BA History and Politics
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UCAS code
VLD2 -
Typical offer
BBB -
Year of entry
2023/24 -
Course duration
Full Time: 3 Years
-
Year of entry
2023/24 -
Course duration
Full Time: 3 Years
Address some of the contemporary world's most pressing problems and explore their roots in the past with our BA History and Politics.
Discover a thousand years of history while experiencing all the specialist areas on offer at the University of Reading. The Department of History's expertise covers a wide and diverse range of regions, from Europe and Africa to America, South Asia and the Middle East. Module choices cover diverse periods and topics, from the Crusades to Cold War Berlin and from Medieval Magic to the Rwanda Crisis.
In your first year, your core modules will explore people, politics and revolution – finding out how people struggled for power in past societies – and the culture and concepts those societies developed. We will teach you the skills you need to study and research history through an individual project of your choice. This joint degree enables you to address contemporary issues and trace them back to their historical roots.
97% of our research outputs are rated ‘world leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’, meaning that the University of Reading is 6th highest in the UK for research outputs (Times Higher Education analysis of the latest REF 2021 – Politics and International Studies, when scoring by GPA Output). In 2022, we achieved a 94% satisfaction score for BA History (National Student Survey 2022).
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 in both sides of your degree, and our modules History Education, Discovering Archives and Collections, and Going Public all offer students short work placements and act as an introduction to possible career paths.
You have the option to apply to study abroad on this joint degree. Some of the universities we have links with include University of Maastricht, Netherlands; University of Georgia, USA; and Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. The University also offers all students the chance to learn a modern language alongside their core subjects.
Placement
Placements are a prominent feature of our degree courses and highly encouraged. 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 and media 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.
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 the Berkshire Record Office.
Study abroad
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
Address some of the contemporary world's most pressing problems and explore their roots in the past with our BA History and Politics.
Discover a thousand years of history while experiencing all the specialist areas on offer at the University of Reading. The Department of History's expertise covers a wide and diverse range of regions, from Europe and Africa to America, South Asia and the Middle East. Module choices cover diverse periods and topics, from the Crusades to Cold War Berlin and from Medieval Magic to the Rwanda Crisis.
In your first year, your core modules will explore people, politics and revolution – finding out how people struggled for power in past societies – and the culture and concepts those societies developed. We will teach you the skills you need to study and research history through an individual project of your choice. This joint degree enables you to address contemporary issues and trace them back to their historical roots.
97% of our research outputs are rated ‘world leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’, meaning that the University of Reading is 6th highest in the UK for research outputs (Times Higher Education analysis of the latest REF 2021 – Politics and International Studies, when scoring by GPA Output). In 2022, we achieved a 94% satisfaction score for BA History (National Student Survey 2022).
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 in both sides of your degree, and our modules History Education, Discovering Archives and Collections, and Going Public all offer students short work placements and act as an introduction to possible career paths.
You have the option to apply to study abroad on this joint degree. Some of the universities we have links with include University of Maastricht, Netherlands; University of Georgia, USA; and Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. The University also offers all students the chance to learn a modern language alongside their core subjects.
Placement
Placements are a prominent feature of our degree courses and highly encouraged. 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 and media 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.
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 the Berkshire Record Office.
Study abroad
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
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 |
---|---|---|
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 |
PO1ICD | Introduction to Contemporary Democracy | DR Christoph Arndt |
PO1IPI | Introduction to Political Ideas | DR Andrew Reid |
PO1IRS | Politics: International Relations and Strategic Studies | DR Amanda Hall |
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.
Optional 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 |
HS2INT | Intellectuals and Society in Twentieth Century Italy | PROF Daniela La Penna |
HS2O10 | The Colonial Experience: Africa, 1879 to 1980 | DR Heike Schmidt |
HS2O12 | Belief and Unbelief in Europe: Religion, Science and the Supernatural c.1400-1800 | PROF Joël Félix |
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 |
HS2O55 | American Century: United States history since 1898 | DR Mara Oliva |
HS2O56 | Medieval Medicine | DR Ruth Salter |
HS2O57 | Encountering the Atlantic World, 1450-1850 | DR Richard Blakemore |
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 |
PO2ADC | Advanced Degree Competencies | DR Amanda Hall |
PO2AMG | American Government and Politics | DR Graham O'Dwyer |
PO2BGP | British Government and Politics | DR Rose De Geus |
PO2CGP | Comparative Government and Politics | DR Kiwi Ting |
PO2COS | Contemporary Strategy | DR Kenton White |
PO2GPH | Global Politics and History | DR Kerry Goettlich |
PO2MIR | Modern International Relations | DR Joseph O' Mahoney |
PO2MUN | Model United Nations | DR Sarah Von Billerbeck |
PO2PHC | Political Classics | PROF Alan Cromartie |
PO2PWS | Politics of the Welfare State | DR Christoph Arndt |
PO2RTW | Russia in the World | DR Vladimir Rauta |
PO2SOP | The Study of Politics | DR Christoph Arndt |
PO2THI | Political Thinking | DR Alice Baderin |
PO2TMP | The Media and Politics | DR Dawn Clarke |
PO2WAP | War and Peace Since 1800 | DR Geoff Sloan |
AR2M8 | Medieval Europe: power, religion and death | DR Gabor Thomas |
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.
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 |
HS3HLD | Dissertation in History | DR Heike Schmidt |
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 | PROF David Stack |
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 | DR Natalie Thomlinson |
HS3T101 | Pirates of the Caribbean: Empire, Slavery, and Society, 1550-1750 | DR Richard Blakemore |
HS3T102 | Melancholy Medicine: Healing the Body and Mind in Early Modern England, 1570-1730 | MS Amie Bolissian McRae |
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 |
PO3BFD | British Foreign and Defence Policy since 1945 | DR Kenton White |
PO3CSS | Introduction to Critical Security Studies | DR Andreas Behnke |
PO3DCW | Dynamics of Civil Wars | DR Vladimir Rauta |
PO3DIS | Dissertation | DR Adam Humphreys |
PO3FAR | The Far Right | PROF Daphne Halikiopoulou |
PO3FPT | Feminism and Political Theory | DR Sarah Goff |
PO3GAP | Gender and Politics | DR Rose De Geus |
PO3INT | Intelligence, War and International Relations | DR Geoff Sloan |
PO3IOG | International Organizations in Global Politics | DR Martin Binder |
PO3IPE | International Political Economy | DR Jonathan Golub |
PO3ITE | International Terrorism | DR Amanda Hall |
PO3MAR | Karl Marx | PROF Alan Cromartie |
PO3MEA | Politics & International Relations of the Middle East | DR Younis Lahwej |
PO3NUK | The Politics of Nuclear Weapons | DR Joseph O' Mahoney |
PO3USF | US Foreign and Defence Policy since 1950 | DR Graham O'Dwyer |
PO3WPE | War, Peace and International Ethics | PROF Alan Cromartie |
AR3HCP | The Anthropology of Heritage and Cultural Property | DR Alanna Cant |
AR3M7 | The Archaeology of Crusading | DR Aleks Pluskowski |
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: £20,300
*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
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. 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 develop a wide range of interpersonal, organisational, presentational and research skills readily transferable to other areas of employment.
As a history and politics graduate you will gain 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 History and Politics graduates are valued by employers for their research, analytical, teamwork and communication skills. Overall, 92% of graduates from the Department of History are in work or further study within 15 months of graduation, and 91% of Politics and International Relations graduates [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] Based on our analysis of HESA data © HESA 2022, Graduate Outcomes Survey 2019/20; includes first degree Politics and International Relations responders.