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American Studies and History

Entry requirements


A level

A,B,B

Including History.

Access to HE Diploma

D:24,M:21,P:0

To including 9 Level 3 credits of History graded Distinction.

Cambridge International Pre-U Certificate - Principal

D3,M2,M3

Including M2 in History.

Extended Project

A

If you have already achieved your EPQ at Grade A you will automatically be offered one grade lower in a non-mandatory A level subject. If you are still studying for your EPQ you will receive the standard course offer, with a condition of one grade lower in a non-mandatory A level subject if you achieve an A grade in your EPQ.

GCSE/National 4/National 5

GCSE English grade 4 (alpha grade C)

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme

32

Including 5 points in History at Higher Level.

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)

DD

and A Level grade B in History.

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Certificate (first teaching from September 2016)

D

and A Level grades BB including History.

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)

DDD

Unfortunately we are unable to accept this qualification on its own due to the subject specific requirements at A Level. A Level History grade B required.

Applications are assessed on an individual basis.

Scottish Advanced Higher

A,B

Including History. This qualification is only acceptable when combined with Scottish Higher grades ABBBB.

Scottish Higher

A,B,B,B,B

This qualification is only acceptable when combined with Scottish Advanced Highers at grades AB including History.

Welsh Baccalaureate - Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate (first teaching September 2015)

A-B

This qualification is considered alongside other UoN accepted qualifications such as A Levels and must include History.

UCAS Tariff

104-141

We've calculated how many Ucas points you'll need for this course.

About this course


Course option

3years

Full-time | 2024

Subjects

History

American studies

Are you curious about the impact of historical events on our current lives? Do you want to understand why empires and superpowers rise and fall?

This course opens up new worlds and possibilities. You will deepen your knowledge of how societies develop and learn how the past influences the present.

We offer a variety of modules in both American Studies and History, covering:

- The Crusades

- 19th-century Japan

- The Cold War

- Civil rights

- US foreign policy

- Crime and punishment

You can experience North America, by choosing to study abroad for a year at a US or Canadian university. You can do this by transferring to the study abroad programme at the end of your first year. The option to study abroad is dependent on your academic performance and the availability of places.

Modules

In year one you will gain the core, skills, knowledge and methods needed to work at degree level by taking introductory modules to early modern, modern and American history. Your American history core modules will introduce you to the key themes, debates and events in American history from the colonial period to the present day. The core history module, 'Learning History', develops skills and introduces methodologies.

In year two, you can choose from two key modules: 'North American Regions', which draws on literature, film and television to examine regional identities, or 'Key Texts in American Social and Political Thought', which explores debates about religion, race, class, capitalism, gender, sexuality and war in different periods. In History, as well as American studies, you can choose from a wide selection of optional modules covering an extremely broad chronological and geographical range. These options will allow you to focus on certain periods, events, or texts in more depth

You can apply to spend your third year studying in North America, transferring to a four-year course and returning to Nottingham for your final year to complete your course.

This is not compulsory – if you opt not to study abroad, you will complete your degree in three years. Eligibility for study abroad is dependent on satisfactory performance in your first year and the availability of places.

In your final year, you will take 120 credits of modules. The number of core and optional module credit breakdowns can vary, depending on what you choose for your dissertation.

Core modules (40-60 credits)

History special subject (40 credits) – everyone takes a year-long, compulsory ‘Special Subject’ in history, which is worth 40 credits
Dissertation (20-40 credits) – you can do a dissertation in either American studies or history. You have the choice of doing a 20-credit one-semester dissertation, a 40-credit year-long dissertation in American Studies, OR a 20-credit year-long dissertation in history

Optional modules (40-60 credits) - choose from a selection of optional modules.

You must pass year four, which counts 67% towards your final degree classification.

Tuition fees

Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:

Channel Islands
£9,250
per year
England
£9,250
per year
EU
£21,500
per year
International
£21,500
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Republic of Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£9,250
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

The Uni


Course location:

University Park Campus

Department:

Department of American and Canadian Studies

Read full university profile

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.

74%
History
60%
American studies

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

88%
Staff make the subject interesting
88%
Staff are good at explaining things
82%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
66%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

70%
Library resources
89%
IT resources
82%
Course specific equipment and facilities
62%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

99%
UK students
1%
International students
45%
Male students
55%
Female students
94%
2:1 or above
7%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

A
B
A

American and australasian studies

Teaching and learning

82%
Staff make the subject interesting
83%
Staff are good at explaining things
80%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
62%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

65%
Library resources
80%
IT resources
74%
Course specific equipment and facilities
60%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

100%
UK students
0%
International students
37%
Male students
63%
Female students
75%
2:1 or above
9%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

B
B
B

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.

£20,000
med
Average annual salary
96%
med
Employed or in further education
53%
med
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

16%
Sales, marketing and related associate professionals
13%
Public services and other associate professionals
9%
Business, finance and related associate professionals

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.

American and australasian studies

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.

£19,000
med
Average annual salary
93%
low
Employed or in further education
70%
high
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

26%
Sales, marketing and related associate professionals
9%
Public services and other associate professionals
6%
Teaching and educational professionals

Just 615 UK students graduated with American studies degrees in 2015, so it's one of the smaller subjects in terms of student numbers and has lost numbers in recent years. Most graduates stay in the UK once they graduate - quite unusual for graduates in languages and studies of overseas cultures - and about one in six go into further study, mostly to take Masters degrees in subjects like journalism, languages, teaching and law. Graduates tend to go into any general graduate jobs, in industries such as education, advertising, social care and media and publishing. There might not be many jobs that specifically require a degree in American studies, but the skills you learn are useful in many roles.

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.

£20k

£20k

£26k

£26k

£32k

£32k

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.

American and australasian studies

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

£22k

£29k

£29k

£34k

£34k

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 is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.

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Course location and department:

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Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):

We've received this information from the Department for Education, via Ucas. This is how the university as a whole has been rated for its quality of teaching: gold silver or bronze. Note, not all universities have taken part in the TEF.

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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.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

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.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

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.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

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

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

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?

Have a question about this info? Learn more here