The TSR Community Awards 2025 are now live >>

Changing course at Durham

Hi,

I am a prospective student interested in studying either Politics and Philosophy or Politics and IR at Durham. Whilst I know you can apply for both and do the alternative PS thing, I am currently reluctant to do so as I want to apply to 4 other unis to keep my options really open. Does anyone know how easy it is to switch course at Durham once you've started? (Should I want to swap in the end)

Thanks :smile:

Reply 1

Anonymous #1

Original post

by iislip623

Hi,
I am a prospective student interested in studying either Politics and Philosophy or Politics and IR at Durham. Whilst I know you can apply for both and do the alternative PS thing, I am currently reluctant to do so as I want to apply to 4 other unis to keep my options really open. Does anyone know how easy it is to switch course at Durham once you've started? (Should I want to swap in the end)
Thanks :smile:

Hi I do politics and IR right now at Durham! I think you have till about week 5 at a maximum to switch courses but that’s a lot of content to catch up on but it’s hard to make a decision early. If you go the offer holder days there should be sessions for each and you can hopefully get a better feel for each course then!

Reply 2

DurhamRep Lesath

Official Rep

Original post

by iislip623

Hi,
I am a prospective student interested in studying either Politics and Philosophy or Politics and IR at Durham. Whilst I know you can apply for both and do the alternative PS thing, I am currently reluctant to do so as I want to apply to 4 other unis to keep my options really open. Does anyone know how easy it is to switch course at Durham once you've started? (Should I want to swap in the end)
Thanks :smile:

Hello!

Generally, it is quite hard (though not impossible) to change courses once you've been accepted for one in Durham. Mostly, this is because changing courses depends on whether there is space in the other course to accommodate you, if you meet the entry requirements and a lot of other factors that are usually determined on an ad hoc basis.

I'd personally recommend instead looking at the courses in detail before you put one on your UCAS application. Going to an Open Day might be a good shout, as it may give you a better "feel" of which course fits you. I'd also look at the modules that the two courses offer, which you can get the list of for this year (2025-26) here.

Hope this helps!
– Lesath
(DU Rep.)

Reply 3

iislip623

Original post

by Anonymous

hi, would you be able to tell me a bit about what it's like to study it? I am still torn about whether to choose it or Politics and Philosophy, so would you be able to tell me a bit about the day-to-day?

Reply 4

Anonymous #1

Original post

by iislip623

Of course! I roughly have about 8-10 contact hours a week so a lot of it is independent reading but I honestly find it quite interesting and currently my lectures are quite bundled up which means long days but seminars are definitely spread! The modules are quite diverse too and you can see them if you look on the undergraduate handbooks! It’s not just writing essays all the time there’s other group projects and stuff. There’s also a political theory module which is quite philosophical in my opinion and there’s lots more options to delve deeper into theory in second year if you wanted! All Politics students do extremely similar modules in first year there’s a lot of overlap so if you did Politics and Philosophy you wouldn’t miss out on too much and there’s still a large amount of overlap with the modules which is all available online! It’s hard but I do enjoy it

Quick Reply

Latest

Trending

Articles for you

Making your student finance application

Student finance – how to apply

How The Student Room is moderated

To keep The Student Room safe for everyone, we moderate posts that are added to the site.

Try out the app

Continue on web

Changing course at Durham

Quick Reply

Related discussions

Articles for you

How The Student Room is moderated