Social sciences and law
Political Science and International Relations
How power, states and institutions actually behave, studied with evidence rather than opinion. Rigorous where it is quantitative, and a general degree where it is not.
- How long
- Three to four years, often with a language, an exchange or an internship year.
- Called
- BA Political Science · BSc International Relations · PPE · بكالوريوس العلوم السياسية
What you actually study
As opposed to what the name suggests.
- Political theory — the arguments about legitimacy, rights and the state that everything else refers back to.
- Comparative politics: why institutions produce different outcomes in different countries.
- International relations theory, security studies and the behaviour of states.
- Quantitative methods and research design, which is what separates a rigorous programme from a discursive one.
- Regional specialisation and, in the better programmes, a language to go with it.
The hardest part
Rigour is optional in this subject, and that is the trap. The same degree title covers programmes with serious statistical methods and programmes that are four years of essays about current affairs. Employers know the difference. The other difficulty is that the obvious destinations — diplomacy, international organisations, think tanks — are small, competitive and often require a master's, so the degree needs to be paired with something that makes you employable in the meantime.
What you need to get in
By school system. Requirements are set by individual universities and change — confirm on the course page for the year you apply.
Saudi curriculum track
requiredالمسار العام or مسار إدارة الأعمال
Either humanities-side track. The programmes here are concentrated at King Saud University, KFUPM's humanities offerings and the private universities, and the Institute of Diplomatic Studies is the specialised route towards foreign service.
A-Level
helpsHistory · Government and Politics · Economics · Mathematics · A language
No subject is required. Mathematics is the one that changes what you can do afterwards, because quantitative methods are what distinguish this degree in the job market.
IB Diploma
helpsHistory HL · Global Politics HL · Economics HL · A second language
HL History or Global Politics are the natural subjects; a second language is a genuine differentiator in this field specifically.
Advanced Placement
helpsAP Comparative Government and Politics · AP US Government and Politics · AP World History · AP Macroeconomics · AP Statistics
AP Statistics is the underrated one — quantitative political science is where the field has moved.
IGCSE
English and history are the core; a second or third language is worth more here than in almost any other subject.
Tests and other gates
- TSAOctober
Oxford PPE and related courses.
- SAT or ACTGrade 11 to early Grade 12
For US applications.
- Qudurat and TahsiliGrade 11 and 12
The Saudi admission composite; the verbal half of Qudurat weighs more for humanities colleges.
What closes this door
- Very little closes at admission, which means the discipline has to come from choosing a rigorous programme.
- Without quantitative methods, the analytical and research routes out of this degree are much harder to enter.
Where it leads
Careers written up on this site, and the reason each one follows from this degree.
- Policy Analyst
The most direct destination — government, think tanks and international organisations.
- Journalist
Political and foreign affairs reporting, where the subject knowledge is the qualification.
- Management Consultant
Public sector and government advisory, a very large practice area in the Kingdom.
- Regulatory Inspector
Regulatory and public administration bodies.
- Economist
Reachable with quantitative methods and a master's, and political economy sits between the two.
- Compliance Officer
Sanctions, geopolitical risk and regulatory compliance, which has become a substantial field.
- Litigator
Via a law conversion, which is a common and well-trodden route from this degree.
And, without a page here yet
- Diplomacy and foreign service
- International organisations and development agencies
- Political risk analysis for business
- Campaigns, public affairs and government relations
- Academia, via a doctorate
- Intelligence and security analysis
What it is not
- That it leads to being a politician. It leads to the professions around politics — analysis, administration, diplomacy, journalism — which are larger, more stable and far less dependent on chance.
- That opinions are the subject. Evidence is; the strongest programmes are statistical and the weakest are argumentative.
- That diplomacy is a straightforward destination. Foreign services are small, competitive and usually have their own entry examinations.
In Saudi Arabia
Demand here follows the Kingdom's expanded international role: the foreign ministry and the Institute of Diplomatic Studies, the government advisory practices of the international consultancies, the sovereign investment institutions' geopolitical and policy functions, and the growing policy-research sector around Vision 2030. Arabic and English are both assumed rather than valued; a third language is what distinguishes a candidate. Quantitative capability distinguishes one further still, because there are many graduates here who can write and few who can also analyse data.
Consider instead
Same interest, different trade-off — the most useful section on this page and the easiest to skip.
- EconomicsThe quantitative discipline this field increasingly borrows from, with far stronger employment on its own.
- LawInstitutions and rules with a professional qualification attached.
- StatisticsThe methods half, and the way to be the person in the room who can check the claim.
- Business Administration and ManagementThe commercial context, for public-private and advisory routes.
The parts that go out of date
Entry requirements are the fastest-moving information on this site. These are the statements most likely to have changed.
- Foreign service and international organisation entry routes have their own examinations and change.
- Programme rigour under this title varies enormously; read the methods modules.
Where this came from
Admission patterns stated by politics and international relations departments in the UK, the Gulf and the US, most of which name no required subject. Destination patterns reasoned from consistently reported graduate outcomes in this field.
Last checked 2026-09-06. The requirements above describe the pattern across universities, not any one of them — the course page for the year you apply is the only thing that is ever authoritative.