's Collefe: International Policy Institute and Centre for Defence Studies (http://www.kcl.ac.uk/)
London: Kings College: Department of War Studies (http://www.kcl.ac.uk/depsta/wsg/)
London: King's College: Defence Studies Department JSCSC (http://www.kcl.ac.uk/depsta/wsg/dsd/)
London: Queen Mary : Department of Politics (http://www.politics.qmul.ac.uk/)
London: Royal Holloway: Department of Politics and International Relations (http://www.rhul.ac.uk/politics-and-IR/)
London: School of Economics and Political Science: Department of Government (http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/government/)
London: School of Economics and Political Science: Department of International Relations (http://www.lse.ac.uk/Depts/intrel/)
London: School of Oriental and African Studies: Department of Political Studies, Faculty of Law and Social Sciences (http://www.soas.ac.uk/departments/departmentinfo.cfm?navid=17)
London: School of Slavonic and East European Studies: Department of Social Sciences (http://www.ssees.ac.uk/social.htm)
London: University College: Political Science/School of Public Policy (http://www.ucl.ac.uk/spp/)
London: University College: Constitution Unit (http://www.ucl.ac.uk/constitution-unit/)
Loughborough: Department of Politics, International Relations and European Studies (http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/eu/)
Manchester: Government and International Politics (http://www.les1.man.ac.uk/government)
Manchester Metropolitan: Department of Politics (http://www.hlss.mmu.ac.uk/pap/)
Middlesex: Political and International Studies, School of Health and Social Sciences (http://www.mdx.ac.uk/hssc/index.htm)
Newcastle: School of Geography, Politics and Sociology (http://www.ncl.ac.uk/geps/about/politics.htm)
Northampton: Department of Sociology and Politics (http://www.northampton.ac.uk/)
Northumbria: Division of Politics (http://northumbria.ac.uk/sd/academic/sass/pol/)
Nottingham: School of Politics (http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/politics/)
Nottingham Trent: Division of Politics and Sociology (http://www.ntu.ac.uk/)
Nottingham Trent: School of Arts, Communication and Culture (http://www.ntu.ac.uk/)
Open: Department of Politics and International Studies (POLIS) (http://www.open.ac.uk/socialsciences/gov_politics/index.html)
Oxford: Department of Politics and International Relations (http://www.politics.ox.ac.uk/)
Oxford Brookes: Department of Politics and International Relations (http://ssl.brookes.ac.uk/Departments/Politics.html)
Paisley: Politics Division, School of Social Sciences (http://www.paisley.ac.uk/socialsciences/subject-groups.asp)
Plymouth: School of Sociology: Politics and International Relations Subject Group (http://www.plymouth.ac.uk/pages/view.asp?page=7308)
Portsmouth: Politics Division, School of Social and Historical Studies (http://www.port.ac.uk/departments/academic/sshls/)
Queen's University Belfast: School of Politics, International Studies and Philosophy (http://www.qub.ac.uk/pisp)
Reading: Department of Politics and International Relations (http://www.rdg.ac.uk/AcaDepts/lp/PolIR/PolisLink1a.html)
Robert Gordon: Department of Economics and Public Policy, Aberdeen Business School (http://www.rgu.ac.uk/abs/)
Salford: Politics and Contemporary History Subject Group (http://www.espach.salford.ac.uk/politics/welcome.php)
Sheffield: Department of Politics (http://www.shef.ac.uk/politics/)
Sheffield: Political Economy Research Centre (http://www.shef.ac.uk/uni/academic/N-Q/perc/)
Sheffield Hallam: Faculty of Organisation and Management (http://www.shu.ac.uk/schools/sbf/)
Southampton: Division of Politics and International Relations (http://www.politics.soton.ac.uk/?NavContext=Discipline)
Southampton (Solent): Faculty of Media, Arts and Society (http://www.southampton-institute.ac.uk/fmas/)
St Andrews: School of International Relations (http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/intrel/)
Staffordshire: Politics (http://www.staffs.ac.uk/schools/humanities_and_soc_sciences/irp/welcome.html)
Stirling: Department of Politics (http://www.politics.stir.ac.uk/)
Strathclyde: Department of Government (http://www.strath.ac.uk/government/)
Sunderland: School of Arts, Design, Media and Culture (http://my.sunderland.ac.uk/web/schools/adm/ahome)
Surrey: Department of Political, International and Policy Studies (http://www.surrey.ac.uk/politics)
Sussex: Department of International Relations (http://www.sussex.ac.uk/irp/)
Sussex: Sussex European Institute (http://www.sussex.ac.uk/sei/index.php)
Swansea: Department of Politics and International Relations (http://www.swan.ac.uk/poli/politics_html.htm)
Teesside: School of Social Sciences (http://www.tees.ac.uk/schools/SSSL/index.cfm)
Trinity College, Dublin: Department of Political Science (http://www.tcd.ie/political_science)
Ulster: School of History and International Affairs (http://www.ulst.ac.uk/faculty/humanities/politics.html)
Ulster: School of Policy Studies, Public Policy Group (http://www.socsci.ulster.ac.uk/policy)
Ulster: School of Economics and Politics (http://www.socsci.ulster.ac.uk/econpolitics/)
University College, Dublin: School of Poltiics and International Relations (http://www.ucd.ie/politics)
University of Wales Institute: School of Lifelong Learning, Centre for Humanities (http://www.uwic.ac.uk/sll/sll_courses/about_humanities.asp)
Warwick: Department of Politics and International Studies (http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/pais/)
West of England: School of Politics (http://www.uwe.ac.uk/)
Westminster: Department of Social and Political Studies (http://www.wmin.ac.uk/sshl/page-671)
Westminster: Centre for the Study of Democracy (http://www.wmin.ac.uk/sshl/page-1)
Wolverhampton: Politics and International Studies Subject Area (http://www.wlv.ac.uk/)
York: Department of Politics (http://www.york.ac.uk/depts/poli/)

Most of them provide all kinds of degrees - BA, MA, PhD, research degrees etc. However, different rules and procedures may apply.