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History and Politics

Entry requirements


A level

A,B,B

Excluded subjects - General Studies and Critical Thinking.

Access to HE Diploma

D:15,M:15

We consider applications from students with the Access to Higher Education Diploma. The minimum academic requirement is to achieve 60 credits overall with 45 credits at Level 3, of which 15 credits must be at Distinction and 15 credits at Merit or higher. This must include at least 6 Level 3 credits in History modules at Distinction.

We consider applications from students offering an EPQ and may make an alternative offer to include three A levels, one grade lower than our usual requirement, along with a specific grade in the EPQ. For further information please visit: qmul.ac.uk/undergraduate/entry/epq

GCSE/National 4/National 5

A minimum of five GCSE passes to include English at grade C or 4 or an acceptable equivalent will be required.

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme

32

6,5,5 in HL subjects

Queen Mary University of London welcomes applications from students currently studying Level 3 BTEC qualifications and will consider you for entry to the majority of our undergraduate courses. The typical entry requirements will vary according to the course you are applying for. Some of our courses require specific subject knowledge which you may not be able to cover as part of a Level 3 BTEC qualification and we may therefore require additional Level 3 qualifications to ensure that you are suitably prepared for relevant courses. A small number of our courses do not accept BTEC qualifications for entry, either as a standalone qualification, or in combination with other qualifications at Level 3. Information on our typical entry requirements and guidance for applying can be found at http://www.qmul.ac.uk/undergraduate/entry/btec/ If you are at all unsure about the acceptability of your BTEC qualification for entry, please contact the Admissions team for individual advice ([email protected])

UCAS Tariff

128

We've calculated how many Ucas points you'll need for this course.

About this course


Course option

3years

Full-time | 2024

Subjects

History

Politics

Are you interested in the evolution of political ideas and institutions, and the history behind the world's major powers?

Taught by experts from the Schools of History and Politics and International Relations, our joint honours degree in History and Politics examines the close links between these two disciplines.

This degree is designed to help you understand the modern world and uncover the history of political thought. You'll get an excellent grounding in both history and politics - covering a variety of historical periods, regions and ideas, as well as political theory, ideas and ideologies, and government and institutions.

You can choose from a range of option modules in both subjects, giving you the opportunity to explore specialist areas as diverse as colonisation in African history, the Russian Tsars and Bolsheviks, Britain in the Second World War, building the American Nation, comparative European politics, and the twenty-first century War on Terror.

Modules

Compulsory
History in Practice
Thinking Politically: Introduction to Concepts, Theories and Ideologies

Choose from: 

Unravelling Britain: British History since 1801
Global Encounters: Conquest and Culture in World History
Latin for Historians I

Remaining choices from:

Background to British Politics
Building the American Nation 1756-1900
Controversies of Science and Technology in the Making of the Modern World
Europe 1000-1500: The Middle Ages and their legacy
Europe in a Global Context since 1800
Global Histories
Reformation to Revolution: Europe and the World 1500-1800
Screening History: Representing the Past in the Contemporary Historical Film
The Foundations of Modern Thought: Introduction to Intellectual History
Political Analysis
Introduction to International Relations
Politics in Action

Please note that all modules are subject to change. Further information about modules in Year 2 and 3 of the course can be found on our course webpage.

Assessment methods

Students are assessed by a combination of coursework and exams. Some modules are assessed by coursework only.

In your final year you’ll work on a 10,000 word dissertation researching a specialised area of history that particularly interests you.

Tuition fees

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

England
£9,250
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£9,250
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

The Uni


Course location:

Queen Mary University of London

Department:

History

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
62%
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

91%
Staff make the subject interesting
94%
Staff are good at explaining things
87%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
76%
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

71%
Library resources
73%
IT resources
68%
Course specific equipment and facilities
75%
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?

98%
UK students
2%
International students
37%
Male students
63%
Female students
94%
2:1 or above
11%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

B
B
B

Politics

Teaching and learning

76%
Staff make the subject interesting
84%
Staff are good at explaining things
77%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
62%
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

66%
Library resources
72%
IT resources
71%
Course specific equipment and facilities
50%
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?

76%
UK students
24%
International students
31%
Male students
69%
Female students
87%
2:1 or above
10%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

B
B
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.

£19,012
med
Average annual salary
94%
med
Employed or in further education
59%
high
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

13%
Sales, marketing and related associate professionals
9%
Teaching and educational professionals
8%
Business, research and administrative professionals

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.

£20,500
med
Average annual salary
94%
low
Employed or in further education
60%
med
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

16%
Business, research and administrative professionals
11%
Business, finance and related associate professionals
10%
Sales, marketing and related 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.

£21k

£21k

£26k

£26k

£34k

£34k

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.

£22k

£22k

£27k

£27k

£32k

£32k

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).

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