I went to Royal Holloway, although i actually studies Poltiics and International Relations, not just straight IR. Heh i'm usually fairly crap at giving advice but here goes... first of all its going to be very different from A-level in terms of how you study and what's expected of you. Although the workload wont be huge, the material is often pretty complex, or at least it will seem so initially. There will be more theory than you'll expect, and probably less current affairs, although staying up to date with whats going on would definately be a plus. The best thing to do would be to contact the department and ask them if they recommend anything to read beforehand, that way it will be specific so more helpful with your particular course. Also, get used to reading at length. Reading is how your going to do most of your leaning, and your expected to do a lot. The more you do now the easier it will be then... hope this is useful