COVID-19 update
Find out about how we'll be delivering our courses in 2020.
Full Time: 3 Years
Our BA Archaeology and History degree offers insights into the richness and variety of past human experience, covering a wide range of subjects and approaches.
You will gain knowledge of a range of chronological periods, as well as develop your ability to analyse change over time and to compare cross-cultural and abstract concepts. This flexible course enables you to tailor your degree to your interests and apply what you learn in the real world.
At the University of Reading, our expertise in archaeology starts with the earliest humans and spans up until the medieval period. We focus mainly on British, European and Near Eastern Archaeology, but also explore other regions across the world. You will learn about Burial Archaeology, Material Culture, Bioarchaeology (including human remains), Forensics, Past Environments (including Geoarchaeology), Museums and Gender Archaeology. Benefit from our dedicated Archaeology Building and specialist equipment, and learn in purpose-built laboratories.
Our expertise in history covers a wide range of world regions – Europe and Africa to America, South Asia and the Middle East. Module choices cover several historical periods: these include the Crusades, the 1960s, slavery in America, the Tudor monarchy, Cold War Berlin and medieval magic. In your first year, core modules will explore people, politics, and revolution. You will find out how people struggled for power in past societies, and learn about the culture and concepts those societies developed.
In the Department of History, our academics are experts at the forefront of their disciplines. Their research feeds into your studies, exposing you to the latest developments in the field. In 2020, we achieved a 91% satisfaction score for the teaching on our BA History course in the National Student Survey.
The Department of Archaeology is a research-intensive department at the cutting edge of social and scientific archaeology. 97% of our research was judged to be of international standing in the Research Excellence Framework 2014. We also have an outstanding record for student satisfaction, with scores consistently between 90-100% for overall student satisfaction in the National Student Survey, 2010-2020.
If you are interested in studying abroad, you have the opportunity to spend a term at one of our partner universities in your second year, getting to know a new academic and cultural environment.
Placement year or year abroad
This degree programme is also available as a four-year course, giving you the option of spending your third year on a placement or studying for one year at a university abroad, gaining valuable professional and international experience. You can also combine the two options by spending one semester studying abroad and then undertaking a half-year professional placement abroad or back in the UK.
We provide opportunities for you to undertake placements in a variety of contexts. Placements are an excellent way to enhance your work-related skills and develop a network of contacts, as well as strengthen your employability prospects.
Opportunities are available working across the archaeological, heritage, planning and museum sectors including: research institutions, government organisations, local planning authorities, archaeological consultancies, field units, specialists and archivists. Staff in the Department of History also have links to specific areas of interest such as Cliveden, Historic England, Reading Museum, Reading Borough Libraries and the Museum of Rural English Life (MERL). Alternatively you can apply for a placement in a non-related business or industry, exploring different career options and enhancing your employability by drawing on the many non-vocational, transferable skills you obtain from an archaeology degree.
Previous placement examples include:
- Traineeship with Oxford Archaeology
- Traineeship at the Field School
- Archaeological science placement at QUEST, the University of Reading’s scientific consultancy company
- Volunteering at the Ure Museum, Cole Museum of Zoology and the Museum of English Rural Life
- Human remains placement
- Mediterranean Palaeoclimate Project placement
- Hominin Skeletal Morphology placement
- Archaeological Graphics placement
- Lithics Reference Collection placement
- “Developing Experimental Archaeology for Research and Training” placement
- “The Ecology of Crusading: Isotope Analysis and Faunal Remains” placement
- Summer Enterprise Experience and Discovery internship scheme
Both the Archaeology and History departments have a dedicated member of staff in charge of placements, who can provide you with advice and support.
Students opting to undertake a standard three-year degree course will also have the opportunity to take a fully-credited placement or to spend a single term at one of our partner universities abroad. Recent options include the Universities of Malta, Aarhus (Denmark), Torún (Poland) and the University of Florida in Gainesville (U.S.A).
For more information, please visit the Department of Archaeology website.
Typical offer A Level BBB | IB 30 points overall
What will you study?
How much will it cost?
New UK/EU students: £9,250* per year
New international students: £17,320 per year
* UK and EU fee changes
UK undergraduate fees are regulated by the government. These fees are subject to parliamentary approval and any decision on raising the tuition fees cap for new UK and EU** students would require the formal approval of both Houses of Parliament before it becomes law.
From 2020, the UK government may link tuition fees to the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF).
**EU students
For more information on fees, loans and grants for EU students, see fees and funding for home/EU students.
Additional costs
These course fees cover the cost of your tuition. Some courses will require additional payments for field trips and extra resources. You will also need to budget for your accommodation and living costs. See our information on living costs for more details.
Financial support for your studies
You may be eligible for a scholarship or bursary to help pay for your study. Students from the UK and other EU countries may also be eligible for a student loan to help cover these costs. See our fees and funding information for more information on what's available.
Flexible courses (price per 10 credit module)
Home/EU students: £750
International students: £1275
* UK and EU Fee Changes
Subject to the Government passing legislation to raise the minimum fee cap, we will raise undergraduate tuition fees from £9,000 to £9,250 for new UK/EU students applying to start courses in the 2017/18 academic year. You will not be affected by this rise if you have deferred entry to the 2017/18 academic year. The Government will confirm future arrangements for EU students in due course.
The tuition fee will remain £9,000 per year for the full duration of this course if you start in the 2016/17 academic year or have accepted an offer but deferred your entry until the 2017/18 academic year. This is unlike other institutions who are planning to raise fees midway through courses.
For further information, please see our webpage on the Teaching Excellence Framework and future tuition fees.
Additional costs
These course fees cover the cost of your tuition. Some courses will require additional payments for field trips and extra resources. You will also need to budget for your accommodation and living costs. See our information on living costs for more details.
Financial support for your studies
You may be eligible for a scholarship or bursary to help pay for your study. Students from the UK and other EU countries may also be eligible for a student loan to help cover these costs. See our fees and funding information for more information on what's available.
What career can you have?
This joint degree can lead to a variety of careers. The course is an ideal foundation to begin your career in commercial archaeology, heritage management and research, as well as disciplines such as teaching, business, publishing and marketing.
You will gain a broad range of subject-specific and transferable skills spanning the humanities and sciences. Employers consistently rank attitudes and aptitudes for work higher than any other factor, according to the CBI/Pearson Education and Skills Survey report 2019. Our curriculum is designed with this in mind, giving you not just knowledge in subjects you are passionate about, but also the qualities that employers really care about – qualities that are transferable to a diverse range of careers.
We have long-established, excellent relationships with employers within the archaeology, heritage and related sectors. Archaeology and History graduates from the University of Reading are represented among the staff of major employers such as The British Museum, Oxford Archaeology, Wessex Archaeology, Museum of London Archaeology, Natural History Museum, Football Association, Marks and Spencer, MI5, Morgan Stanley and Siemens Financial Services. Some of our graduates have progressed into roles in the civil service and in teaching at both primary and secondary levels. Each year a number of graduates pursue further, higher study following graduation.