Egyptology and Ancient History with a Foundation Year
Swansea University
UCAS Code: VV40 | Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)
Entry requirements
A level
UCAS Tariff
Swansea University recognises the Welsh Baccalaureate - Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate as equivalent to one full A-Level.
About this course
This four-year Egyptology and Ancient History degree with a Foundation Year covers the study of Ancient Egyptian language, literature, history and culture.
The first year of the course will give you an exciting introduction to higher education and will enable you to explore a range of topics. A Foundation Year is ideal if you need a little more support after further education or if you are returning to education after a gap in your studies.
On completion, you will then progress onto the three-year degree program in Egyptology and Ancient History.
You will explore Egyptian art, architecture, history and civilisation, archaeology, religion and gender alongside the political, social and cultural history of the Greek and Roman world.
Our interdisciplinary approach will give you the freedom to tailor your degree according to your specialist interests as you progress.
Your studies will be enriched by practical experience at Swansea’s award-winning Egypt Centre, our on campus museum which contains over 5,000 Egyptian antiquities.
You can also gain further teaching experience as part of the South West Wales Reaching Wider Partnerships or by teaching Hieroglyphs or Latin to schools and the local community.
Based on our stunning Singleton Park campus overlooking Swansea Bay on the edge of the Gower Peninsula, teaching is informed by our world-leading research. You will be part of a close-knit student community and can get involved in a wide range of clubs and societies including the Egyptological Society and Ancient World Society which run events and trips throughout the year.
Graduates have progressed to careers in sectors such as education, archives, museums and heritage, business, media and public relations and public services.
Ancient History at Swansea is ranked:
• 3rd in the UK for Student Satisfaction (Complete University Guide 2024)
• 3rd in the UK for Student Experience (Times Good University Guide 2024)
• 3rd in the UK for Teaching Quality (Times Good University Guide 2024)
• Top 10 in the UK for Teaching Satisfaction (Guardian University Guide 2024)
• Top 51-90 in the World (QS World Rankings 2023)
Please visit our course page for more information: www.swansea.ac.uk/undergraduate/courses/culture-communication/classics-ancient-history-egyptology/ba-egyptology-ancient-history
Modules
Your first year is your Foundation Year, which will introduce you to university-life, covering key themes of study and knowledge and skills building ready to enter the three years of your BA degree.
Your second year of study is made up of compulsory modules covering a range of themes. Compulsory modules are studied by all students on the programme, meaning you are automatically enrolled. Examples include:
• Introduction to Ancient Egyptian History, Society and Culture
• Greek History and Society
• Age of Empire: Ancient Egypt and her Neighbours
• Rome from Village to Empire: An Introduction to Roman History
Your third year will comprise entirely of optional modules from a expansive range of subject areas. Examples of optional modules in recent years have included:
• Introduction to Egyptian Archaeology
• Egyptian Art and Architecture
• The Greek Romance: Sea, Sun and Sex
• Introduction to Egyptian Archaeology
• Alexander and the Hellenistic world
Your fourth and final year comprises almost entirely of optional modules, allowing you to shape your own degree, alongside undertaking a compulsory independent dissertation project.
For the full programme structure and module breakdown, please visit our webpage:
www.swansea.ac.uk/undergraduate/courses/culture-communication/classics-ancient-history-egyptology/ba-egyptology-ancient-history
Assessment methods
We offer a variety of assessment methods within our programmes. In addition to traditional examinations and essays, examples of alternative assessment include: Essays; Presentations (individual & group); Source Analysis & Skill based assessment.
Throughout your undergraduate Egyptology and Ancient History degree, you will develop excellent research and analytical skills and learn to present your ideas effectively both verbally and in writing. For full breakdown of course structure and assessment please visit our course page: www.swansea.ac.uk/undergraduate/courses/culture-communication/classics-ancient-history-egyptology/ba-egyptology-ancient-history or get in touch with us at [email protected]
The Uni
Singleton Park Campus
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
What students say
We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.
How do students rate their degree experience?
The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
History
Teaching and learning
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
Archaeology
Sorry, no information to show
This is usually because there were too few respondents in the data we receive to be able to provide results about the subject at this university.
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
After graduation
The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
History
What are graduates doing after six months?
This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.
Top job areas of graduates
History is a very popular subject (although numbers have fallen of late) — in 2015, over 10,000 UK students graduated in a history-related course. Obviously, there aren't 11,000 jobs as historians available every year, but history is a good, flexible degree that allows graduates to go into a wide range of different jobs, and consequently history graduates have an unemployment rate comparable to the national graduate average. Many — probably most — jobs for graduates don't ask for a particular degree to go into them and history graduates are well set to take advantage. That's why so many go into jobs in the finance industry, human resources, marketing, PR and events management, as well as the more obvious roles in education, welfare and the arts. Around one in five history graduates went into further study last year. History and teaching were the most popular further study subjects for history graduates, but law, journalism, and politics were also popular postgraduate courses.
Archaeology
What are graduates doing after six months?
This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.
Top job areas of graduates
Want to do a job in the arts - with lots of the great outdoors? Try archaeology! There don't tend to be many archaeology undergraduates out there (just under 700 graduated in 2015) - but it's quite a popular subject at postgraduate level. In fact, over a quarter of archaeology graduates take some kind of further study when they graduate - usually more study of archaeology. When you look at the stats, be aware that junior jobs in archaeology are not always well paid at the start of your career, and that temporary contracts are not uncommon. Thankfully, though, unpaid work, whilst not completely gone, is less common than it used to be. The archaeology graduates of 2015 found jobs in archaeology, of course, but also management and heritage and environment work, as well as more conventional graduate jobs in marketing and the finance industry.
What about your long term prospects?
Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.
History
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£17k
£22k
£26k
Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.
Archaeology
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£17k
£22k
£26k
Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.
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You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.
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Post-six month graduation stats:
This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.
It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.
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Graduate field commentary:
The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show
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The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.
While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?
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