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History and Politics

Entry requirements


A level

B,C,C-B,B,C

Pass Access to HE Diploma with a minimum of 106 UCAS Tariff points

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme

26

26 IB Diploma Points or 104-112 UCAS tariff points from Higher Level.

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)

D*D-D*D*

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)

DMM

104-112 UCAS Tariff points

T Level

M

UCAS Tariff

104-112

Equivalent qualifications and combinations will be considered, including Extended Project (EPQ) at grade C or above. AS levels (or qualifications equivalent to AS level) are not accepted. Please contact the University directly if you are unsure whether you meet the minimum entry requirements for the course.

About this course


Course option

3years

Full-time | 2024

Subjects

History

Politics

There is politics in almost everything we do. It is the study of power: who gets it, why they seek it and by what means they obtain it. Its principal focus is on power relations among individuals, social groups and nations. Studying history will help you to understand how the past affects every aspect of our lives - from the language we speak, to the politics of race, gender, religion and identity. This Joint Honours degree will provide you with the skills to explore the social and political landscape of human consciousness throughout time and place. You will discover how people lived, and how they perceived and interacted with the world around them. Investigating past events, you will encounter war, injustice, new frontiers, political upheaval, ancient civilisations, invasions, conspiracies, catastrophes and revolutions. You will gain a firm grasp of political and current affairs, understand the news headlines, seeing beyond them to the real issues of politics, and be in a better position to comment upon and understand what the politicians are really saying.

The Joint Honours degree offers you an opportunity to study two subjects at degree level, enabling you to benefit from high quality teaching across more than one subject.

A wide variety of options means that you can pursue your own interests – with increasing flexibility as you progress through the course. With practical skills training, including advanced analytical approaches, this degree opens up doors to a range of interesting and rewarding career possibilities and provides the skills needed to progress to higher research programmes.

Placement and/or study abroad options may be available, potentially extending the duration of study up to 4 years. Study abroad will be subject to any international travel restrictions and/or availability.

This course has a foundation year available.

**Features and Benefits**
- We are one of the largest centres for historical study in the UK.

- Take advantage of the opportunity to undertake collaborative projects with museums, art galleries or other external partners, equipping you with practical 'real world' experience and helping you to gain a competitive edge in the graduate jobs market.

- The Department of History, Politics and Philosophy has a wealth of expertise, with leading researchers whose published work covers a wide range of times and places, and this research underpins all of our teaching. The department is also home to the Manchester Centre for Public History and Heritage.

- Offers you an in-depth and varied account of the nature of politics in the twenty-first century. Politics staff have a variety of expertise in areas including critical international relations, digital politics and US foreign policy, and the course content is directly informed by these research specialisms of the teaching team.

- We place a strong emphasis on key employability skills. Our units, teaching and assessment are geared, in part, around the practical skills needed to ensure you’re fully prepared for your future career.

- Each year offers increasing levels of flexibility with a broad range of option units, so you can choose to specialise in areas that interest you.

- Our course provides flexible opportunities for internationalisation, including the opportunity to study a foreign language as part of the course, and the option to study abroad in your second year.

- The teaching team is friendly, supportive and committed to research-informed teaching, providing you with an intellectually challenging environment. As a student, you will benefit from pastoral care and a study support network designed specifically for Joint Honours students.

- Our assessments develop the essential skills you’ll need as a historian - as a problem solver, critical thinker, researcher and writer. They also embrace practical exercises which may include placements, documentary filmmaking, group projects, and the practice of public history.

The Uni


Course location:

Manchester Metropolitan University

Department:

History, Politics and Philosophy

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.

83%
History
75%
Politics

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

86%
Staff make the subject interesting
91%
Staff are good at explaining things
78%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
70%
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

75%
Library resources
88%
IT resources
84%
Course specific equipment and facilities
74%
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?

99%
UK students
1%
International students
53%
Male students
47%
Female students
74%
2:1 or above
9%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

C
C
C

Politics

Teaching and learning

86%
Staff make the subject interesting
87%
Staff are good at explaining things
76%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
71%
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

79%
Library resources
90%
IT resources
85%
Course specific equipment and facilities
69%
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?

94%
UK students
6%
International students
53%
Male students
47%
Female students
90%
2:1 or above
8%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

C
C
C

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.

£16,000
low
Average annual salary
97%
med
Employed or in further education
40%
med
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

19%
Other elementary services occupations
11%
Sales assistants and retail cashiers
10%
Artistic, literary and media 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.

Politics

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.

£16,500
low
Average annual salary
93%
low
Employed or in further education
30%
low
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

23%
Sales assistants and retail cashiers
11%
Other elementary services occupations
10%
Welfare and housing associate professionals

The numbers of people taking politics degrees fell sharply last year and we'll keep an eye on this one - it can't really be because of graduates getting poor outcomes as politics grads do about as well as graduates on average. Most politics or international relations graduates don't actually go into politics - although many do, as activists, fundraisers and researchers. Jobs in local and central government are also important. Other popular jobs include marketing and PR, youth and community work, finance roles, HR and academic research (you usually need a postgraduate degree to get into research). Because so many graduates get jobs in the civil service, a lot of graduates find themselves in London after graduating. Politics is a very popular postgraduate subject, and so about one in five politics graduates go on to take another course - usually a one-year Masters - after they finish their degrees.

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.

£17k

£17k

£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.

Politics

The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.

£20k

£20k

£19k

£19k

£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 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.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

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