POLIS POLIS stands for Politics and International Studies The background image is the frontispiece (front page) to an important political philosophy book – Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes. Cambridge has some of the best teachers in world in the field of Politics and International Studies and students often learn by studying vital texts like this one and discussing them with their teachers – more about that soon!

POLIS presentation overview What is it like studying POLIS? Why choose Cambridge? Careers and postgraduate study The admissions process Questions

What is it like studying POLIS at Cambridge? Below is a photography of the Alison Richards Building which is where the POLIS Faculty is based. It is part of the wider Faculty of Human, Social, and Political Science (HSPS). To the right is Gonville and Caius college library – every college has its own and they’re a great place to get your work done. Lectures are arranged by the university and held at the faculty while supervisions (teaching in small groups) are organised by your college. Your college is like you base within the wider University. In your first year you can spend up to 50% of your time in POLIS (the rest in the wider HSPS department) and then in your second and third years you can focus on POLIS exclusively or choose options outside of POLIS to study alongside it.

How do you study? Students studying POLIS learn though lectures, supervisions, writing essays and private reading. There are reading lists distributed by the faculty to guide this independent study. Normally, in POLIS, you will have somewhere between 8 and 12 hours of lectures a week and the rest of your academic time will be spent reading and preparing essays for supervisions, which you usually have around once a week. At the end of the year, you have exams for each of your papers – you normally take 3 or 4 papers – but your first year grades don’t count towards your overall mark.

What kinds of things do you study? POLIS is one of the most diverse courses around and you can choose to focus on what interests you most. There will be papers on political philosophy, modern politics in different areas of the world, ethics, international relations and much more. There’s also the option of taking some papers outside POLIS in related fields like psychology and sociology.

Societies and clubs Cambridge has a huge number of societies and clubs. There’s a mixture of just for fun, competitive and academic societies. There are a lot of societies particularly relevant to POLIS. Lots of colleges have their own politics societies and there’s also the university-wide Union Society which is a debate, speaking and social club bringing in experts and famous faces from a huge number of fields.

Why study at Cambridge? The teaching – we get to learn from incredible academics who often they literally wrote the book on what you study. The flexibility of the course is unique at Cambridge. The department often organises extra talks from visiting academics and leading professionals in areas relevant to POLIS. All this is alongside the social side of Cambridge and the city itself.

The social side of Uni Cambridge might not have as big a nightlife as London or other big cities but it has more than you might think! There are plenty of pubs, clubs, gigs, college bops (themed parties organised by the college students’ union) and more. There’s also lots of cool things to do during the day, including, of course, the famous Cambridge pass-time of punting. Then there’s the epic May week – a week of parties and balls held every year in June (somewhat confusingly!).

Careers and postgraduate study POLIS students often go on to postgraduate study or successful careers in a variety of fields including, for example: Politics and governance, both locally, nationally and internationally Law Management Marketing and advertising Finance Research Journalism The POLIS department, your college and the University’s careers service are great at helping you discuss your options and support you in going on to the next stage of your career or education.

Admissions For courses in HSPS (including POLIS), you need to complete: Your online UCAS application (providing your grades and personal statement) The Cambridge Supplementary Questionnaire (which asks for a breakdown of your grades and if there’s anything not on your UCAS that you want to let them know about) Interview (held by the college you apply to) Some colleges require a school/college essay as a sample of your work and some ask you to do a form of thinking skills test (like a psychometric test) while you’re there for interview. Grades – A*AA – No particular subjects necessary.

Questions

How to find out more Ask questions today The Cambridge undergraduate prospectus – available online for free or at your school – the student alternative prospectus for all the admissions information the POLIS faculty Speak to the Admissions Office: Tel: the CUSU Access Officer: