politics / politics and economics uni courses with varied assessments?

hi!!

i’m looking to start uni in september 2025 and i want to study politics and economics joint honours, so i’ve started going to university open days.
this has caused me to realise that one of the things important to me in my courses would be the assessment methods, as i really don’t want a course that is just essays and written tests, although i know this is going to make up most assessments anywhere i go.
so, i was wondering if anyone knew of any universities with lots of varied assessment methods? like maybe presentations, group projects or policy reports? again im looking to study politics and economics joint honours but i’d be open to just studying politics if they had the assessment methods i was looking for and nowhere else did.

thank you for your help in advance!!

Reply 1

Swansea Students

Official Rep

Original post by fusedepy

hi!!
i’m looking to start uni in september 2025 and i want to study politics and economics joint honours, so i’ve started going to university open days.
this has caused me to realise that one of the things important to me in my courses would be the assessment methods, as i really don’t want a course that is just essays and written tests, although i know this is going to make up most assessments anywhere i go.
so, i was wondering if anyone knew of any universities with lots of varied assessment methods? like maybe presentations, group projects or policy reports? again im looking to study politics and economics joint honours but i’d be open to just studying politics if they had the assessment methods i was looking for and nowhere else did.
thank you for your help in advance!!

Hi there,

I'm Megan, I've just recently completed my degree in Politics and International Relations at Swansea University. It's great to hear that you have an interest in politics and economics and have started to explore your options through attending open days!

As I didn't study economics, I can't necessarily speak for that, but I can share what my experience has been like studying politics. I hope it will be helpful for you🙂

So you're right in thinking that for a subject like politics, written assignments make up the majority of assessments you'll do. However, from my experience at Swansea, these written assignments haven't always been just the classic essay that you might expect. I've had assignments ranging from literature reviews, to reading diaries, to comparative reviews, to reports, to concepts notes and even to presentations. The list could go on... for example I know that my friend had to write a policy report as part of one of her modules.

In my third year, I also had a module all centred around group work. It was called 'Researching Politics' and I had to work with 6 other students who were also studying my course. We had to work together throughout the semester to produce a group report and also do a group presentation towards the end of the semester. This turned out to be really enjoyable and different to what I had already experienced in the previous two years!

This varied means of assessment meant that I was never been stuck with just writing essay after essay. Instead, I was able to obtain and practise a variety of skills both independently and within a team which proved to be extremely valuable!

At Swansea, there is such a wide range of modules to choose from. Of course some will be compulsory, but depending on your course and whether it is a single or joint honours, you will always have some optional modules to choose from. Before deciding on what optional modules you'd like to pick, you are able to view a document which details the mode of assessment. In your case, this would be a great way to ensure that you would be choosing a module which has a varied mode of assessment compared to the other modules that you might be doing.

If you're interested in just having a look at what type of assessments each subject offers, you can head over to the Swansea University website (Undergraduate Courses - Swansea University), find some courses that you might be interested in, scroll down near to the bottom where you'll find 'modules', click on what year of study you'd like to see more about and then click on the module name. It should then take you to a document and on this you can find 'assessment method' down the left panel which details what assessments that specific module uses. I'm sure other universities might offer this on their websites too.

It sounds like you are doing all of the right things at the moment! My advice would be to continue visiting as many University open days as you can and to also spend some time looking at the different modules universities offer to see if the assessment style is what you're looking for.

Good luck with everything! If you have any further questions please feel free to reply to this comment and I'd be happy to chat further 🙂

Best wishes,
Megan (Final Year Politics and International Relations Student at Swansea University).

Reply 2

Uni of Southampton Students

Official Rep

Hi @fusedepy

I am a second year Philosophy, Politics and Economics Student at the University of Southampton.

Studying Politics and Economics will mean you have a variety of assessment methods as economics tends to be more quantitative while Politics more qualitative.

In my course, throughout the Politics and Economics modules I have encountered a variety of assessment methods including essays, group presentation, group problem sets, individual problem sets, exams, online tests, commentaries etc. As for essays, they are varied in format. Also, I have found in the University of Southampton, there is lots of optional modules giving you the option to tailor your degree according to your interests. You can read about the assessment methods for the module before selecting it.

My recommendation would be to look at the course content of the courses you are interested in to identify which degrees have modules with assessment methods that interest you.

You can find out about the different modules offered on the Bsc Politics and Economics course at the University of Southampton here. The assessment methods can be found under the assessment tab of each module.

Best Wishes,
Gulcin
University of Southampton