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Archaeology and History

Entry requirements


A level

A,B,B

Including A in History. General Studies and Critical Thinking are not accepted.

Access to HE Diploma

D:24,M:21

Pass Access to HE Diploma with 45 credits at Level 3. Of the Level 3 credits, 24 should be at Distinction and 21 credits at Merit and this must include 9 credits of History with Distinction.

Cambridge International Pre-U Certificate - Principal

D3,M2,M3

Including D3 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 requirements - English grade C ( numeric grade 4)

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme

32

with a minimum of 6 points in History at Higher level.

Mixed qualifications accepted if taking A Level History alongside. BTEC Diploma DD + A in A Level History.

Mixed qualifications accepted if taking A Level BTEC Subsidiary Diploma/ National Extended Certificate D + A Levels AB including grade A in History.

Unfortunately we are unable to accept this qualification on its own due to the subject specific requirements at A Level. BTEC National Extended Diploma DDD + A Level History grade A accepted.

Scottish Advanced Higher

A,B

including Scottish Highers AAABB.

Scottish Higher

A,B,B,B,B

This qualification is only acceptable when combined with Advanced Higher grades AA including History.

Considered alongside A Levels

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

Archaeology

History

From the first hunter-gatherers to the complex societies of the medieval and modern periods, this course lets you study the past not just through texts and images but through material remains.

You will explore the broadest range of periods through complementary disciplines. By combining the scientific study of material remains with historical research, writing and debate, you will cover the key ways we study the past. You will also deepen your knowledge of history through theory and practice, covering a range of periods from the Palaeolithic to the recent past.

Our geographic reach is from Britain to the Far East and North America. You can investigate race, rights and propaganda and discover heroes and villains from the Middle Ages. Your studies can range from learning about evolution, culture and society through the study of bones, to the private lives of historical figures through letters. You will also gain practical experience of fieldwork and archaeological research in the UK and abroad.

As a joint honours student, you will benefit from skills development and assessment methods from both subjects. Each subject is taught separately, but you can choose a uniting theme for your final year dissertation.

Modules

Our year-one core modules are designed as an introduction. We will build everyone's knowledge to the same level, so you can progress through to year two.

You will take 120 credits of modules each year.

In year one, you will take 20 credits of core history modules, focusing on the nature of history as a discipline and developing the skills required for the researching, writing and debating. You will also take 60 credits of core archaeology modules which will lay the foundation for your study of archaeological principles and methods, and the archaeology of Britain from prehistory to the Industrial Revolution. The remainder of your year one credits will come from optional history modules spanning the Middles Ages to the contemporary world.

You’ll have at least 12 hours of timetabled contact a week through lectures, seminars and tutorials.

You must pass year one, but it does not count towards your final degree classification.

There is a requirement for you to complete 10 days of archaeological fieldwork or other professional experience. For more information visit the Archaeology fieldwork webpage.

In year two, your core archaeology module will cover more advanced themes in archaeological research. You will also choose from a range of archaeology and history modules, one of which may come from the Department of American and Canadian Studies.

You’ll have at least 9 hours of timetabled contact a week through lectures, seminars and tutorials.

You must pass year two, which counts 33% towards your final degree classification.

In year three, you choose to specialise in either history or archaeology, while maintaining a mix of both disciplines. If you choose to specialise in history, you either take a 40-credit History Special Subject and a 40-credit History dissertation with 40 credits of optional Archaeology modules. If you choose to specialise in archaeology, you take a 40-credit Archaeology dissertation, 20-credit archaeology option, and a 40-credit History Special Subject, plus 20-credit history or American and Canadian studies option

You’ll have at least 7 hours of timetabled contact a week through lectures, seminars and tutorials.

You must pass year three, which counts as 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
£22,600
per year
International
£22,600
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:

School of History

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.

75%
Archaeology
74%
History

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

75%
Staff make the subject interesting
96%
Staff are good at explaining things
92%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
63%
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

61%
Library resources
83%
IT resources
75%
Course specific equipment and facilities
71%
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?

96%
UK students
4%
International students
47%
Male students
53%
Female students
93%
2:1 or above
10%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

B
B
B

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

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.

£20,000
med
Average annual salary
92%
med
Employed or in further education

Top job areas of graduates

21%
Sales assistants and retail cashiers
13%
Sales, marketing and related associate professionals
8%
Business, finance and related associate professionals

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.

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.

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.

£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.

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.

Explore these similar courses...

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Lower entry requirements
University of Winchester | Winchester
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This is the percentage of applicants to this course who received an offer last year, through Ucas.

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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:

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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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.

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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.

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

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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?

Have a question about this info? Learn more here