BA History with Foundation
-
UCAS code
V101 -
Typical offer
CCD -
Year of entry
2022/23 -
Course duration
Full Time: 4 Years
-
Year of entry
2022/23 -
Course duration
Full Time: 4 Years
COVID-19 update
Our BA History with Foundation course offers insights into the variety of human experience through the ages, while enabling you to develop core academic skills.
This four-year programme includes a foundation year that leads directly into the three-year course. It provides an excellent route to a degree in history if you do not have the typical entry requirements. Following the successful completion of the Foundation Year, you may be eligible to join one of our many joint degree programmes (unless the partner degree has specific requirements).
Discover a thousand years of world history, spanning Britain, Europe, Africa, America, the Middle East and Asia. Immerse yourself in subjects such as crusading, totalitarianism, witchcraft, gender and sexuality, race and colonialism.
Taught by experts from the Department of History, you will unlock people, places and perspectives otherwise impossible to access in a lifetime.
By choosing to study history at Reading, you will benefit from:
- the ability to shape your own degree. Our wide variety of optional modules allow you to study the aspects of history you are most passionate about.
- research-led teaching. You will learn from academics at the forefront of their disciplines, whose research feeds into your studies. This ensures you have exposure to the latest developments in the field.
- our focus on student satisfaction. 99% of our students agreed that the BA History course is intellectually stimulating and provided them with opportunities to explore ideas and concepts in depth (National Student Survey, 2021).
- dedicated career support. Employability modules and work placements form part of our careers guidance. Designed to complement your core learning, they also develop your research, analytical, teamwork and communication skills.
Your learning structure
The aim of the foundation year is to prepare you for your history degree. As you progress, each stage builds upon your prior learning:
- Foundation year: Your core modules will provide you with subject-specific knowledge and study skills including writing, critical thinking and research. You will cover familiar topics and exciting new areas.
You will complete two skills-based modules: Foundation in Academic Skills develops your academic writing, research, referencing, critical thinking, teamwork, study techniques and study management; and Persuasive Writing explores how writing shapes our lives, and how it’s used for social media, journalistic and political persuasion.
Two additional modules develop skills specific to your degree: Identities explores identity in relation to national/race identity, gender, changing identities and sense of self, examining everything from texts and objects to film and cultural documents; and Perspectives enhances your ability to study and understand problems, events, objects and texts from a variety of perspectives: historical, moral and self-reflective.
One of the most popular topics on the Perspectives module is ‘The History and Politics Surrounding Statues’ where we debate what questions we need to ask when critiquing statues for either erection or removal, why people care so much about statues and what role they play in public understandings of the past.
- First year: you will be introduced to long-term historical change across the medieval, early modern and modern periods. Become familiar with the political, intellectual and cultural history of the times, and develop essential research, presentational, organisational and essay-writing skills.
- Second year: develop more specialist knowledge across a broad array of historical periods and geographical areas. You’ll explore a variety of primary sources and research approaches to help you identify a topic for your dissertation.
The third year of your course will offer more in-depth study opportunities, through:
- supervised, independent research for your dissertation
- selection of a special subject, requiring close reading of primary sources relating to the research interests of departmental staff
- a range of optional modules available in the Department of History and elsewhere in the University.
Your learning environment
Alongside your lectures, you’ll be taught in small, interactive seminar groups that encourage debate with teaching staff and fellow students. As you prepare for classes and build on the topics covered in your seminars, there will be plenty of opportunity for independent study and research.
Classes are designed to offer guidance from teaching staff and explore different kinds of learning, such as formal and informal presentations. Field trips in the UK and abroad provide the opportunity to see history in context and view historical artefacts up close.
Our academics are actively engaged in research and contribute to current historical debate. Wherever possible, they will tailor their teaching to incorporate their cutting-edge research.
Placements opportunities with BA History with Foundation
At Reading, we ensure that placements are incorporated into your learning. You can undertake a short placement in a museum or heritage organisation in your second year, or choose modules in your final year that offer 10-day placements in local archives and secondary schools.
We also offer the opportunity to undertake a professional placement before your final year of study.
Our dedicated placement co-ordinators provide one-to-one support and training to ensure that you are fully equipped to secure a top-quality placement.
Staff in the department have close links with the University’s Museum of English Rural Life (MERL) and Special Collections, as well as external organisations such as Cliveden House, English Heritage and Reading Museum. Through these links with employers and external partners, we can help you find a professional placement that suits your interests.
Study abroad
In your second year, you can spend a term studying abroad at one of our partner institutions in the USA, Canada, Australia, or countries across Europe.
To find out more, visit our Study Abroad site.
Overview
Our BA History with Foundation course offers insights into the variety of human experience through the ages, while enabling you to develop core academic skills.
This four-year programme includes a foundation year that leads directly into the three-year course. It provides an excellent route to a degree in history if you do not have the typical entry requirements. Following the successful completion of the Foundation Year, you may be eligible to join one of our many joint degree programmes (unless the partner degree has specific requirements).
Discover a thousand years of world history, spanning Britain, Europe, Africa, America, the Middle East and Asia. Immerse yourself in subjects such as crusading, totalitarianism, witchcraft, gender and sexuality, race and colonialism.
Taught by experts from the Department of History, you will unlock people, places and perspectives otherwise impossible to access in a lifetime.
By choosing to study history at Reading, you will benefit from:
- the ability to shape your own degree. Our wide variety of optional modules allow you to study the aspects of history you are most passionate about.
- research-led teaching. You will learn from academics at the forefront of their disciplines, whose research feeds into your studies. This ensures you have exposure to the latest developments in the field.
- our focus on student satisfaction. 99% of our students agreed that the BA History course is intellectually stimulating and provided them with opportunities to explore ideas and concepts in depth (National Student Survey, 2021).
- dedicated career support. Employability modules and work placements form part of our careers guidance. Designed to complement your core learning, they also develop your research, analytical, teamwork and communication skills.
Your learning structure
The aim of the foundation year is to prepare you for your history degree. As you progress, each stage builds upon your prior learning:
- Foundation year: Your core modules will provide you with subject-specific knowledge and study skills including writing, critical thinking and research. You will cover familiar topics and exciting new areas.
You will complete two skills-based modules: Foundation in Academic Skills develops your academic writing, research, referencing, critical thinking, teamwork, study techniques and study management; and Persuasive Writing explores how writing shapes our lives, and how it’s used for social media, journalistic and political persuasion.
Two additional modules develop skills specific to your degree: Identities explores identity in relation to national/race identity, gender, changing identities and sense of self, examining everything from texts and objects to film and cultural documents; and Perspectives enhances your ability to study and understand problems, events, objects and texts from a variety of perspectives: historical, moral and self-reflective.
One of the most popular topics on the Perspectives module is ‘The History and Politics Surrounding Statues’ where we debate what questions we need to ask when critiquing statues for either erection or removal, why people care so much about statues and what role they play in public understandings of the past.
- First year: you will be introduced to long-term historical change across the medieval, early modern and modern periods. Become familiar with the political, intellectual and cultural history of the times, and develop essential research, presentational, organisational and essay-writing skills.
- Second year: develop more specialist knowledge across a broad array of historical periods and geographical areas. You’ll explore a variety of primary sources and research approaches to help you identify a topic for your dissertation.
The third year of your course will offer more in-depth study opportunities, through:
- supervised, independent research for your dissertation
- selection of a special subject, requiring close reading of primary sources relating to the research interests of departmental staff
- a range of optional modules available in the Department of History and elsewhere in the University.
Your learning environment
Alongside your lectures, you’ll be taught in small, interactive seminar groups that encourage debate with teaching staff and fellow students. As you prepare for classes and build on the topics covered in your seminars, there will be plenty of opportunity for independent study and research.
Classes are designed to offer guidance from teaching staff and explore different kinds of learning, such as formal and informal presentations. Field trips in the UK and abroad provide the opportunity to see history in context and view historical artefacts up close.
Our academics are actively engaged in research and contribute to current historical debate. Wherever possible, they will tailor their teaching to incorporate their cutting-edge research.
Placements opportunities with BA History with Foundation
At Reading, we ensure that placements are incorporated into your learning. You can undertake a short placement in a museum or heritage organisation in your second year, or choose modules in your final year that offer 10-day placements in local archives and secondary schools.
We also offer the opportunity to undertake a professional placement before your final year of study.
Our dedicated placement co-ordinators provide one-to-one support and training to ensure that you are fully equipped to secure a top-quality placement.
Staff in the department have close links with the University’s Museum of English Rural Life (MERL) and Special Collections, as well as external organisations such as Cliveden House, English Heritage and Reading Museum. Through these links with employers and external partners, we can help you find a professional placement that suits your interests.
Study abroad
In your second year, you can spend a term studying abroad at one of our partner institutions in the USA, Canada, Australia, or countries across Europe.
To find out more, visit our Study Abroad site.
Entry requirements A Level CCD
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
CCD
We welcome applicants from non-traditional educational backgrounds (for example, mature students, students who study part-time or those who have studied at International Schools in the UK or elsewhere) and will consider applicants on a case-by-case basis.
International Baccalaureate
24 points overall
BTEC Extended Diploma
DMM
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
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 |
---|---|---|
EN0ID | Identities | DR Michael Lyons |
EN0PW | Persuasive Writing | PROF Lucinda Becker |
HS0PE | Perspectives in the Humanities | PROF David Stack |
IF0RAS | Foundation in Academic Skills | MISS Rachel Rushton |
These are the modules that we currently offer. They may change for your year of study as we regularly review our module offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.
Compulsory modules include:
Code | Module | Convenor |
---|---|---|
HS1JH1 | Journeys through History 1:Power and People | DR Daniel Renshaw |
HS1JH2 | Journeys through History 2: Culture and Concepts' | PROF Anne Lawrence |
HS1RSO | Research Skills and Opportunities in History | DR Ruth Salter |
Optional modules include:
Code | Module | Convenor |
---|---|---|
HS1ABR | Arriving in Britain: a History of Immigration, 1685-2004 | DR Daniel Renshaw |
HS1ANS | Antisemitism: Medieval Christian-Jewish Relations and the Concept of ‘Antisemitism’ | PROF Rebecca Rist |
HS1DDD | Doomsday Dystopias: Nuclear Disaster in the Cold War Imagination | PROF Patrick Major |
HS1DDW | Demons and Demonologists: Witchcraft in Early Modern Europe | PROF Helen Parish |
HS1FBB | From Berlin to Baghdad: The origins of the War on Terror | DR Mara Oliva |
HS1MEM | 'Broken-Hearted': Medicine, Emotion, and the Body in Early Modern England, 1570-1730 | MS Amie Bolissian McRae |
HS1MER | Merlin the Magician | PROF Anne Lawrence |
HS1OWI | Western Imaginaries of the Middle East | DR Dina Rezk |
HS1RDG | Everyday Life in a Medieval Town: Reading, 1100-1500 | |
HS1TRG | The Rwanda Genocide of 1994 | DR Heike Schmidt |
HS1WAH | Women in American History: From Slavery to 'Second Wave' | PROF Emily West |
HS1WWH | War, White Heat, and the Winds of Change: Britain's Twentieth Century | DR Natalie Thomlinson |
AP1EM1 | Introduction to Marketing | MR Nick Walker |
AR1EMP10 | Early Empires: Mesopotamia, Egypt & Rome [10 credits] | PROF Roger Matthews |
AR1SOC | Contemporary world cultures: an introduction to social anthropology | DR Alanna Cant |
AR1SOC10 | Contemporary world cultures: an introduction to social anthropology [10 credits] | DR Alanna Cant |
CL1G1 | Ancient Greek 1 | MRS Jackie Baines |
CL1GH | Greek History: war, society, and change in the Archaic Age | DR Emma Aston |
CL1L1 | Latin 1 (C) | MRS Jackie Baines |
CL1TR | Texts, Readers, and Writers | PROF Eleanor Dickey |
FT1ATF | Approaches to Film | DR Adam O'Brien |
FT1ATP | Analysing Theatre and Performance | DR Matt McFrederick |
FT1CSS | Comedy on Stage and Screen | DR Simone Knox |
LS1ELS | English Language and Society | DR Christiana Themistocleous |
MC1HPE | Museum History, Policy and Ethics | DR Rhi Smith |
ML1IL | Introduction to Linguistics | MR Federico Faloppa |
MM1F10 | Student Enterprise | DR Lebene Soga |
PO1WAR | War and Warfare | |
PP1GJ | Global Justice | MISS Michela Bariselli |
PP1RA | Reason and Argument | DR Jumbly Grindrod |
TY1WTF | What the font? Making and using typefaces | DR Matthew Lickiss |
These are the modules that we currently offer. They may change for your year of study as we regularly review our module offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.
Compulsory modules include:
Code | Module | Convenor |
---|---|---|
HS2GPP | Going Public: Presenting the Past, Planning the Future | PROF Kate Williams |
HS2HAD | Historical Approaches and My Dissertation | MISS Liz Barnes |
Optional modules include:
Code | Module | Convenor |
---|---|---|
HS2INT | Intellectuals and Society in Twentieth Century Italy | PROF Daniela La Penna |
HS2O10 | The Colonial Experience: Africa, 1879 to 1980 | MRS Chessie Baldwin |
HS2O12 | Belief and Unbelief in Europe: Religion, Science and the Supernatural c.1400-1800 | PROF Helen Parish |
HS2O14 | Rebel Girls: The Influence of Radical Women 1792-1919 | DR Jacqui Turner |
HS2O16 | ‘The brightest jewel in the British crown’: The Making of Modern South Asia, 1757-1947 | DR Rohan Deb Roy |
HS2O19 | Europe in the Twentieth Century | DR Daniel Renshaw |
HS2O21 | Utopia: the Quest for a Perfect World | DR Jeremy Burchardt |
HS2O3 | People, power and revolution: political culture in seventeenth-century England | DR Rachel Foxley |
HS2O53 | The American Civil War | MISS Liz Barnes |
HS2O54 | 'Race’, Ethnicity and Citizenship in America | PROF Emily West |
HS2O55 | American Century: United States history since 1898 | DR Robert Pee |
HS2O56 | Medieval Medicine | MRS Katie Phillips |
HS2O57 | Encountering the Atlantic World, 1450-1850 | |
HS2O58 | Black Britain: Race and Migration in Post-war Britain | |
HS2O7 | Kingship and Crisis in England, c.1154–1330 | DR Elizabeth Matthew |
HS2STA | Society, Thought and Art in Modern Europe | DR Veronica Heath |
HS2UNR | Unity, Nationalism and Regionalism in Europe | DR Athena Leoussi |
AR2F17 | Forensic Archaeology and Crime Scene Analysis | PROF Mary Lewis |
AR2M8 | Medieval Europe: power, religion and death | DR Gabor Thomas |
CL2AE | Ancient Epic | DR Christa Gray |
CL2CGH | Greek History: Persian Wars to Alexander | PROF Timothy Duff |
CL2DR | Ancient Drama | PROF Barbara Goff |
CL2RO | Roman History: From Republic to Empire | PROF Annalisa Marzano |
FT2WD | Wildlife Documentary: Ecology and Representation | DR Adam O'Brien |
IL2GICC | Intercultural Competence and Communication | |
IL2GMB | Modern Britain Society, History and Politics | |
LS2LAT | Introduction to English Language Teaching | MRS Suzanne Portch |
LS2LNM | Language and New Media | PROF Rodney Jones |
ML2GF | Science, perversion, and dream in global fantastic literature | DR Alice Christensen |
ML2STA | Society, Thought, and Art in Modern Europe | DR Veronica Heath |
MM2101 | Founder Dilemmas | DR Norbert Morawetz |
MT2CC | The Science of Climate Change | PROF Nigel Arnell |
PO2AMG | American Government and Politics | DR Mark Shanahan |
PO2GPH | Global Politics and History | DR Kerry Goettlich |
PO2MIR | Modern International Relations | DR Joseph O' Mahoney |
PO2PWS | Politics of the Welfare State | DR Brandon Beomseob Park |
PO2THI | Political Thinking | DR Alice Baderin |
PP2EA1 | Ethical Argument 1: Philosophy and How to Live | DR Luke Elson |
PP2GP1 | Global Philosophy 1 | MISS Michela Bariselli |
PP2HKW1 | Hume, Kant, and Wittgenstein 1 | DR Severin Schroeder |
PP2IDR1 | Ignorance, Doubt, and Relativism 1 | DR Jumbly Grindrod |
PP2MM1 | Meaning and the Mind 1 | DR Jumbly Grindrod |
PP2OID1 | Oppression, Inequality, and the Enemies of Democracy 1 | DR Charlotte Newey |
These are the modules that we currently offer. They may change for your year of study as we regularly review our module offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.
Compulsory modules include:
Code | Module | Convenor |
---|---|---|
HS3HLD | Dissertation in History | DR Heike Schmidt |
Optional modules include:
Code | Module | Convenor |
---|---|---|
HS3CCO | Crisis, Change, Opportunity: Italy from 1968 to the Present | PROF Daniela La Penna |
HS3DAC | Discovering Archives and Collections | DR Jacqui Turner |
HS3HED | History Education | DR Elizabeth Matthew |
HS3SAU | Anarchy in the UK: Punk, Politics and Youth Culture in Britain, 1976-84 | PROF Matthew Worley |
HS3SCW | Cold War Berlin: Politics and Culture in a Divided City, 1945-89 | PROF Patrick Major |
HS3SEU | Eugenics from 1865 to the Present Day | |
HS3SHP | Heretics and Popes: Heresy and Persecution in the Medieval World | PROF Rebecca Rist |
HS3T100 | Sexual Politics: Gender, Sex, and Feminism in Britain after 1918 | |
HS3T101 | Pirates of the Caribbean: Empire, Slavery, and Society, 1550-1750 | |
HS3T102 | Melancholy Medicine: Healing the Body and Mind in Early Modern England, 1570-1730 | |
HS3T25 | Medieval Magic and the Origins of the Witch-Craze | PROF Anne Lawrence |
HS3T88 | The Romantic Revolution: Culture, Environment and Society in England, c.1790-c.1900 | DR Jeremy Burchardt |
HS3T89 | Africa from European Settlement to Nelson Mandela | DR Heike Schmidt |
HS3T90 | Poor Law to Hostile Environment: Repatriation, Deportation and Exclusion from Britain 1800-2016 | DR Daniel Renshaw |
HS3T91 | Politics and Popular Culture: Post-Arab Spring Egypt | DR Dina Rezk |
HS3T92 | Policing the United States | MISS Liz Barnes |
AR3HCP | The Anthropology of Heritage and Cultural Property | DR Alanna Cant |
AR3M7 | The Archaeology of Crusading | DR Aleks Pluskowski |
FB3LNPA | Lifestyle, Nutrigenetics and Personalised Nutrition | DR Vimal Karani |
GV3CC | Climate Change | PROF 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 | PROFESSOR Jo Phoenix |
ML3IC | Identity and Conflict in Modern Europe | DR Athena Leoussi |
ML3LP | Language and Power | MR Federico Faloppa |
MM302 | Entrepreneurial Project | MR Keith Heron |
PO3FPT | Feminism and Political Theory | DR Maxime Lepoutre |
PO3GAP | Gender and Politics | DR Rose De Geus |
PO3IPE | International Political Economy | DR Jonathan Golub |
PO3USF | US Foreign and Defence Policy since 1950 | DR Graham O'Dwyer |
These are the modules that we currently offer. They may change for your year of study as we regularly review our module offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.
Fees
New UK/Republic of Ireland students: £9,250*
New international students: £19,500
*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.
Careers
Our BA History with Foundation course equips you with transferable skills that are highly valued in the workplace. 91% of graduates from the Department of History are in work or further study 15 months after the end of their course [1].
Your history degree can open the door to a number of professions. Our graduates have found employment in a variety of sectors, including publishing, museums and heritage, law, teaching, accountancy and banking, and social care.
Examples of recent graduate employers include:
- The Civil Service
- Victoria and Albert Museum
- John Lewis
- The British Museum
- Macmillan Publishers
- Siemens Financial Services
- Museum of English Rural Life
- NHS
- Morgan Stanley.
[1] Graduate Outcomes Survey 2018/19; First Degree responders from History.