Careers, knowledge and skills development in Politics

On our Politics courses you can learn from experts and develop skills that will prepare you for your future career. You can benefit from our Writer In Residence scheme, inspiring placement opportunities, internationally renowned research centres and more.

Develop your professional skills

We embed skills development into your studies and help you to develop specialised professional skills so you can design your career future. On our Politics courses you’ll have the opportunity to:

• develop career-enhancing skills in quantitative analysis through dedicated undergraduate module
• hear from our politics alumni who have built careers in government, journalism, private enterprise and more
• learn to create digital and video content through funded Digital and Video Accelerator programmes alongside your studies
• build your careers confidence and connections with a bespoke work experience preparation programme.

Learn from experts

Our dedicated academics incorporate leading research into our undergraduate and Masters degrees.

We house the internationally recognised Sussex European Institute and will develop your understanding of current events and long-term trends of politics across the globe.

We’re also home to the internationally renowned Centre for the Study of Corruption, bringing you cutting edge insights across topics ranging from populism and state capture to environmental politics.

Our teaching team includes leading journalists, speech-writers and practitioners who will teach their craft in masterclasses and guest lectures to prepare you for your future. In recent years we’ve welcomed:

• Aubrey Allegretti (The Times’ Chief Political Correspondent, Sussex Alum and our Political Writer in Residence)
• Nick Garland (speech writer for Rachel Reeves, Chancellor of the Exchequer)
• Helen Burdfield (Communications and Marketing Officer for Beyond the Streets and Sussex Alum)
• Matt Boughton (leader of Tonbridge and Malling Council and Sussex Alum)
• Kit Bradshaw (Political Correspondent for ITV News and Sussex Alum)
• Billie Krish (Strategy Advisor for Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and Sussex Alum).

Writer in Residence scheme

The Writer in Residence scheme has been running since 2016 and has included writers such as Yvonne Roberts from the Guardian and Stephen Bush from the Financial Times.

Our current Political Writer in Residence is Aubrey Allegretti, The Times’ Chief Political Correspondent and Sussex alumnus.

Aubrey delivers a number of writing workshops as well as a guest lecture for Politics students. He also judges a political blog writing competition, contributes to our student-run Sussex Politics blog and organises work shadowing days in London.

Sussex gave me more opportunities than I could have hoped for, and I’m delighted to be returning to help pass on knowledge and skills to today’s students” aubrey allegretti
Chief Political Correspondent for the Times and our Political Writer in Residence

Get real-world experience in politics

In partnership with our award-winning Careers Team, we provide you with multiple pathways to gaining professional experience, developing career-facing skills and establishing connections with employers. Opportunities include:

• politics internships – you can apply for our undergraduate internships with Westminster MPs, NGOs, consultancies and private enterprises. Stuents in previous years have worked with various MPs in Westminster and taken placement years at the Home Office and Ministry of Justice as part of the Government's social research scheme
• paid Summer internships – developing your work experience and confidence
• student consultancy – working with other students on real-world mini-consultancy projects set by local businesses and charities
• Junior Research Associate scheme – where you can hone your research skills and undertake an original research project in collaboration with one of our academics
• online global summer internship programme – allowing you to build an international experience with an online internship from your home.

Find out more about our careers team.

Politics in action

You can also engage with politics throughout your time at Sussex, including:

• attending regular talks by leading politicians like Siân Berry and Rory Stewart (hosted by our student-run Politics and Debate Society)
• gaining experience as a journalist at Sussex’ award-winning student-run newspaper, The Badger
• attending our annual four-day trip to Berlin to visit Germany’s parliament, where you can meet MPs and take in the sights
• joining our annual Klepto-Tour of the sites connecting grand corruption in London
• taking part in political life Brighton, our city by the sea, with a vibrant culture of activism and civic life.

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You may also be interested in:

• Politics courses at Sussex
• our Politics research
• the School of Law, Politics and Sociology.