DEGREE GUIDE

History

What do History degrees involve?

History degrees teach you how past events have shaped societies, cultures, and political systems, helping you develop a deeper understanding of the modern world. You will explore key areas such as medieval and modern history, political history, social movements, global conflicts, and historical research methods. These courses help you build strong analytical, research, and critical thinking skills while interpreting sources, constructing arguments, and assessing historical change. As you progress, you can specialise in areas such as military history, cultural history, or the history of a specific region. You will also gain hands-on experience through archival research, digital history projects, and historical fieldwork, preparing you for careers in heritage, education, journalism, and policy analysis.

Example
Modules

Historical Skills, Sources & Approaches: Learn how historians work with evidence, critically analyse primary and secondary sources, and build strong arguments.

Medieval Worlds: Connection, Comparison & Transformation (300–1500 AD): Explore how trade, religion and empire shaped medieval societies across Europe, Asia and Africa.

Ideas in History: From the Enlightenment to Post-Colonialism: Trace the influence of big ideas—from liberty and empire to race and decolonisation—on global history.

Common Degree Names

💼 Some History degrees offer placement years or internship options in museums, archives, heritage or publishing.
🌍 Study abroad is widely available.

BA (Hons) History
BA (Hons) History and Politics
BA (Hons) History and English
BA (Hons) History and Philosophy
BA (Hons) History and Sociology

A history research desk with an open historical world map showing Europe, Africa and Asia, a stack of history books including one titled "Global History", a research notebook with handwritten notes on Indian Ocean trade, and a brass magnifying glass.

Level 3 (A-level / IB Diploma (HL) / Scottish Highers)

History degrees develop your ability to research, analyse evidence, and construct arguments about the past. Universities want to see that you can read critically, write clearly, and engage thoughtfully with complex ideas – skills usually demonstrated through essay-based subjects.

Universities usually expect:

History – required or strongly preferred by most courses

Subjects that could strengthen your application:

English Language or Literature – excellent for essay writing and textual analysis
Politics, Sociology, or Religious Studies – useful for understanding society, culture, and ideas
Classical Civilisation or Philosophy – valued for analytical thinking and historical themes
Modern Languages – helpful if you're interested in European or global history

✨ History A-level is required or preferred by most courses. However, some universities accept other essay-based humanities subjects if you can demonstrate strong analytical and writing skills.

Universities may also accept:

BTEC Extended Diplomas - likely to require A-level History alongside.
BTEC National Extended Certificates or National Diplomas alongside relevant A-Level subjects, particularly History
IB Career-related Programme (IBCP) with History at Higher Level among your IB subjects (minimum two, ideally three - see relevant subjects above) alongside your Career-Related Study

Entry requirements vary, especially for combined courses (e.g. History and Politics). Always check specific course requirements.

Level 2 Qualifications (GCSE / MYP / National 5)

Most courses ask for:

GCSE English Language and Maths at grade 4/C or above, or the equivalent, such as National 5s or MYP

📘 Strong English skills are essential for reading, analysis, and essay writing.

GCSE History (or equivalent) can help, but it’s not required if you have it at a higher level.

💬 Interviews

Formal interviews aren't usually part of the application process. However, some universities may invite you for a short conversation, either online or in person, to learn more about your interest in the subject.

🔍 Work Experience

You don't need work experience to apply for History. If you have a school placement to fill, museums, archives, heritage sites, or libraries could give you a feel for how historical material is preserved and made accessible. For this subject, reading widely and engaging critically with the past matters far more than any placement.

✨ Personal Statement Tips

What period, place, or questions about the past fascinate you most? History is vast, so being specific about what draws you in helps - whether that's political upheavals, social change, particular regions, or how ordinary people lived. If you've read history books beyond your studies, listened to history podcasts, watched documentaries, visited historical sites, or explored primary sources, reflect on what sparked your curiosity and what questions it raised. Engaging with how historians debate and interpret the past, rather than just learning what happened, shows you're ready for degree-level study. Admissions tutors want to see genuine curiosity about understanding the past, not just enjoying history as a subject.

If your qualifications don't match the usual entry requirements, there are some other possibilities.

🌱 Foundation Year in Humanities or Social Science

Many universities offer a foundation year if you don't have the required subjects or grades. This adds an extra year but leads directly into the full degree.

🎓 Access to HE Diploma (Humanities or Social Science)

Widely accepted by universities offering History. Choose a pathway with essay-based units and aim for Merits and Distinctions in your graded units.

Is this degree right for you?

Members can explore whether this degree fits who they are:

Skills you'd develop and whether they match your strengths
How this aligns with your interests, motivators and values
Career paths and where graduates end up

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Skills you would develop in X degree

Skill Name

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Is this a good fit for you?

Use the tabs to explore the kind of person that this would be a good fit for. Do you share the Interests, Motivations, Values, Work identity and skills that people who thrive in this course tend to have?

Not sure what these things are? Explore your Identity Tree with us first.

Interests that connect well with a History degree

Students who enjoy this degree often share these interests. You don't need to feel strongly about all of them, and interests develop over time. If one or two catch your curiosity, or sound like something you'd like to know more about, that's a good sign.

The Past & How It Shapes Us: The degree is built around understanding how past events have shaped the present. You'll study centuries of change across different societies and regions, working with primary sources to build your own arguments about why things happened and what they meant.

Society, Communities & How People Live Together: Social and cultural history run through the degree. You'll study how communities were organised, how people lived and worked, and how social movements and cultural shifts transformed societies, from medieval villages to modern cities.

Fairness, Justice & Rights: Questions of power, reform, and rights recur throughout the degree. You'll study revolutions, protest movements, colonialism, and campaigns for political change, examining how struggles for justice and equality have shaped the course of history.

Students who thrive in a History degree are often motivated by

Research and Discovery

You're excited by the idea of uncovering something genuinely new: being at the cutting edge, running experiments, and contributing knowledge that didn't exist before. You want to discover, not just learn what others have found. The prospect of adding something original to human understanding is what drives you, and you're willing to spend long periods on uncertain work for that possibility.

Analysing and Investigating

You're energised by making sense of information, looking for evidence, spotting patterns, and piecing together how things connect. Whether it's pulling apart data, questioning assumptions, or tracing a problem back to its source, you find energy in the process of understanding what's really going on. You'd rather dig into the details than accept things at face value.

Curiosity and Learning

You're energised by the activity of learning itself: diving into a subject you've never explored, watching documentaries, taking apart how something works, or constantly asking "why?" The process of learning gives you energy, not just the outcome. You don't just want the answer; you want to understand how things connect, why they matter, and what's underneath the surface explanation.

What makes History click for the students who love it?

Why did the world turn out this way and not some other? That kind of curiosity can take them from one century to a completely different one, week to week. Knowing what happened is never enough; they go at the evidence, setting conflicting accounts side by side and working out why the version we accept won out. What grips them most is doing it themselves: getting into the archive, handling documents nobody has read in years, and slowly piecing together something no one had quite seen before.

These are the skills that students who love this degree tend to enjoy using. You don't need to be great at them already, but if they sound like you, that's a good sign.

Skill Name

Skills that suit this degree

You don't need to be great at these already — but if you enjoy using them or want to get better at them, that's a good sign.

Do you like digging into questions about why things happened — not just memorising facts, but working out what the evidence actually shows?
Do you enjoy forming your own argument about something and being able to explain clearly why you think what you think?

Careers a History degree could lead you to

History

What do History degrees involve?

Example Modules

Common Degree Names

Is this degree right for you?

Skills you would develop in X degree

Skill Name

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Is this a good fit for you?

Careers a History degree could lead you to

Example
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