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History

Entry requirements


96 UCAS Tariff points from a minimum of 2 A Levels (or equivalent) including a pass in History or related subject

UCAS Tariff Points accepted.

GCSE/National 4/National 5

3 GCSEs at grade C, or grade 4, or above.

UCAS Tariff

96

UCAS Tariff points from a minimum of 2 A Levels (or equivalent) including a pass in History or related subject

About this course


Course option

3years

Full-time | 2024

Subject

History

**Take a journey into the past and explore what it means for our present and future. Discover epoch-making developments from histories around the world on our BA (Hons) History degree in Cambridge.**

Join a course that scored 95% for Teaching on my Course and 91% for Assessment and Feedback in the National Student Survey 2023.

On our BA (Hons) History degree we’ll take you on a journey into the past, looking at the histories of Britain, Europe, the United States and other parts of the world from 1500 onwards. You’ll encounter major historical figures from Henry VIII to Martin Luther King, and explore epoch-making transitions in human experience such as the development of empires, industrialisation and new technology.

Together, we’ll explore major themes such as the impact of revolutions, imperialism and democracy at the same timeexploring the history of everyday life, including changes in the home, consumerism and popular culture. You won’t just study Hitler and Stalin, but also topics such as James Bond and popular literature too.

You’ll get the opportunity to study different kinds of history, looking at the past both through chronological surveys but also in thematic terms. Your modules will include subjects like the history of crime (from the early modern period up to the present), the treatment of poverty and the media. We’ll explore the history of social structure too, looking at economic change but also gender and race. Together we’ll discover stories in the past that are sometimes inspiring but also challenging, looking at contemporary figures such as Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin as well as major issues such as climate change, and learning how to place them in a historical perspective.

At the end of your degree, you’ll have an impressive story to tell employers. Our History degree is structured to build up skills that can take you into the world of work. We’ll give you training in research and data analysis, exploring how to gain the most from sources. We’ll also show you how to communicate your research, using formats from the printed page through to podcasts, webpages and exhibitions. You’ll also gain access to museums and archives where you will meet professionals working in the field.

You can choose to take a work placement as well as a sandwich year, where you can gain important experience of employment, helping to propel you into jobs that are fulfilling and rewarding. Our past students have gone on to a variety of careers from business, administration, the media and the Civil Service through to teaching at all levels. Some have also gone on to work in museums and archives.

You’ll have access to award-winning learning facilities, including our on-campus library and a huge range of digital resources to sustain your research. Studying in the ancient university city of Cambridge will also give you access to many more resources, libraries and institutions both in the city and beyond.

At level 5 and 6 you can also choose to learn, or continue learning, French, Japanese or Spanish as part of your course on our Anglia Language Programme modules.

Our teaching team is made up of trained historians with an international reputation for the work they publish. You’ll also have the chance to attend talks by leading historians and other experts.

Join us and share in our passion for the past.

**Hands-on learning**

All our BA (Hons) History students have the opportunity to:
- carry out research in Cambridge’s museums and archives

- take part in live group briefs

- go on European field trips

- study abroad for a semester, with funding available to help cover the cost

- choose from a range of optional modules and pursue your own areas of interest

**Careers**

What can you do with a BA (Hons) History degree? Almost anything! Former ARU History graduates now work in the civil service, teaching, museums and heritage management, the police and armed forces, and other rewarding careers.

Modules

Year 1 core modules: The Growth of the USA: Race, Politics and Conflict, 1776-1900; Faiths and Fury: The Early Modern Age in Britain and the Western World; A History of Now; Creating the Past: From the Archive to the Web.
Year 2 core modules: Britain in the 19th century; Welfare State to European State: Britain 1906-1975; From World War to Cold War; Ruskin Module (15 credits).
Year 2 optional modules: The British Empire 1783-1919; The United States in the 20th Century; Hanging, Prisons and ASBOs: Crime and Punishment in Britain throughout the Ages; Professional Placement; Battles Barricades and Ideas - Historians and Europe's Age of Revolution; Leisure and Popular Culture in Britain, 1800 to the Present; Anglia Language Programme.
Year 3 core modules: Undergraduate Major Project - History; Gender and Sexuality in Britain: 1880-2000; Research Communication.
Year 3 optional modules: The Era of Thatcher and Blair; From Communism to Consumerism: Russia since 1917; From Workhouses to Universal Credit: The Past, Present and Future of the British Welfare State; Hitler to the Hashtag: Political Communication in Peace and War; A Global History of Government and Society, 1945-1999; The Making of Modern Media; Anglia Language Programme.
Modules are subject to change and availability.

Assessment methods

Our History degree has a strong focus on employability and your future career, and that’s mirrored in our approach to assessment. You’ll get hands-on with historical research and develop your professional skills so, as well as exams and essays, we’ll be looking at your field trip reports, internet search reports, document analyses, case studies, book reviews and geography tests.

Assessment is ongoing so you can be sure you’re receiving structured, insightful feedback throughout your degree course.

Tuition fees

Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:

Channel Islands
£9,250
per year
England
£9,250
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Republic of Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£9,250
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

The Uni


Course location:

Cambridge Campus

Department:

School of Humanities and Social Sciences

Read full university profile

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.

82%
History

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

100%
Staff make the subject interesting
100%
Staff are good at explaining things
82%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
64%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

82%
Library resources
91%
IT resources
100%
Course specific equipment and facilities
91%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

96%
UK students
4%
International students
46%
Male students
54%
Female students
74%
2:1 or above
0%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

C
D
B

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.

£16,200
low
Average annual salary
91%
low
Employed or in further education
34%
low
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

25%
Sales assistants and retail cashiers
13%
Childcare and related personal services
13%
Other elementary services occupations

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.

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.

£16k

£16k

£20k

£20k

£24k

£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.

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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).

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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?

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