German/History
Entry requirements
A level
To include a B in A-level German (unless to be studied as a beginner).
The University welcomes undergraduate applications from students studying the Access to Higher Education Diploma, provided that relevant subject content and learning outcomes are met. We are not able to accept Access to Higher Education Diplomas as a general qualification for every undergraduate degree course.
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
To include 5 points in German at Higher Level (unless to be studied as a beginner).
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
To include a B in A-level German (unless to be studied as a beginner).
UCAS Tariff
To include a B in A-level German (unless to be studied as a beginner).
Aberystwyth University welcomes the Welsh Baccalaureate as a valuable qualification in its own right and considers completion of the Welsh Baccalaureate Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate to be equivalent to an A level grade.
About this course
In choosing to study History and German Degree at Aberystwyth University you will combine two valuable subjects. You will immerse yourself in a broad range of historical periods, and gain an understanding of how and why the world has evolved the way it has. This course is student-focused and you will be able to build on your existing knowledge of history whilst pursuing what fundamentally interests you. Our History graduates are sought by employers for their highly-developed research, analysis, teamwork and communications abilities. It will also provide you with a thorough understanding of the German language, and a deep understanding of the literature and culture. You will benefit from the experience and enthusiasm of the expert staff in both departments. You will emerge with real world capabilities, enabling you to shape your future and develop the career you deserve.
Why study German with History at Aberystwyth University?
From the off-set, you will receive 4 hours of language work per week. This includes reading/writing, aural, listening and translation. These four areas of linguistic development provides you with the solid foundation to increase your fluency competencies in German.
History at Aberystwyth has been taught since 1872, making our department the most established and foremost in Britain.
This degree is also available to students who wish to study German at the beginners level. At beginners level and in your first year, you will be taught differently to the students who are entering the course at an advanced level (A level or equivalent) will receive intensive language classes bringing you to the same linguistic level as our advanced students. In your second and final year, you will be continuing the course with all advanced students.
In addition to linguistic classes, we offer all students core and optional modules that expose you to literature, culture, language, politics, and business.
In the Department of History and Welsh History, our teaching is innovative and research-based. This means that you will have the opportunity to explore specialisms in History which include early medieval period to the present day, ranging from four continents, and embracing political, social, economic and cultural history. The combination of the two subjects German and History are a perfect match with the departmental research projects. As a student in the History department, you will have the opportunity to learn more about the Second World War from a historical perspective but also immerse yourself in the German culture and literature that is taught in various modules from the Department of Modern Languages.
The University also benefits from the National Library Wales which is located next to our Penglais campus, is a copyright library (one of five copyright Libraries across the UK). This facility provides you the opportunity to discover a wealth of historical archives to explore for your future projects.
All students in our department thrive in our multilingual environment. As a vibrant University, we attract students from all corners of the world. Many of our staff who will teach you are native speakers of the target language that they speak. We also teach most of our modules and classes through the target language, therefore the combination of departmental life and academic development will ensure that you have maximum exposure to the target languages that you're learning.
The highlight of this degree for all of our students is the year abroad. You will be required to spend your year abroad (your third year) in Germany or Austria. Some students opt to spend their time equally studying with our partnered Universities in Germany or Austria. Others have spent their time undertaking a paid or unpaid work experience placement in the two countries. Find out what your options are by visiting our Studying Abroad page.
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
Extra funding
Aberystwyth University offers a valuable package of scholarships and bursaries to support students. Our long-established Entrance Examination competition means you could get up to £2,000 a year towards your living and study costs. You can combine that with any or all of our other awards, to make your financial package more valuable. Our awards include Sport and Music Scholarships, Bursaries for Care Leavers/Young Carers/Estranged Students and a range of department specific awards. Please visit our website for full details.
The Uni
Main Site (Aberystwyth)
Department of History and Welsh History
What students say
We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.
How do students rate their degree experience?
The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
History
Teaching and learning
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
German and scandinavian studies
Sorry, no information to show
This is usually because there were too few respondents in the data we receive to be able to provide results about the subject at this university.
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
After graduation
The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
History
What are graduates doing after six months?
This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.
Top job areas of graduates
History is a very popular subject (although numbers have fallen of late) — in 2015, over 10,000 UK students graduated in a history-related course. Obviously, there aren't 11,000 jobs as historians available every year, but history is a good, flexible degree that allows graduates to go into a wide range of different jobs, and consequently history graduates have an unemployment rate comparable to the national graduate average. Many — probably most — jobs for graduates don't ask for a particular degree to go into them and history graduates are well set to take advantage. That's why so many go into jobs in the finance industry, human resources, marketing, PR and events management, as well as the more obvious roles in education, welfare and the arts. Around one in five history graduates went into further study last year. History and teaching were the most popular further study subjects for history graduates, but law, journalism, and politics were also popular postgraduate courses.
German and scandinavian studies
What are graduates doing after six months?
This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.
Top job areas of graduates
It's often said the UK doesn't produce enough modern language graduates, and graduates from German courses have a lot of options available to them when they complete their courses. The unemployment rates last year was lower than graduates in general. Nearly a quarter of working graduates from 2015 got jobs outside the UK — mostly as English teachers — which is much higher than for most subjects. The relative strength of the German economy means there will continue to be opportunities there in the future. But more graduates went to work in London, and those who want to stay at home to work find jobs anywhere where good communication skills are a must, particularly in education, in marketing, in the arts and in business and finance as teachers, writers, personnel officers, financial advisors, analysts, sales people and marketers.. But remember — whilst employers say they rate graduates who have more than one language, you need to have them as part of a whole package of good skills.
What about your long term prospects?
Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.
History
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£14k
£21k
£24k
Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.
German and scandinavian studies
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£25k
£27k
Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.
Explore these similar courses...
This is what the university has told Ucas about the criteria they expect applicants to satisfy; some may be compulsory, others may be preferable.
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This is the percentage of applicants to this course who received an offer last year, through Ucas.
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This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.
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Course location and department:
This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.
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Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):
We've received this information from the Department for Education, via Ucas. This is how the university as a whole has been rated for its quality of teaching: gold silver or bronze. Note, not all universities have taken part in the TEF.
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This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).
This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.
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This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for undergraduate students only.
You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.
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Post-six month graduation stats:
This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.
It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.
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Graduate field commentary:
The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show
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The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.
While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?
Have a question about this info? Learn more here