Our BA Philosophy, Politics and Economics is a joint degree with a rich history — this combination of subjects has been a well-known favourite choice for politicians and future prime ministers.

Studying philosophy at the University of Reading will equip you with the ability to think logically, to evaluate arguments critically, and to challenge your own ideas and those of other people. We will give you an understanding of the central principles, concepts, problems, texts and figures of philosophy. You will be taught by leading experts whose research strengths lie especially in moral philosophy and the philosophy of the mind and language. You will also have the chance to examine non-Western philosophies such as Indian philosophy.

In politics, you will acquire a strong grounding in fundamental elements of the subject such as political ideas and democratic processes. You can study a wide range of specialist core modules, which cover topics such as British government and politics, European political integration, and political thinking. In the National Student Survey 2021 we achieved an overall 91% satisfaction score for BA Philosophy, Politics and Economics.

In economics, you will study both applied and practical issues and focus on the relationship between economics and society. This course places less emphasis on mathematical and statistical content than some Economics courses do; instead you will focus on the relevance of these techniques to applied problems. You will still learn necessary maths skills in your core modules, but extensive support is available should you need it.

Past students have put their political analysis skills to direct use in the home and European civil services, political research units, think tanks, non-governmental organisations and journalism. Other graduates have found employment in the civil service, journalism, consultancy, finance, local and central government, and previous employers have included the Ministry of Defence, Cambridge University Press, local authorities and other universities.