MA International Relations and Arabic

At the University of Exeter, you will find engaged, inclusive, and safe communities, with plenty of opportunities to make life-long friends from all over the world. We offer degree courses across 40 subject areas and provide great choice, flexibility and opportunities to expand your horizons. Field trips and the chance to study or work abroad are a key feature of many of our degrees. 

Work experience and study abroad

Many of our degrees offer ‘year abroad’ options which can help you develop a range of valuable skills. These give you either a professional work placement or a year’s study at one of our prestigious international partner universities. You could pick up a new language, learn about different cultures and make lasting friendships. Many destinations are in English-speaking countries or universities, so you don’t necessarily need to know another language. Usually taken during your third year of study, this additional year will provide you with valuable skills attractive to global employers. Many work placements are also available in the UK if you want to stay closer to home but still gain valuable work experience. 

Field trips

Field work is an essential part of many of our degrees, and an exciting optional extra for many others. We offer a range of field trip opportunities and our students can be found doing fascinating things in all sorts of locations. You can find full details of field trip modules on the programme pages on our website.

Summer schools

You can also take advantage of study opportunities during the summer vacation. Taught by our world-class academics and external experts, our summer schools offer the chance to learn new skills and acquire knowledge while interacting with people from all over the world.

Build your own degree

We have several ways that you can shape your degree, from multidisciplinary courses like Liberal Arts and Natural Sciences, to the opportunity to study modules from outside your main subject.

Flexible Combined Honours (FCH)

Flexible Combined Honours lets you combine any two or even three subjects from across the entire university, as long as they can be timetabled together and you meet any entry criteria. You can choose how you split your credits between each subject and build your own bespoke degree. What you choose to study determines the exact wording on your degree certificate when you graduate.

Proficiency in Law

Students studying on the Penryn Campus can add a specified number of law modules to their programme to obtain their degree ‘with proficiency in law’ (e.g. ‘Environmental Science with Proficiency in Law’).

Liberal Arts and Natural Sciences

Our two flagship multidisciplinary courses let you study complementary subjects. In Liberal Arts you choose a major from the humanities or social sciences, and core Liberal Arts modules introduce real-world issues and skills that cut across disciplines. Natural Sciences gives you a foundation across the sciences before allowing you to specialise.

Free-choice modules

The majority of our courses usually allow you to study up to 30 credits outside of your subject each year – out of 120 total – assuming timetabling works and you meet any necessary criteria. You could add a Marketing module to your English degree, drop some Philosophy into Computer Science or study a new language – it’s completely up to you.

Language Centre

The Language Centre offers daytime credit-bearing language modules that you can integrate into your degree and evening language courses you can study alongside your degree. Some of these courses offer an accreditation, allowing you to gain an additional qualification on top of your degree.

Scholarships and Bursaries 

The University of Exeter offers scholarships and bursaries for undergraduate students in a variety of circumstances. These include:  

• Undergraduate Global Excellence Scholarships starting from £5,000 which recognise high academic achievement are available to international fee-paying students.
• The Access to Exeter Bursary provides additional funding to certain part time and full time Home or returning European Union students with a household income below £25,000.
• The Cowrie Foundation Scholarship provides financial support covering tuition fee costs and a maintenance stipend to undergraduate Black African and Caribbean heritage applicants from socio-economically under-represented backgrounds.
• A range of financial support for refugees and asylum seekers, care leavers, estranged students, undergraduate carers and mature students. 
• Scholarships supporting sport, music and study travel.    

The University of Exeter offers postgraduate programmes across 40 subject areas. Find your perfect Masters degree course on our website.

We welcome students from over 150 countries around the globe, from all walks of life, and celebrate all people and cultures. Postgraduate education should be exciting and transformative. We’ll challenge you to explore new ideas, ask questions and solve problems. You’ll discover how to direct your own learning and take an active part in creating knowledge, ensuring you learn how to think and not what to think.

Innovative teaching

We are committed to building an inclusive environment where diversity is valued, and making sure that you feel welcome and able to succeed is our top priority. Our teaching is enriched by our inspiring lecturers and our partnerships with business, industry and professionals. Our academics are active researchers, and many are world leaders in their field. They bring teaching to life by exposing you to new perspectives and sharing the latest discoveries as they happen. 

An international education

Interacting with people from different cultures and backgrounds is a crucial part of university education. Our global learning community will broaden your experiences, challenge your perspectives and enable you to form extensive networks across continents. You will learn to work collaboratively, push boundaries and value diversity.

Expand your horizons

Some of our Masters programmes include a ‘with Industrial Placement’ option. Normally studied over two years, you’ll have the opportunity to combine your Masters with valuable professional experience, putting your learning into practice while studying, by completing a 9-12 month work placement relevant to your degree. 

Scholarships and Bursaries

Postgraduate scholarships are offered across a wide range of disciplines to postgraduate students in a variety of circumstances. These include:

• Postgraduate Global Excellence Scholarships starting from £5,000, which recognise high academic achievement are available to international fee-paying students.
• Green Futures Postgraduate Taught Scholarships for study on selected Masters programmes. 
• University of Exeter students completing their degree this summer and progressing direct to a standalone taught Masters degree or research degree with the University are eligible for a scholarship towards the cost of their tuition fees.  
• University of Exeter alumni beginning a standalone taught Masters degree or research degree with the University are offered a scholarship towards the cost of their tuition fees. 
• University of Exeter alumni beginning a taught Masters degree in 2022/23 will be offered a scholarship towards the cost of their tuition fees.
• The University’s range of merit scholarships reward the very best students based on extra-curricular achievements.

Visit our website for detailed information about our full range of funding and scholarships.