History and Politics
Leeds Beckett University
UCAS Code: V1L2 | Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)
Entry requirements
GCSE/National 4/National 5
GCSE English Language at Grade 4 or above (Grade C for GCSEs taken before 2017) or equivalent. Key Skills Level 2, Functional Skills Level 2 and the Certificate in Adult Literacy are accepted in place of GCSEs.
UCAS Tariff
Minimum 64 from two A Levels or equivalent, excluding General Studies.
About this course
This course has alternative study modes. Contact the university to find out how the information below might vary.
**Combine modern history with politics to understand the roots of contemporary issues. Study ideologies and identities and think critically about policies and political institutions.**
Explore pressing issues in contemporary politics, including Brexit, climate change and the resurgence of right-wing populism. You’ll gain an in-depth historical perspective including the rise of the nation-state, European imperialism, and the ideological conflicts of the 20th Century.
As part of this course, you’ll:
• Examine how historical events and processes have shaped the modern world, its ideologies and political institutions
• Understand how circumstances, chance and human agency have affected global events and processes
• Evaluate theories, methods and approaches relevant to both history and politics and apply these to your studies with confidence and creativity
• Analyse primary sources and the writings of historians and political scientists
• Be introduced to political theory and key issues around governance and international relations
This course blends skills in critical thinking from a historical perspective, evaluation of evidence and consideration of context. You’ll also learn to analyse the ideas, ideologies, policies and institutions that form the foundations of modern politics.
A series of optional modules reflecting the current research interests of staff across both subject teams will enable you to shape your own pathway through the degree.
**Why study History & Politics at Leeds Beckett University...**
- We are ranked in the top 15 universities in the UK for studying History*
- We offer distinctive and creative programmes that are responsive to the changes taking place in society
- Benefit from strong and meaningful partnerships with community organisations
- Work on real-world projects such as the Leeds Blitz website
- Take assessments that build digital communication skills for the modern world
- Get advice from our expert careers service
*2024 Guardian Subject League Tables
Modules
Year 1 Core Modules:
- Political Movements & Ideologies
- Introduction to World Politics
- Emergence of Modern Europe
- Introduction to Governance
- The Public & the Past
- Century of Conflict? War & Peace in Europe, 1914-c.2000
Year 2 Core Modules:
- Britain in the World
- History: Theory & Practice
- State & Power
In addition, choose from a list of Year 2 option modules. Please check our website for a full and up-to-date list.
Year 3 Core Modules:
- Dissertation
- Policy Making
In addition, choose from a list of Year 3 option modules. Please check our website for a full and up-to-date list.
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
The Uni
City CampusC
Cultural Studies and Humanities
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)
Politics
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.
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.
Politics
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
The numbers of people taking politics degrees fell sharply last year and we'll keep an eye on this one - it can't really be because of graduates getting poor outcomes as politics grads do about as well as graduates on average. Most politics or international relations graduates don't actually go into politics - although many do, as activists, fundraisers and researchers. Jobs in local and central government are also important. Other popular jobs include marketing and PR, youth and community work, finance roles, HR and academic research (you usually need a postgraduate degree to get into research). Because so many graduates get jobs in the civil service, a lot of graduates find themselves in London after graduating. Politics is a very popular postgraduate subject, and so about one in five politics graduates go on to take another course - usually a one-year Masters - after they finish their degrees.
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.
£18k
£22k
£25k
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.
Politics
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£19k
£23k
£27k
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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This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).
This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.
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This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for undergraduate students only.
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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