Get degree ideas using our A level explorer tool

History and History of Art

Entry requirements


A level

A,B,B

A Level History, Medieval History or Ancient History is preferred but we welcome applications from candidates who can demonstrate an interest in and an aptitude for the study of history and politics. Acceptable subjects include: Ancient History, Anthropology, Archaeology, Business Studies, Classical Civilisation, Drama and Theatre Studies, Economics, English Language, English Language and Literature, English Literature, Environmental Studies, Geography, Government and Politics, History, History of Art, Law, Medieval History, Modern or Classical Languages, Music, Philosophy, Psychology, Religious Studies, and Sociology. If you are not studying one or more of the above then please contact us to discuss your application. If you are not taking A level History then we will require GCSE History grade 7 and at least one humanities subject at A level or equivalent.

Accepted in place of A levels with the following grade equivalencies: D2 = A*; D3 = A; M2 = B. Combinations of A levels and Principle subjects are accepted. NB required subjects must be offered (see A level Section)

GCSE/National 4/National 5

GCSE History grade 7 if not taking A Level History

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme

32

6,5,5 in Higher Level subjects. Please see A Level details above for subject information.

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

DDD

BTEC Extended Diploma: DDM, plus an A at A-level in the required subject/s mentioned above. BTEC Diploma: DD, plus an B at A-level in the required subject/s mentioned above. BTEC Subsidiary Diploma: D, plus AB at A-level, including an A in the required A-level subject/s mentioned above.

Accepted in place of a non-required A level with the equivalent grade.

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

History of art

Studying History of Art alongside History is a highly complementary pairing, as you investigate past and present cultures - and the process of human creativity itself.

Whatever your interests - whether cultural, social, military, political, economic or religious history - there is someone at Birmingham teaching your kind of history. Moreover, historians in other departments expand the range of modules on offer, notably in the fields of Byzantine and African history. You will have access to original works, special collections and extensive resources, such as our acclaimed on-campus gallery - the Barber Institute of Fine Arts. Here you will find works by Botticelli, Van Gogh, Monet, Vigée LeBrun, Magritte and Rodin.

Study trips play an important part in your degree and include visits to galleries and museums in the UK and abroad. You will participate in a week-long, University-funded trip to a major European centre of artistic and historic importance, where you have the opportunity to examine works of art and architecture in situ. Previous study trips have been to Rome, Prague, Berlin and Paris and are led by staff with specific research interests in the city.

**Why study this course?**

**The Golovine** – An official blog for the Department of Art History, Curating and Visual Studies at the University of Birmingham. Students are encouraged to contribute to the blog regularly as part of the course. It gives our prospective students exclusive insight into what it’s like studying at Birmingham, alumni successes, research conducted and commentaries on art news.

**University-funded trips** - Gallery study trips are organised in the West Midlands and London, while students enjoy a week-long, University-funded trip to a major European city in their second year. Students can also choose to study abroad for one year or one semester during their degree. Our exchange universities include Melbourne University in Australia, Lund University in Sweden and Leiden University in the Netherlands.

**On-campus gallery** - Teaching regularly takes place in our working gallery on campus, The Barber Institute of Fine Arts, which is home to a dedicated fine art library and world-class collection. Seminars and events are held here, which really help to deepen your understanding and expand your knowledge of the museum and heritage sector following our hands-on approach.

**A city brimming with culture** - The city of Birmingham hosts many art venues and cultural festivals. You will find a thriving underground arts scene, edgy contemporary pieces in the Ikon Gallery, and stunning traditional works in the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, which houses the largest collection of pre-Raphaelite artwork in the world.

**Present day application** - We believe in history as a practical and engaged endeavour that speaks to questions of social inequality, community belonging and even climate change. As a Birmingham student you have opportunities to learn about the uses of history such as through a placement in the heritage sector on our Professional Skills module.

**Top 5 for History of Art in The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2023**

**Top 10 for History in the Complete University Guide 2023**

**Top 100 for History in the QS World University Subject Rankings 2022**

Modules

First-year modules cover a broad base of the subject and are designed to introduce you to ways of studying at university. By the final year the modules you take will become more specialised and reflect the research expertise of the academic staff. More detailed module information can be found on the ‘Course detail’ tab on the University of Birmingham’s coursefinder web pages.

Tuition fees

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

Channel Islands
£9,250
per year
England
£9,250
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Republic of Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£9,250
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

The Uni


Course location:

University of Birmingham

Department:

Department of 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.

80%
History
88%
History of art

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
84%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
72%
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

72%
Library resources
91%
IT resources
79%
Course specific equipment and facilities
64%
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
41%
Male students
59%
Female students
97%
2:1 or above
9%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

A
A
A

History of art, architecture and design

Teaching and learning

96%
Staff make the subject interesting
96%
Staff are good at explaining things
96%
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

83%
Library resources
100%
IT resources
83%
Course specific equipment and facilities
76%
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?

85%
UK students
15%
International students
9%
Male students
91%
Female students
93%
2:1 or above
4%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

B
B
A

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.

£20,000
med
Average annual salary
96%
med
Employed or in further education
66%
high
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

12%
Business, finance and related associate professionals
12%
Sales, marketing and related associate professionals
9%
Teaching and educational 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.

History of art, architecture and design

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.

£20,000
med
Average annual salary
96%
med
Employed or in further education

Top job areas of graduates

12%
Sales, marketing and related associate professionals
12%
Business, finance and related associate professionals
9%
Sales assistants and retail cashiers

This is a category for graduates taking a wide range of courses that don’t fall neatly into a subject group, so be aware that the stats you see here may not be a very accurate guide to the outcomes for the specific course you’re interested in. Management, finance, marketing, education and jobs in the arts are some of the typical jobs for these graduates, but it's sensible to go on open days and talk to tutors about what you might expect from the course, and what previous graduates did.

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.

£20k

£20k

£26k

£26k

£30k

£30k

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 of art, architecture and design

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

£26k

£26k

£30k

£30k

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.

Explore these similar courses...

Share this page

This is what the university has told Ucas about the criteria they expect applicants to satisfy; some may be compulsory, others may be preferable.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

This is the percentage of applicants to this course who received an offer last year, through Ucas.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

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.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

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.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

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.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

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.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

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.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

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

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

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