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Open University

UCAS Code: Not applicable | Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)

Entry requirements

Sorry, no information to show

About this course

Course option

3years

Distance learning | 2025

Subject

History

This wide-ranging course will develop and deepen your knowledge of different periods of history from around 1500 to the late twentieth century. You’ll tackle such exciting and challenging issues as power and warfare, culture and beliefs, health and medicine, imperialism, race, class and gender. In doing so you'll learn the skills of the historian in studying historical materials; exploring how we understand, interpret and debate past events; and investigating a range of critical approaches.

**Key features of the course**

- Explore a wide range of historical topics, periods and places

- Find out what it means to be a historian

- Have the opportunity to develop a project based on independent study

- Study using custom-made teaching materials

- Develop skills in research, analysis and communication that are beneficial to a wide range of careers

Modules

This degree has three stages, each comprising two modules.
You’ll start Stage 1 with a broad introduction to the arts and humanities followed by beginning your study of history with a module focusing on revolutions.
Stage 2 includes two compulsory modules: you’ll discover how historians seek to understand change and continuity within the society and culture of Europe between 1500 and 1780; and learn about the British Isles between 1789–1914, a period of rapid transformation.
At Stage 3, we offer modules on the rise and fall of Empires since 1492 and on conflict and change in twentieth-century Europe. Alternatively, you can research an independent research project on an aspect of Welsh history of your choice. You can also choose to study one module in art history, classical studies or religious studies.

Tuition fees

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

Channel Islands
£24,552
for the whole course
England
£23,352
for the whole course
EU
£24,552
for the whole course
International
£24,552
for the whole course
Northern Ireland
£7,440
for the whole course
Republic of Ireland
£21,996
for the whole course
Scotland
£7,632
for the whole course
Wales
£7,872
for the whole course

The Uni

Course location:

Distance Learning

Department:

The Open University

Read full university profile

What students say

We've crunched the numbers to see if the overall teaching satisfaction score here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.

90%
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

88%
Staff make the subject interesting
88%
Staff are good at explaining things
88%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
78%
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

86%
Library resources
87%
IT resources
86%
Course specific equipment and facilities
87%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

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

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.

£29,000
high
Average annual salary
74%
low
Employed or in further education
48%
med
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

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.

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.

£23k

£23k

£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 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