Anthropology and Archaeology
Durham University
UCAS Code: LF64 | Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)
Entry requirements
A level
Access to HE Diploma
We require 60 credits with a minimum of 45 credits at level 3 (or equivalent).
Cambridge International Pre-U Certificate - Principal
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
Seventeen points (6, 6, 5) from Higher Level subjects.
Leaving Certificate - Higher Level (Ireland) (first awarded in 2017)
OCR Cambridge Technical Extended Diploma
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
Scottish Advanced Higher
Scottish Higher
We will normally make offers based on Advanced Highers. If an applicant has not been able to take 3 Advanced Highers, offers may be made with a combination of Advanced Highers and Highers, or on a number of Highers.
At Durham we welcome applications from students of outstanding achievement and potential from all educational backgrounds. We will consider applicants studying T level qualifications for entry to many of our courses. Where a course requires subject specific knowledge and this is not covered within the T level being studied, you may need to supplement your T level studies with a suitable qualification to meet this requirement, for example at A level. Where this is needed this will be clearly stated in our entry requirements. Detailed entry requirements can be found on individual course entries on our courses database: https://www.durham.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/
UCAS Tariff
We've calculated how many Ucas points you'll need for this course.
About this course
**Course details**
Studying the anthropology of health will expand your world, bringing together biological and evolutionary research into human genetics and physiology with comparative ethnographic approaches to the social, political, ideological and ecological contexts that shape health risks and treatments.
This degree will equip you with the skills to critically debate healthcare from an interdisciplinary anthropological perspective that draws together local, regional and international scales of analysis.
In the first year, you will receive a thorough grounding in the theory and practice of anthropology in the broadest sense, addressing the core disciplines of social, biological and health anthropology.
In your second year, you will begin to specialise increasingly in the anthropology of health while still being able to maintain a broader, more integrative approach if you wish.
In your final year, you will design and carry out your own dissertation project and take part in our Field Course Module. The Field Course offers an intensive 7-day experience at one of several European destinations, or online as part of our Virtual Field Course.
As you move through your degree, you will shift from being a consumer to a generator of knowledge, ready for professional or postgraduate life. You can also apply to add a placement year or a year abroad to your degree, increasing the course from three years to four.
**Course Structure**
**Year 1**
**Core modules:**
Peoples and Cultures
Human Evolution and Diversity
Being Human
Doing Anthropological Research
Health, Illness and Society
**Year 2**
**Core modules:**
Anthropological Research Methods
Research Project Design
Global Health and Disease
Sex, Reproduction and Love
**Examples of optional modules:**
Biology, Culture and Society
Reading Ethnography
Kinship and Religion
Politics and Economics
Evolution, Variation and Adaptation
Our Place in Nature
Environment, Climate and the Anthropocene.
**Year 3 (Year 4 if undertaking a placement year or year abroad)**
In your final year, you will design and carry out your own **Dissertation** which will develop your skills of independent research and project management by pursuing a substantial research project in a topic of your choice. The 12,000-word dissertation is worth one third of your final year credits.
You will also take part in our Anthropology* Field Course* module. The Field Course offers an intensive 7 day fieldwork experience at one of the department’s residential field schools, or online as a virtual Field Course.
**Examples of optional modules:**
Anthropology of Ethics and Morality
Anthropological Skills for Climate Change Survival
Power and Governance
Anthropology of Physical Activity for Health
Evolutionary Medicine: Maternal and Infant Health
Comparative Cognition and Culture
Primates in Peril
Forensic Anthropology
Palaeoanthropology and Palaeoecology
Anthropology of the Body
Food Security, Nutrition, and Sustainable Livelihoods.
Modules
Year 1
Core modules:
Peoples and Cultures
Human Evolution and Diversity
Being Human
Doing Anthropological Research
Health, Illness and Society
Year 2
Core modules:
Anthropological Research Methods
Research Project Design
Global Health and Disease
Sex, Reproduction and Love
Examples of optional modules:
Biology, Culture and Society
Reading Ethnography
Kinship and Religion
Politics and Economics
Evolution, Variation and Adaptation
Our Place in Nature
Environment, Climate and the Anthropocene.
Year 3 (Year 4 if undertaking a placement year or year abroad)
Dissertation
Field Course
Examples of optional modules:
Anthropology of Ethics and Morality
Anthropological Skills for Climate Change Survival
Power and Governance
Anthropology of Physical Activity for Health
Evolutionary Medicine: Maternal and Infant Health
Comparative Cognition and Culture
Primates in Peril
Forensic Anthropology
Palaeoanthropology and Palaeoecology
Anthropology of the Body
Food Security, Nutrition, and Sustainable Livelihoods.
Assessment methods
Assessment on the BA (Hons) Anthropology and Archaeology degree varies by module, but may include written examinations, podcasts, museum displays and outreach activities, coursework in the form of essays or research projects, and presentations.
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
The Uni
Durham City
College allocation pending
Archaeology
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.
Archaeology
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)
Anthropology
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)
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.
Archaeology
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
Want to do a job in the arts - with lots of the great outdoors? Try archaeology! There don't tend to be many archaeology undergraduates out there (just under 700 graduated in 2015) - but it's quite a popular subject at postgraduate level. In fact, over a quarter of archaeology graduates take some kind of further study when they graduate - usually more study of archaeology. When you look at the stats, be aware that junior jobs in archaeology are not always well paid at the start of your career, and that temporary contracts are not uncommon. Thankfully, though, unpaid work, whilst not completely gone, is less common than it used to be. The archaeology graduates of 2015 found jobs in archaeology, of course, but also management and heritage and environment work, as well as more conventional graduate jobs in marketing and the finance industry.
Anthropology
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
This is a pretty flexible degree and a good one if you want to keep your options open. Just over 1,250 graduates completed anthropology degrees last year, and they were well spread out across a whole range of jobs — many industries have jobs that can be done by anthropology graduates and unlike a lot of degrees, there aren't many jobs we can point to and say ‘graduates from this degree do that job’. Management, marketing, housing and recruitment jobs are the most popular, though, and many graduates go into the education or social care sectors. Graduates are also rather more likely than average to work in London, or to go overseas to work. This is quite a popular subject at postgraduate level, and if you want to go into research, you'll need to think about postgrad study - and it's one of the few where numbers are on the up at the moment.
What about your long term prospects?
Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.
Archaeology
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£22k
£29k
£40k
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.
Anthropology
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£22k
£27k
£31k
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 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?
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