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Archaeology and Anthropology with Professional Placement

Entry requirements


A level

B,B,B

Access to HE Diploma

D:18,M:27

Cambridge International Pre-U Certificate - Principal

M2,M2,M2

Extended Project

B

In recognition of the excellent preparation that the Extended Project Qualification provides to students for University study, we now include achievement in the EPQ as part of a formal offer.  Eligible applicants would receive two offers,  our usual offer plus an alternative offer of a B in the EPQ and one grade lower in their A level subjects

GCSE/National 4/National 5

GCSE Maths grade 4 (or C), GCSE English Language or English Literature grade 4 (or C).

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme

30

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

DDM

Scottish Higher

A,B,B,B,B

T Level

M

Minimum grade C in the Core Component.

UCAS Tariff

120-141

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

About this course


Course option

4years

Sandwich | 2024

Subjects

Archaeology

Anthropology

Explore humanity from its earliest origins to the cultures and societies of today with our BA Archaeology and Anthropology with Professional Placement degree.

The University of Reading is in the top 100 in the world for Archaeology (QS World Rankings by Subject, 2023, Archaeology. The University of Reading is ranked 51-100 in the world and is the joint 9th highest placed UK university) and is ranked 1st in the UK for research quality and research outputs in Archaeology (Times Higher Education Institutions Ranked by Subject, based on its analysis of the latest Research Excellence Framework 2021), and scored 2nd best for teaching quality in Archaeology (The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024).

This four-year, joint honours course combines archaeology’s examination of material evidence from our past and present with anthropology’s focus on human development and contemporary cultures and societies. Studying these two disciplines together allows you insight and understanding of what it means to be human.

This understanding will be crucial in addressing issues critical to our shared global future, including:

- the relationship between humans and environmental change

- inequality, migration and identity

- population growth and development

- human diets and health

- politics, economics and sustainability.

By examining human development, behaviour and different cultures, you will better understand the roots of these issues, and learn how other societies have tackled comparable problems – and how contemporary societies are addressing them now.

Using methodological approaches from the sciences, social sciences and humanities, you will examine the diversity of human experience. You will learn about the biological evolution of our earliest ancestors, the pre-historical and historical development of different cultures, and present-day ways of life and social issues.

During your studies you will analyse:

- material culture

- biological evidence

- ethnographic evidence

- theoretical and empirical perspectives from the past and present.

Your studies in the Department of Archaeology will encompass ethnographic approaches and case studies, and the study of social and scientific archaeology, including:

- the investigation of artefacts recovered through excavation

- the study of human bones (including osteology and palaeopathology)

- the study of plant and animal remains

- human-environment interaction

- how climate and environmental change have affected lives past and present

- religious, social, economic and political diversity around the world.

On this course you will learn through a combination of field classes and fieldwork projects, lectures and seminars, laboratory and other practical work, and placements.

Depending on your module choices, methods of assessment can range from fieldwork diaries and laboratory-based practical tests to article critiques and presentations.

**Professional placement**
A key component of this course is a fourth year so that you can complete a placement during your third year of study.

A professional placement allows you to apply – and increase – your academic knowledge while enhancing your employability.

Previous placement students have analysed samples in labs, processed human remains, worked on hominin skeletal morphology, drawn archaeological finds, conducted collections-based research, studied the ecology of the Crusades through isotope analysis and faunal remains, investigated paleoclimate records, and participated in castle excavations in Spain.

You can complete your placement with an employer in the UK or abroad, and take advantage of our connections with a range of organisations in the archaeological, heritage, planning and museum sectors, including:

- research institutions

- government organisations

- local planning authorities

- archaeological consultancies

- field units

- archivists.

Modules

The following modules have been approved in principle for delivery in 2024/25. Please note that as part of our current curriculum improvement process, all modules require final University approval and may be subject to change.

Core modules for this course:
*Revolutions and Transitions: the Human Journey from 6 Million Years Ago to the Present Day
*Archaeology Today: Methods and Practice
*Global Challenges
*Forensic Anthropology and the Archaeology of Death
*Contemporary World Cultures: an Introduction to Social Anthropology
*Archaeology and Heritage: Past, Present and Future
*Archaeology Field School and Professional Practice
*Changing the Face of the Earth: Past, Present and Future Sustainability
*Living with Each Other: Social and Cultural Geography

The University cannot guarantee that all optional modules will be available to all students who may wish to take them. We suggest that you regularly revisit this webpage during this time to ensure you have the most up-to-date information regarding the modules offered on this programme.

Tuition fees

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

Channel Islands
£9,250
per year
England
£9,250
per year
EU
£22,350
per year
International
£22,350
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 Reading

Department:

School of Archaeology, Geography and Environmental Science

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.

100%
Archaeology

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.

Archaeology

Teaching and learning

100%
Staff make the subject interesting
100%
Staff are good at explaining things
100%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
95%
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

70%
Library resources
95%
IT resources
100%
Course specific equipment and facilities
100%
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?

88%
UK students
12%
International students
38%
Male students
62%
Female students
73%
2:1 or above
10%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

C
B
B

Anthropology

Sorry, no information to show

This is usually because there were too few respondents in the data we receive to be able to provide results about the subject at this university.


Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

89%
UK students
11%
International students
29%
Male students
71%
Female students
80%
2:1 or above
15%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

C
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.

Archaeology

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.

£17,108
low
Average annual salary
93%
med
Employed or in further education
45%
low
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

31%
Natural and social science professionals
13%
Other elementary services occupations
10%
Sales assistants and retail cashiers

Want to do a job in the arts - with lots of the great outdoors? Try archaeology! There don't tend to be many archaeology undergraduates out there (just under 700 graduated in 2015) - but it's quite a popular subject at postgraduate level. In fact, over a quarter of archaeology graduates take some kind of further study when they graduate - usually more study of archaeology. When you look at the stats, be aware that junior jobs in archaeology are not always well paid at the start of your career, and that temporary contracts are not uncommon. Thankfully, though, unpaid work, whilst not completely gone, is less common than it used to be. The archaeology graduates of 2015 found jobs in archaeology, of course, but also management and heritage and environment work, as well as more conventional graduate jobs in marketing and the finance industry.

Anthropology

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.

£22,000
med
Average annual salary
95%
med
Employed or in further education

Top job areas of graduates

23%
Business, research and administrative professionals
20%
Business, finance and related associate professionals
10%
Sales, marketing and related associate professionals

This is a pretty flexible degree and a good one if you want to keep your options open. Just over 1,250 graduates completed anthropology degrees last year, and they were well spread out across a whole range of jobs — many industries have jobs that can be done by anthropology graduates and unlike a lot of degrees, there aren't many jobs we can point to and say ‘graduates from this degree do that job’. Management, marketing, housing and recruitment jobs are the most popular, though, and many graduates go into the education or social care sectors. Graduates are also rather more likely than average to work in London, or to go overseas to work. This is quite a popular subject at postgraduate level, and if you want to go into research, you'll need to think about postgrad study - and it's one of the few where numbers are on the up at the moment.

What about your long term prospects?

Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.

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.

£19k

£19k

£23k

£23k

£28k

£28k

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.

Sorry, no information to show

This is usually because there were too few respondents in the data we receive to be able to provide results about the subject at this university.

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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?

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