MA Political Science - Democracy and Elections (Standard Route) / Overview

Year of entry: 2025

Degree awarded
Master of Arts (MA)
Duration
1 year
Entry requirements

We require a UK bachelor's degree with a First or Upper Second classification or the overseas equivalent, in any discipline.

When assessing your academic record we consider your degree subject, grades you have achieved and the standing of the institution where you studied your qualification.

Full entry requirements

How to apply
Apply online

Course options

Full-time Part-time Full-time distance learning Part-time distance learning
MA Y Y N N

Course overview

  • Learn from the greatest concentration of elections scholars in the UK, at one of the country’s top 5 universities for politics (Times Higher Education, 2024).
  • Benefit from teaching informed by our British Election Study, the UK’s longest running social science survey.
  • Understand the development of democratic ideals and the challenge of putting them into practice.

Open days

The University holds regular open days, where you will have the opportunity to find out more about our facilities and courses.

During the open day, you will learn more about the School of Social Sciences, our resources, and meet academic and admissions staff who will be able to answer any questions you have.

For more information, see open days and visits .

Fees

For entry in the academic year beginning September 2025, the tuition fees are as follows:

  • MA (full-time)
    UK students (per annum): £15,500
    International, including EU, students (per annum): £28,000
  • MA (part-time)
    UK students (per annum): £7,750
    International, including EU, students (per annum): £14,000

Further information for EU students can be found on our dedicated EU page.

The fees quoted above will be fully inclusive for the course tuition, administration and computational costs during your studies.

All fees for entry will be subject to yearly review and incremental rises per annum are also likely over the duration of courses lasting more than a year for UK/EU students (fees are typically fixed for International students, for the course duration at the year of entry). For general fees information please visit: postgraduate fees . Always contact the department if you are unsure which fee applies to your qualification award and method of attendance.

Self-funded international applicants for this course will be required to pay a deposit of £1000 towards their tuition fees before a confirmation of acceptance for studies (CAS) is issued. This deposit will only be refunded if immigration permission is refused. We will notify you about how and when to make this payment.

Policy on additional costs

All students should normally be able to complete their programme of study without incurring additional study costs over and above the tuition fee for that programme. Any unavoidable additional compulsory costs totalling more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee per annum, regardless of whether the programme in question is undergraduate or postgraduate taught, will be made clear to you at the point of application. Further information can be found in the University's Policy on additional costs incurred by students on undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes (PDF document, 91KB).

Scholarships/sponsorships

We offer a number of postgraduate taught scholarships and awards to outstanding applicants, such as the Manchester Humanities International Excellence Scholarship .

The Manchester Alumni Scholarship Scheme offers a £3,000 fee reduction to Manchester alumni who achieved a first-class bachelor's degree within the last three years and are progressing to postgraduate study. 

For more information, see our  Fees and funding page.

Contact details

School/Faculty
School of Social Sciences
Contact name
School of Social Sciences Admissions Office
Telephone
+44 (0) 161 804 9198
Email
Website
http://www.manchester.ac.uk/politics
School/Faculty

Courses in related subject areas

Use the links below to view lists of courses in related subject areas.

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You can find regulations and policies relating to student life at The University of Manchester, including our Degree Regulations and Complaints Procedure, on our regulations website.