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Take a journey through time with BA History - from crusading in the High Middle Ages to anarchy in the UK. Complement your learning with a study abroad option and improve your employability with our exciting work placements.
Discover a thousand years of history whilst experiencing all the specialist areas on offer at the University of Reading, including Britain, Europe, Africa, America, the Middle East and South Asia. Your first year acts as an introduction and helps you identify your particular areas of interest. You will explore people, politics and revolution, and culture and concepts. We will teach you the skills you need to study and research history, and you will start to shape your own degree through your choice of optional modules.
You can immerse yourself in modules covering subjects such as crusading, witchcraft and heresy; fascism and communism; gender and culture; and politics and colonialism.
You will be taught in small interactive seminar groups, encouraging discussion and debate with teaching staff and fellow students. We place a great deal of importance on employability skills, and our modules History Education, Discovering Archives and Collections, and Going Public all offer you short work placements and act as an introduction to career ideas. In 2020, we achieved a 91% satisfaction score for the teaching on our BA History course in the National Student Survey (for more details, ask us at www.reading.ac.uk/question).
Field trips in the UK and abroad give you the opportunity to see history in context, for example at Cliveden House in Buckinghamshire, Winchester, Westminster, and further afield in Paris and Berlin. Additionally, you can choose to spend a term in your second year at one of our partner universities in Europe, the USA, Canada and Australia. We encourage all our students to take up this opportunity as it can open your eyes to new areas of history and build your confidence and skills.
Placement
Placements are a prominent feature of our degree courses and highly encouraged. Through our links with the Careers Centre, you can source potential employers and help with CVs and letters of application. Staff in the department also have close links with the university’s Institute of Education, Museum of English Rural Life (MERL) and Special Collections (archives), and with external organisations such as Cliveden House, English Heritage, Reading Museum, Reading Borough Library and the Berkshire Record Office.
Placements are a good way to show you how you can use the skills acquired through studying history in the real world. In History we ensure that placements are incorporated into your core learning. In the second year, we offer opportunities for short group placements in museums and heritage organisations, and encourage students to reflect on what they have learned from previous employment or voluntary work experience. For third years, two optional modules offer placements of 10 working days in local archives and secondary schools.
You also have the option to study abroad for a term in the second year. Some of the universities we have links with include University of Ottawa, Canada; University of Maastricht, Netherlands; University of Georgia, USA; and Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.
For more information, please visit the Department of History website.
Overview
Take a journey through time with BA History - from crusading in the High Middle Ages to anarchy in the UK. Complement your learning with a study abroad option and improve your employability with our exciting work placements.
Discover a thousand years of history whilst experiencing all the specialist areas on offer at the University of Reading, including Britain, Europe, Africa, America, the Middle East and South Asia. Your first year acts as an introduction and helps you identify your particular areas of interest. You will explore people, politics and revolution, and culture and concepts. We will teach you the skills you need to study and research history, and you will start to shape your own degree through your choice of optional modules.
You can immerse yourself in modules covering subjects such as crusading, witchcraft and heresy; fascism and communism; gender and culture; and politics and colonialism.
You will be taught in small interactive seminar groups, encouraging discussion and debate with teaching staff and fellow students. We place a great deal of importance on employability skills, and our modules History Education, Discovering Archives and Collections, and Going Public all offer you short work placements and act as an introduction to career ideas. In 2020, we achieved a 91% satisfaction score for the teaching on our BA History course in the National Student Survey (for more details, ask us at www.reading.ac.uk/question).
Field trips in the UK and abroad give you the opportunity to see history in context, for example at Cliveden House in Buckinghamshire, Winchester, Westminster, and further afield in Paris and Berlin. Additionally, you can choose to spend a term in your second year at one of our partner universities in Europe, the USA, Canada and Australia. We encourage all our students to take up this opportunity as it can open your eyes to new areas of history and build your confidence and skills.
Placement
Placements are a prominent feature of our degree courses and highly encouraged. Through our links with the Careers Centre, you can source potential employers and help with CVs and letters of application. Staff in the department also have close links with the university’s Institute of Education, Museum of English Rural Life (MERL) and Special Collections (archives), and with external organisations such as Cliveden House, English Heritage, Reading Museum, Reading Borough Library and the Berkshire Record Office.
Placements are a good way to show you how you can use the skills acquired through studying history in the real world. In History we ensure that placements are incorporated into your core learning. In the second year, we offer opportunities for short group placements in museums and heritage organisations, and encourage students to reflect on what they have learned from previous employment or voluntary work experience. For third years, two optional modules offer placements of 10 working days in local archives and secondary schools.
You also have the option to study abroad for a term in the second year. Some of the universities we have links with include University of Ottawa, Canada; University of Maastricht, Netherlands; University of Georgia, USA; and Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.
For more information, please visit the Department of History website.
Entry requirements A Level BBB | IB 30 points overall
Select Reading as your firm choice on UCAS and we'll guarantee you a place even if you don't quite meet your offer. For details, see our firm choice scheme.
Typical offer
BBB, including grade B in A level History, Ancient History, or Classical Civilisation.
International Baccalaureate
30 points overall including 5 in History at higher level.
Extended Project Qualification
In recognition of the excellent preparation that the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) provides to students for University study we can now include achievement in the EPQ as part of a formal offer.
BTEC Extended Diploma
DDM (Modules taken must be comparable to subject specific requirement)
English language requirements
IELTS 7.0, with no component below 6.0
For information on other English language qualifications, please visit our international student pages.
Alternative entry requirements for International and EU students
For country specific entry requirements look at entry requirements by country.
International Foundation Programme
If you are an international or EU student and do not meet the requirements for direct entry to your chosen degree you can join the University of Reading’s International Foundation Programme. Successful completion of this 1 year programme guarantees you a place on your chosen undergraduate degree. English language requirements start as low as IELTS 4.5 depending on progression degree and start date.
Pre-sessional English language programme
If you need to improve your English language score you can take a pre-sessional English course prior to entry onto your degree.
Structure
Compulsory modules include:
Code | Module | Convenor |
---|---|---|
HS1RSO | Research Skills and Opportunities in History | DR Ruth Salter |
HS1JH2 | Journeys through History 2: Culture and Concepts' | PROF Anne Lawrence |
HS1JH1 | Journeys through History 1:Power and People | DR Elizabeth Matthew |
Optional modules include:
Code | Module | Convenor |
---|---|---|
PP1GJ | Global Justice | DR Shalini Sinha |
PP1RA | Reason and Argument | DR Jumbly Grindrod |
EC118 | Economy, Politics and Culture in the Roman World | PROF Ken Dark |
CL1G1 | Ancient Greek 1 | MRS Jackie Baines |
CL1GH | Greek History: war, society, and change in the Archaic Age | DR Emma Aston |
CL1TR | Texts, Readers, and Writers | PROF Eleanor Dickey |
CL1L1 | Latin 1 (C) | MRS Jackie Baines |
AP1EM1 | Introduction to Marketing | MS Sandra Preciado |
HS1RUS | Rape in the United States: from Colonisation to Civil Rights | MISS Liz Barnes |
HS1TTA | The Times They Are A-Changin’ – Protest, Reform and the Government Response in 1960s America | MR Dafydd Townley |
HS1WAR | Warfare in Early Modern Europe | PROF Joël Félix |
HS1MMM | Monks, Moors and Magic: Patterns of Belief in Medieval Europe | MS Harriet Mahood |
HS1POP2 | Black Britain: Race and migration in post-war Britain | DR Natalie Thomlinson |
HS1RAP | Radicalism and Protest in Britain: from the Levellers to Occupy | DR Rachel Foxley |
HS1CHI | Chivalry: the Emergence and Impact of a Medieval Ethos | MISS Charlie Crouch |
HS1HAF | Hunger and Famines in History | DR Rohan Deb Roy |
HS1ABR | Arriving in Britain: a History of Immigration, 1685-2004 | DR Daniel Renshaw |
HS1ANS | Anti-Semitism: Medieval Christian-Jewish Relations and the Concept of ‘Anti-Semitism’ | PROF Rebecca Rist |
HS1BCB | Birth Control in modern Britain: an intellectual history | PROF David Stack |
LW1SOC | Law & Society | MRS Amanda Millmore |
LS1ELS | English Language and Society | DR Christiana Themistocleous |
ML1IL | Introduction to Linguistics | DR Federico Faloppa |
MC1HPE | Museum History, Policy and Ethics | DR Rhi Smith |
MM1F10 | Student Enterprise | DR Lebene Soga |
Compulsory modules include:
Code | Module | Convenor |
---|---|---|
HS2GPP | Going Public: Presenting the Past, Planning the Future | PROF Kate Williams |
HS2HAD | Historical Approaches and My Dissertation | MR Dafydd Townley |
Optional modules include:
Code | Module | Convenor |
---|---|---|
PO2PWS | Politics of the Welfare State | DR Brandon Beomseob Park |
PO2MIR | Modern International Relations | DR Joseph O' Mahoney |
PO2THI | Political Thinking | DR Alice Baderin |
MT2CC | The Science of Climate Change | PROF Nigel Arnell |
PP2MM1 | Meaning and the Mind 1 | DR Jumbly Grindrod |
PP2IDR1 | Ignorance, Doubt, and Relativism 1 | DR Jumbly Grindrod |
PP2OID1 | Oppression, Inequality, and the Enemies of Democracy 1 | MR George Mason |
PP2HKW1 | Hume, Kant, and Wittgenstein 1 | DR Severin Schroeder |
PP2GP1 | Global Philosophy 1 | DR Shalini Sinha |
PP2EA1 | Ethical Argument 1: Philosophy and How to Live | DR Luke Elson |
CL2RO | Roman History: From Republic to Empire | PROF Annalisa Marzano |
CL2DR | Ancient Drama | PROF Barbara Goff |
CL2CGH | Greek History: Persian Wars to Alexander | PROF Timothy Duff |
AR2M8 | Medieval Europe: power, religion and death | DR Gabor Thomas |
AR2F17 | Forensic Archaeology and Crime Scene Analysis | PROF Mary Lewis |
HS2UNR | Unity, Nationalism and Regionalism in Europe | DR Athena Leoussi |
HS2STA | Society, Thought and Art in Modern Europe | DR Veronica Heath |
HS2O7 | Kingship and Crisis in England, c.1154–1330 | DR Elizabeth Matthew |
HS2O3 | People, power and revolution: political culture in seventeenth-century England | DR Eilish Gregory |
HS2O4 | Women and Medieval History | DR Ruth Salter |
HS2O13 | The Crusades, 1095-1291 | PROF Rebecca Rist |
HS2O14 | Rebel Girls: The Influence of Radical Women 1792-1919 | DR Jacqui Turner |
HS2O12 | Belief and Unbelief in Europe: Religion, Science and the Supernatural c.1400-1800 | PROF Helen Parish |
HS2O17 | Reform and Revolt in the Modern Middle East: Egypt from Ataturk to the ‘Arab Spring’ | DR Dina Rezk |
HS2O25 | From War to the New Millennium: Making Modern Britain | DR Natalie Thomlinson |
HS2O20 | Sexual politics: Gender, sex, and feminism in Britain after 1918 | DR Natalie Thomlinson |
HS2O19 | Europe in the Twentieth Century | DR Daniel Renshaw |
HS2O18 | Pirates of the Caribbean: Empire, Slavery, and Society, 1550-1750 | DR Richard Blakemore |
HS2O11 | Hollywood Histories: Film and the Past | PROF Patrick Major |
HS2O10 | The Colonial Experience: Africa, 1879 to 1980 | DR Heike Schmidt |
LS2LAT | Introduction to English Language Teaching | MRS Suzanne Portch |
LS2LNM | Language and New Media | PROF Rodney Jones |
MM270 | Practice of Entrepreneurship | DR Norbert Morawetz |
ML2GF | Science, perversion, and dream in global fantastic literature | DR Daniela La Penna |
ML2STA | Society, Thought, and Art in Modern Europe | DR Athena Leoussi |
ML2UNR | Unity, Nationalism and Regionalism in Europe | DR Athena Leoussi |
Compulsory modules include:
Code | Module | Convenor |
---|---|---|
HS3HLD | Dissertation in History | DR Heike Schmidt |
Optional modules include:
Code | Module | Convenor |
---|---|---|
PO3FPT | Feminism and Political Theory | PROF David Marshall |
PO3USF | US Foreign and Defence Policy since 1950 | DR Graham O'Dwyer |
PO3IPE | International Political Economy | DR Jonathan Golub |
BI3EF7 | Urban Ecology | DR Phil Baker |
BI3BI8 | Neurobiology | DR Nandini Vasudevan |
HS3T98 | From Darwin to Death Camps? Evolution and eugenics in European society, 1859-1945 | PROF David Stack |
HS3T87 | Degrading a Free Society: The FBI and J. Edgar Hoover 1908 - 1976 | MR Dafydd Townley |
HS3T90 | Poor Law to Hostile Environment: Repatriation, Deportation and Exclusion from Britain 1800-2016 | DR Daniel Renshaw |
HS3T89 | Africa from European Settlement to Nelson Mandela | DR Heike Schmidt |
HS3SAU | Anarchy in the UK: Punk, Politics and Youth Culture in Britain, 1976-84 | PROF Matthew Worley |
HS3M68 | May ‘68 | DR Sophie Heywood |
HS3HED | History Education | DR Elizabeth Matthew |
HS3CCO | Crisis, Change, Opportunity: Italy from 1968 to the Present | DR Daniela La Penna |
HS3T25 | Medieval Magic and the Origins of the Witch-Craze | PROF Anne Lawrence |
HS3SLS | The Last Super Power and the New World Power: the United States and China, 1882-1989 | DR Mara Oliva |
HS3SBR | Becoming a Revolutionary: the Old Regime and the French Revolution, 1787-1794 | PROF Joël Félix |
HS3T30 | Ireland and the English in the middle ages | DR Elizabeth Matthew |
HS3T75 | The United States and the Cold War | DR Mara Oliva |
HS3T82 | Axis at War: Life and Death in Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany, 1936-45 | PROF Patrick Major |
HS3T77 | Battleaxes and Benchwarmers’: Early female MPs 1919-1931 | DR Jacqui Turner |
HS3T84 | Ireland in the seventeenth century: colonization, conflict and identity | DR Rachel Foxley |
GV3CC | Climate Change | DR Maria Shahgedanova |
GV3ESM | Ecosystems Modelling | DR Shovonlal Roy |
GV3TRC | Tropical Rainforests, Climate & Lost Civilisations | PROF Frank Mayle |
LS3IC | Intercultural Communications | DR Erhan Aslan |
LW3CRY | Criminology | PROF Paul Almond |
MM302 | Entrepreneurial Project | MR Keith Heron |
ML3IC | Identity and Conflict in Modern Europe | DR Athena Leoussi |
ML3LP | Language and Power | DR Federico Faloppa |
Fees
New UK/Republic of Ireland students: £9,250* per year
New international students: £19,500 per year
*UK/Republic of Ireland fee changes
UK/Republic of Ireland undergraduate tuition fees are regulated by the UK government. These fees are subject to parliamentary approval and any decision on raising the tuition fees cap for new UK students would require the formal approval of both Houses of Parliament before it becomes law.
EU student fees
With effect from 1 August 2021, new EU students will pay international tuition fees. For exceptions, please read the UK government’s guidance for EU students.
Additional costs
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 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)
UK/Republic of Ireland students: £750
International students: £1275
Careers
Throughout your degree you will complete career and skills related modules, encouraging you to think about what career you would like and what skills you will need. Our second-year module Going Public: Presenting the Past, Planning the Future gives you the opportunity to consider your future career options.
If you would like a career in teaching, or in archives or records management, try our optional third-year modules: History Education and Discovering Archives and Collections. We have had a high success rate from students who have completed History Education, with many of our graduates gaining places for Initial Teacher Training. Additionally, both these modules help develop a wide range of interpersonal, organisational, presentational and research skills readily transferable to other areas of employment.
Our graduates have a broad range of transferable skills, including the ability to think clearly and critically, to communicate with confidence and work effectively both individually and as part of a team. Our graduates are valued by employers for their research, analytical, teamwork and communication skills. 93% of graduates from the Department of History are in work or further study 15 months after the end of their course [1].
Recent employers have included The British Museum, The Football Association, The House of Commons, Marks and Spencer, MI5, Morgan Stanley and Siemens Financial Services.
[1] Graduate Outcomes Survey 2017/18; First Degree responders from History.