Birkbeck is a distinguished centre of research and teaching excellence in politics. Our central London location puts us at the heart of the UK's political life and at the centre of academic London. Our Department of Politics is over 40 years old and has a reputation for the excellence of its teaching and its internationally significant research. Some of the world’s most famous libraries are on our doorstep in Bloomsbury, central London, and you can walk down to Whitehall, where Parliament and the UK’s most influential and important think-tanks and centres of political research and analysis are located. Our departmental building was once a key location for members of the Bloomsbury Group, so you could be studying in rooms that have hosted distinguished visitors, including T. S. Eliot, George Bernard Shaw and Maynard Keynes. In the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF), Politics at Birkbeck was ranked 17th in the UK.

Applicants from Russia would be expected to have completed one year of a Bakalavr/Specialist Diploma at a recognised university with an average grade of at least 4/5 OR a recognised undergraduate Foundation course, which allows students the chance to progress onto Birkbeck’s Bachelor programmes.