Post-offer Visit Day

Welcome to 'The School of Government and International Affairs (SGIA)'

Welcome Message from Head of School

I hope that you have an informative, interesting, thought-provoking, and enjoyable day in Durham – the first, hopefully, of many. 

My name is Chris Finlay, and I have the privilege of being the current Head of School at a very exciting time for SGIA as we embark on a period of sustained growth in both our staff and student numbers, putting us at the forefront of a major investment programme being carried out across the University. 

In SGIA we have invested heavily in our staff, with academic staff numbers rising from 30 to nearly 50 in the last 4 years. This investment demonstrates our commitment to our students and will allow us to increase the amount of students we can accept into our single honours degree programmes. Our academic staff are world leaders in research and teaching in Politics and International Relations. Our undergraduate programmes reflect this excellence. Our single honours programmes have recently been reviewed to ensure that they continue to deliver a demanding, stimulating, and life-changing educational experience that takes you to the forefront of research in Politics and International Relations in one of the world’s top departments. As a student in SGIA, we will provide you with opportunities to develop the skills and experience to succeed in your future study or work. 

Durham University and SGIA have an enviable track-record of producing graduates who win places in the best postgraduate programmes and with the most demanding employers. Our unique blend of academic training coupled with the wider student experience provided by the partnerships between academic units like SGIA and the colleges is central to that success. Join us, and together we will challenge and support you to develop the knowledge and skills to help you succeed in your life goals. 

Sincerely yours,

Professor Chris Finlay

UG Post-Application Brochure 2025-26

Post-offer Visit Day Guide 

Schedule of the day

Wednesday 19th February, Monday 24th March and Saturday 26th April 2025

The details of the sessions will be available closer to the time.

*All items on the schedule will be subject to change.

Information for Guests of Offer-holders

We would like to extend a warm welcome to our offer-holders. On your visit to our department today we would like to introduce you to our Head of School, a variety of excellent research academics, school office staff, and most importantly a few of our current students. While studying here with us at Durham University we aim to answer as many of your questions on your visit as possible from every aspect of student life while studying politics at Durham. We look forward to welcoming you with some academic taster sessions and time to speak with some current students about what it is like to live and study in Durham. 

We would like to extend a warm welcome to all our guests of offer-holders on your visit to Durham today. While you will not be able to attend the seminar sessions available to offer-holders, we invite you to visit the department for refreshments and the opportunity to meet and speak with some of our departmental staff. We will be in The Al-Qasimi Building, Elvet Hill Road, Durham DH1 3TU and look forward to meeting you. 

After your visit if you have any unanswered questions please email politics.department@durham.ac.uk.