Modern European Languages and History (with Year Abroad)
UCAS Code: RV92
Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)
Entry requirements
A level
General information on subjects/grades required for entry: To include at least one language from French, German, Italian, Russian or Spanish and History. Specific subjects excluded for entry: General Studies and Critical Thinking. Information: Applicants taking Science A-levels that include a practical component will be required to take and pass this as a condition of entry. This refers only to English A Levels.
Access to HE Diploma
We require 60 credits with a minimum of 45 credits at level 3 (or equivalent). Applicants may be required to meet additional subject-specific requirements for particular courses at Durham.
Cambridge International Pre-U Certificate - Principal
To include at least one language from French, German, Italian, Russian or Spanish and History.
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
General information on subjects/grades required for entry: Eighteen points (6, 6, 6) from Higher Level subjects to include at least one language from French, German, Italian, Russian or Spanish and History.
Leaving Certificate - Higher Level (Ireland) (first awarded in 2017)
To include at least one language from French, German, Italian, Russian or Spanish and History.
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
Additionally an A Level in History at grade A and an A Level at grade A in at least one language from French, German, Italian, Russian or Spanish and History. Where A Levels are unavailable we also accept IB Higher Levels and Cambridge Pre-U’s as an alternative. Please contact us if you have a different Level 3 qualification you wish to use.
Scottish Advanced Higher
To include at least one language from French, German, Italian, Russian or Spanish and History.
Scottish Higher
Departments will normally make offers based on Advanced Highers. In the absence of 3 Advanced Highers, where these are not offered by the applicant’s school, offers comprising of Advanced Highers and Highers or a number of Highers may be made on a case by case basis.
UCAS Tariff
We've calculated how many Ucas points you'll need for this course.
About this course
This four-year Joint Honours degree allows you to further your interest in the study of a modern European language and related cultural topics alongside exploring different periods and themes of history.
**Year 1**
You will take a compulsory language module. This is a single module for all languages studied post-A Level and a double module for beginners’ languages. These compulsory modules focus on the four skills of reading, writing, speaking and listening. In addition, you choose either one or two from a wide range of modules dealing with various aspects of the literature, film, art, history and politics of the culture you are studying. These cultural modules aim to develop your independent research and analytical skills as well as introducing you to the culture in question.
All first-year modules are intended to function as introductions to and more general overviews of areas of study in which it is possible to specialise later in the degree.
In the first year, you will take up to three modules in History. These may be chosen from the wide range of first-year modules available, but you must choose at least one module in Medieval/Early Modern History and at least one module in Modern History. There are no compulsory History modules on the Joint Honours degree.
The History modules on offer change each year, as they reflect the research interests of staff; therefore we cannot guarantee in advance that a particular module will be running. Some of the modules running in recent years have included:
Tensions of Empire: British Imperialism 1763-1963
Reformation Europe, 1500-1650
New Heaven, New Earth: Latin Christendom and the World, 1000-1300
The Birth of Western Society, 300-1050 AD
The Making of Modern Africa: Change and Adaptation in sub-Saharan Africa, 1880-2000.
**Year 2**
You will continue to take a compulsory language module, in which you will continue to develop the four skills of reading, writing, speaking and listening. In addition, you will choose one, two or three from a wide range of modules on the literature, film art, history and politics of the culture you are studying. All second-year modules build on skills and knowledge acquired in the first year and allow you to specialise more in areas which interest you (from medieval literature to contemporary film).
You will take up to four modules in History, choosing from those available in year two. Second-year History modules tend to focus more on particular periods and events, and there are fewer survey courses. You must choose one History module which is either Medieval or Early Modern. There are no compulsory History modules for students on the Joint Honours degree.
**Year 3**
The third year is spent abroad as an English assistant in a school, as a student in a university or in employment of some kind. During the year abroad you complete a Target Language Research Project related to the country you visit supervised by a designated Year Abroad project supervisor.
**Year 4**
You will continue to take a single core language module, developing your skills to an advanced level. You will also choose from a wide range of specialist modules on literature, film, art, history and politics in the language you are studying, and you may be able to take a specialist language modules such as translation or interpreting.
These modules are designed around staff research expertise. All fourth-year modules build on skills and knowledge acquired earlier in the degree and allow you to specialise still further in areas which interest you (such as the work of a particular writer or the culture of a particular period).
You will choose your own dissertation topic, through consultation with a supervisor. There are some limits, set by the availability of primary material and the expertise of supervisors, but the potential range of topics is very wide indeed.
**Study Abroad (History):** For more information on this course, please see our website.
Modules
Year 1
You will take a compulsory language module. This is a single module for all languages studied post-A Level and a double module for beginners’ languages. These compulsory modules focus on the four skills of reading, writing, speaking and listening. In addition, you choose either one or two from a wide range of modules dealing with various aspects of the literature, film, art, history and politics of the culture you are studying. These cultural modules aim to develop your independent research and analytical skills as well as introducing you to the culture in question.
All first-year modules are intended to function as introductions to and more general overviews of areas of study in which it is possible to specialise later in the degree.
In the first year, you will take up to three modules in History. These may be chosen from the wide range of first-year modules available, but you must choose at least one module in Medieval/Early Modern History and at least one module in Modern History. There are no compulsory History modules on the Joint Honours degree.
The History modules on offer change each year, as they reflect the research interests of staff; therefore we cannot guarantee in advance that a particular module will be running. Some of the modules running in recent years have included:
Tensions of Empire: British Imperialism 1763-1963
Reformation Europe, 1500-1650
New Heaven, New Earth: Latin Christendom and the World, 1000-1300
The Birth of Western Society, 300-1050 AD
The Making of Modern Africa: Change and Adaptation in sub-Saharan Africa, 1880-2000.
Year 2
You will continue to take a compulsory language module, in which you will continue to develop the four skills of reading, writing, speaking and listening. In addition, you will choose one, two or three from a wide range of modules on the literature, film art, history and politics of the culture you are studying. All second-year modules build on skills and knowledge acquired in the first year and allow you to specialise more in areas which interest you (from medieval literature to contemporary film).
You will take up to four modules in History, choosing from those available in year two. Second-year History modules tend to focus more on particular periods and events, and there are fewer survey courses. You must choose one History module which is either Medieval or Early Modern. There are no compulsory History modules for students on the Joint Honours degree.
Other modules in previous years have included:
Hard Times: British Society c. 1800-1901
Modern China’s Transformations
The American Half-century: the United States Since 1945
The King’s Two Bodies: Rulership in Late Medieval Europe
The Ottoman World, 1400-1700.
Year 3
The third year is spent abroad as an English assistant in a school, as a student in a university or in employment of some kind. During the year abroad you complete a Target Language Research Project related to the country you visit supervised by a designated Year Abroad project supervisor.
Year 4
You will continue to take a single core language module, developing your skills to an advanced level. You will also choose from a wide range of specialist modules on literature, film, art, history and politics in the language you are studying, and you may be able to take a specialist language modules such as translation or interpreting.
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
The Uni
St Cuthbert's Society
John Snow College
Trevelyan College
Van Mildert College
College of St Hild and St Bede
Collingwood College
Grey College
Josephine Butler College
No college preference
Stephenson College
University College
St Mary's College
South College
St Aidan's College
St John's College
St Chad's College
Hatfield College
Modern European Languages
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.
Others in language and area studies
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)
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)
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.
Others in language and area 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
This is a broad subject for a variety of European languages. No matter which you take, the general theme is that some graduates go to that country to work, often as English language teachers, some go into further study, often to train as teachers or translators, but most get jobs in the UK in education - most often as language tutors, unsurprisingly, or translators. Modern language grads can also be in demand in business roles where communication and language skills are particularly useful, such as marketing and PR, and in finance or law. But remember — whilst employers say they rate graduates who have graduates who have more than one language, you need to have them as part of a whole package of good skills.
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.
What about your long term prospects?
Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.
Languages and area 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
£30k
£36k
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.
History and 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
£31k
£36k
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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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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