History and Politics
Entry requirements
A level
96-112 points to include a minimum of 2 A levels, to include a relevant subject.
96-112 Tariff points from the Access to HE Diploma (History based).
Cambridge Pre-U score of 42-46, to include a Principal Subject in a relevant subject.
GCSE/National 4/National 5
3 GCSEs at grade C or above to include English and Mathematics/3 GCSEs at grade 4 or above to include English and Mathematics.
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
25 points from the IB Diploma, to include 3 Higher Level subjects, to include a relevant subject.
Leaving Certificate - Higher Level (Ireland) (first awarded in 2017)
H3,H4,H4,H4,H4-H3,H3,H3,H3,H4
To include Higher Level History or another relevant subject.
Acceptable when combined with other qualifications. Must be with a History qualification or another relevant subject.
Acceptable when combined with other qualifications. Must be with a History qualification or another relevant subject.
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
Acceptable when combined with other qualifications. Must be with a History qualification or another relevant subject.
96-112 Tariff points to include a minimum of 2 Advanced Highers, to include History or another relevant subject.
Acceptable when combined with other qualifications.
UCAS Tariff
96-112 points to include a minimum of 2 A levels, or equivalent, to include a relevant subject.
96-112 points from the Advanced Welsh Baccalaureate including 1 A level in a relevant subject, plus the Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate.
About this course
This course has alternative study modes. Contact the university to find out how the information below might vary.
**This is a Connected Degree**
Portsmouth is the only University in the UK with the flexibility to choose when to do an optional paid placement or self-employed year. Either take a placement in your third year, or finish your studies first and complete a placement in your fourth year. You can decide if and when to take a placement after you've started your course.
**Overview**
Discover how the politics of the past have shaped the world we know today. On this BA (Hons) History and Politics degree, you'll retrace the political and social conflicts, revolutions and protest movements of yesterday in order to make sense of the here and now and create positive change.
Travel back to pivotal political moments in time from around the globe guided by our expert academics. Craft your own learning experience by choosing to study the historical and political subjects and eras that most inspire you, such as the French Revolution, post war Britain and Germany, or the American Civil Rights Movement.
As this is an interdisciplinary course, each year you'll also study a bespoke combined history and politics module as well as delving into each subject separately.
Through the course's overarching theme of 'changing the world', you'll use what you learn to rethink modern societal issues, such as social justice, racial and gender equality, and global migration.
You'll graduate with an insight into the powers and processes that have formed today's societies and how positive changes are made. Armed with this understanding of the past, you'll be empowered to address the challenges of the future.
**Course highlights**
- Study two fascinating and interwoven subjects from 1750 to today, through combined interdisciplinary modules and specialist modules in each subject area
- Bring new perspectives to contemporary social issues – such as social justice, human rights and environmentalism – through your studies, supported by the course's overarching theme of 'changing the world'
- Customise your course by choosing your own topics to focus on in years 2 and 3
- Immerse yourself in Portsmouth's rich heritage, thanks to our close links with the National Museum of the Royal Navy, Portsmouth Records Service and the D-Day Museum
- Learn from staff who are members of the Centre for European and International Studies Research (CEISR)
- Go on field trips to locations such as the Houses of Parliament and heritage sites on the south coast
- Take part in an interactive mock UN meeting called 'Model United Nations' and take on the role of a specific country
- Choose to spend a year building real experience on a work placement at a museum, law firm, government department, charity or other organisation of interest
**Careers and opportunities**
Studying history and politics together will give you transferable skills in critical thinking, collaboration, research, analysis and argument, all of which are highly valued by many kinds of employers. You could also continue your studies at Master's or PhD level in history, politics or a combination of the two.
**What areas can you work in with a history and politics degree?**
Graduates from our other history and politics courses have taken up roles in the following sectors:
- central and local government
- primary and secondary schools
- higher education providers
- financial services
- corporate governance
- trade unions
**Placement year (optional)**
After your second year, you'll have the chance to do an optional year-long work placement to get valuable work experience in a sector of your choice. Students from our other history and politics courses have secured placements at:
- The Ministry of Defence
- The House of Commons
- National Museum of the Royal Navy
- Freedom from Torture, a charity which supports survivors of torture who seek protection in the UK
- Shrewsbury Museums
- Law firms such as Darton Law Ltd
Modules
Year 1
Core
- Analysing Politics: Britain and Beyond – 20 credits
- Discovering World Histories: Peoples and Places - 20 credits
- Political Thought – 20 credits
- Revolutions and Activism: History and Politics – 40 credits
- Societies, Nations, and Empires: Europe 1750-2000 – 20 credits
There are no optional modules in this year.
Year 2
Core
- Changing the World – 20 credits
Optional
- Campaigning in Action - 20 credits
- Development and Democracy in Latin America - 20 credits
- East Asian States and Societies - 20 credits
- Empire and its Afterlives in Britain, Europe, and Africa – 20 credits
- Engaged Citizenship in Humanities and Social Sciences - 20 credits
- Envisioning Ourselves: Media and the Making of Modern Britain - 20 credits
- Global Environmental Issues and Concerns – 20 credits
- Global Security - 20 credits
- Intercultural Perspectives on Communication - 20 credits
- Introduction to Teaching – 20 credits
- Marketing and Communication - 20 credits
- Modernity and Globalisation - 20 credits
- Nationalism and Migration: Chaos, Crisis and the Everyday - 20 credits
- News, Discourse and Media - 20 credits
- Principles of Economic Crime Investigation - 20 credits
- Professional Experience – 20 credits
- Race, Ethnicity, and Nation: Imagining Post war Britain and Germany – 20 credits
- Slavery and Resistance in the Atlantic World – 20 credits
- Space, Place and Being - 20 credits
- Transitional Justice and Human Rights - 20 credits
- Wildlife Crime: Threats and Response - 20 credits
- Working with the Past - 20 credits
Year 3
Core
- History and Politics Dissertation / Major Project – 40 credits
Optional
- Civil Rights USA – 20 credits
- Everyday Slaughter? Accidents and Safety in Britain, c. 1850-1970 – 20 credits
- Looking for Utopia, Finding Dystopia? Ideas and Ideologies in the New Millennium - 20 credits
- NGOs and Social Movements - 20 credits
- Professional Experience L6 - 20 credits
- Religion and Politics in Global Perspective - 20 credits
- Security Challenges in the 21st Century - 20 credits
- The European Union: A Global Power in the Making? - 20 credits
- The French Revolution: 1789-1799 – 20 credits
- The Opium War, 1839-1842 – 20 credits
- Racism and Anti-Racism in Post War Britain – 20 credits
We use the best and most current research and professional practice alongside feedback from our students to make sure course content is relevant to your future career or further studies.
Therefore, course content is revised and regularly reviewed. This may result in changes being made in order to reflect developments in research, learning from practice and changes in policy at both national and local levels.
Assessment methods
You’ll be assessed through:
- essays
- article reviews
- briefing papers
- projects
- close textual analysis
- group and individual presentations/podcasts
- simulations
- website creation
- blogs
- dissertation
You’ll be able to test your skills and knowledge informally before you do assessments that count towards your final mark.
You can get feedback on all practice and formal assessments so you can improve in the future.
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
The Uni
University of Portsmouth
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)
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
£23k
£28k
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.
£20k
£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.
Explore these similar courses...
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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.
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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?
Have a question about this info? Learn more here