Politics at university without Gov. & Politics?

To be honest, I didn't enjoy politics at A-level at all. Infact, at uni I was originally taking a different course, took some politics courses as well and only then realized what a great subject it actually is!

The A-level can be useful in that it gives you a foundation in 'the boring stuff' (e.g. electoral systems/voting behaviour/ideologies). However, pretty much every politics course in the UK will cover the basics for everyone in the first term, it just won't be in the same intensity or detail that you get at A-level.

Government and Politics is a pretty rare A-level so universities understand that you may not have had the opportunity to take it. I'm sure this goes without saying judging from your post and the effort you went to to try to get the A-level back at your school, but just make sure you continue to read papers/keep up with current affairs/enjoy your other subjects at A-level and consider how they relate to politics themselves, write a passionate personal statement and you'll do fine.

I've absolutely adored Politics A level, and I'm surprised your school is dropping it as it seems to have become more and more common, but anyway. It gives you a foundation, yes, but it's not necessary for degree level, and apparently the first year covers what you would mainly learn anyway. I'm doing it as joint honours at uni, and the only real advantage that the A level has given me in applying is that it's shown I've had a continued interest for at least 2 years. If you find out some basic stuff about Politics and take History, which ties in well, it'll be enough to get you onto a good course.

No you don't require politics but I would definitely take history as it obviously contains a lot of politics.

Thank you so much for your opinion! and yes yes i will be keeping up to date regardless of whether i do take it next year or not im just worried that at uni I wont enjoy it, eventhough i am so interigued by it right now... if you dont mind may i ask which uni your at and what the course is like there?

thanks again

No problem, i'm currently taking Politics at Edinburgh. As it's a Scottish uni, the course structure is quite different to other English unis (e.g. courses are all 4 years/in the first 2 years you get to take modules of subjects outside your course, hence why I took politics modules, enjoyed them and then swapped ) but i'll explain what we have here and then you can compare.

Courses generally I find really interesting. There are some compulsary modules which some people prefer to others however I think particularly if you haven't taken politics before, it's nice to try everything and get a feeling of where you want to specialise. I really like the setup at Edinburgh because i'm very much more interested in the political philosophy and theory (philosophy & theology being the subject I was originally enrolled for) but they also have a strong international relations department which often combine, 'cos it can get a bit dull just doing British politics.

I'm trying to think of a way that can help you decide whether you'll enjoy politics! I guess everyone is a bit skeptical when they come to uni if they'll get on with their course or not. I think it's how you get on with the work - it's mostly an essay writing subject, a lot of reading and tutorials are mostly made up of debates about political issues. So if you yell at the TV during Question Time, you'll probably be fine.

Also take into account that there are loads of other ways to get involved in politics outside uni (e.g. the parties themselves, also societies within uni etc.) and a lot of people don't actually take politics degrees who go into political careers. There are also a variety of subjects you can take with politics - economics is very popular (though you can do politics while only skirting the edges...), history is also another one.

Hope that helps, if you have any other specific questions give me a shout - i'm happy to help.