Archaeology
Entry requirements
A level
Applicants taking Science A-levels that include a practical component will be required to take and pass this as a condition of entry. This refers only to English A Levels.
Access to HE Diploma
We require 60 credits with a minimum of 45 credits at level 3 (or equivalent). Applicants may be required to meet additional subject-specific requirements for particular courses at Durham.
Cambridge International Pre-U Certificate - Principal
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
Seventeen points (6, 6, 5) from Higher Level subjects.
Leaving Certificate - Higher Level (Ireland) (first awarded in 2017)
OCR Cambridge Technical Extended Diploma
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
Scottish Advanced Higher
Scottish Higher
We will normally make offers based on Advanced Highers. If an applicant has not been able to take 3 Advanced Highers, offers may be made with a combination of Advanced Highers and Highers, or on a number of Highers.
At Durham we welcome applications from students of outstanding achievement and potential from all educational backgrounds. We will consider applicants studying T level qualifications for entry to many of our courses. Where a course requires subject specific knowledge and this is not covered within the T level being studied, you may need to supplement your T level studies with a suitable qualification to meet this requirement, for example at A level. Where this is needed this will be clearly stated in our entry requirements. Detailed entry requirements can be found on individual course entries on our courses database (https://www.durham.ac.uk/study/).
UCAS Tariff
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About this course
This course offers an extensive overview of world archaeology, with teaching and training in a wide range of social and scientific methods. The diversity of modules on this course will allow you to build subject and geographic specialisms suited to your own interests and career plans. Depending on your module choices you may even be able to receive professional accreditation from the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists.
Modules in British, European and World archaeology provide you with the opportunity to develop in-depth knowledge of archaeology and heritage in different regions including Europe, the Near East, North Africa and South and East Asia.
Advanced skills training, practicals, lab- and field-based options, will help you develop the knowledge and expertise in a variety of areas, such as data analysis, remote sensing, GIS and survey, materials analysis, 3D modelling, museum and heritage skills and osteology.
In the first year you will gain a basic range of intellectual and practical archaeological skills. In Years 2 and 3 you will then move on to more in-depth study of particular topics and methods, working closely with staff to develop your own independent research project. You can also apply to add a placement year or a year abroad to your degree, increasing the course from three years to four.
Drawing on the latest research, and with an exciting combination of field trips, practical work including excavation, as well as great teaching, this course offers you the chance to gain a good understanding of archaeology across the world, from earliest prehistory to the modern day.
Modules
Year 1
Core modules:
Archaeology in Britain gives you a wide-ranging introduction to how archaeologists work, how sites are found and excavated, how archaeological information is generated, theorised and interpreted, and the issues facing archaeology today. It will give you the study skills needed for library work, essays, tutorials and computing. The module also gives a brief overview of British archaeology by period, from the Neolithic to the present day.
Archaeology Practicals* introduces field and laboratory techniques for the recording and analysis of primary materials, sites and monuments, using group work wherever possible.
Applied Archaeological Methods* provides you with a grounding in a range of scientific methods and techniques used in archaeology today, and will help you to develop a critical awareness of the potential and limitations of each.
Examples of optional modules:
Discovering World Prehistory;
Cities in Antiquity;
Medieval to Modern: An Introduction to the Archaeology of the Medieval to Post-medieval World;
Ancient Civilisations of the East.
Year 2
Core modules:
Professional Training* (requires three weeks of fieldwork in the summer before starting Year 2) uses practical experience to give you an understanding of the objectives and operation of a fieldwork project and how data and material produced by archaeological projects is processed. You will learn more about the potential careers open to you as a graduate.
Developing Archaeological Research* uses practical experience to develop your understanding of research design for the final year dissertation and the practical skills necessary for archaeological research. You will develop skills in graphics, illustration and presentation techniques as well as learning the basic theory behind research design.
Advanced Skills in Archaeology* trains you in advanced technical and applied techniques for scientific, field and public archaeology. It gives an opportunity to understand the context and purpose of these applied methods and techniques and their correct application. The module also equips you with a range of transferable skills relevant to employment and training beyond archaeology, and makes you aware of the potential careers open to you as a graduate.
Examples of optional modules:
Advanced Skills in Archaeology;
Prehistoric Europe: From Foragers to State Formation;
Becoming Roman: From Iron Age to Empire in Italy and the West;
Archaeology of Medieval and Post-Medieval Britain in its European Context;
The East Mediterranean World in the Bronze Age;
Ancient Mediterranean Civilisations: East and West;
Scientific Methods in Archaeology.
Year 3 (Year 4 if undertaking a placement or year abroad)
Core modules:
Archaeology Dissertation* will significantly develop your skills in independent research, the analysis and presentation of evidence and how to structure a persuasive argument. This will involve writing an extended dissertation in your chosen specialist area of archaeology.
Current Archaeology* is based around critical reflection on current issues and breaking stories in world archaeology, including current research in the Department of Archaeology.
Advanced Professional Training (requires three weeks of fieldwork in the summer before starting the final year). This module gives you an understanding of professional practice and ethics in the archaeology and heritage sector, including practical experience in archaeology working on an excavation, in a museum, a lab-based project or a similar appropriate placement. It will give you an understanding of project design and an opportunity to think about the way projects are managed and the ethics of archaeological practice.
Examples of optional modules:
Specialised Aspects in Archaeology;
Interpreting Heritage;
Museum Representation;
Scientific Methods in Archaeology;
Archaeology and Global Sustainable Development.
Assessment methods
You will be assessed through your coursework, traditional skills and presentations, as well as through hands-on practical exercises, including archaeological fieldwork.
In the final year you will write a dissertation, led by independent research and supported by one-on-one supervision, and this makes up one-third of your final-year marks.
Tuition fees
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The Uni
Durham City
College allocation pending
Archaeology
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.
Archaeology
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)
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.
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.
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.
£22k
£29k
£40k
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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Post-six month graduation stats:
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Graduate field commentary:
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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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