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BA (Hons) Available in Clearing

History

Take a journey into the past and explore what it means for our present and future. Discover epoch-making developments from histories around the world.

Start date
September 2025
Location
Cambridge
Duration
3 years
UCAS course code
V140

Start date
September 2025
Location
Cambridge
Duration
4 years with foundation
UCAS course code
V141

Start date
September 2025
Location
Cambridge
Duration
4 years with placement
UCAS course code
V142
95%

for Teaching on my Course and 91% for Assessment and Feedback.

Source: NSS 2023

Explore the histories of Britain, Europe, the United States and other parts of the world from 1500 onwards. Encounter major historical figures and explore epoch-making transitions in human experience like imperialism, industrialisation, revolutions and new technology.

At the same time, you’ll study the history of everyday life, including changes in the home, consumerism and popular culture, exploring the connections between developments at national and international levels, and the experiences of ordinary people.

Why ARU?
  • Build skills that take you into the world of work, including research and data analysis

  • Learn to communicate using different formats, from the printed page to podcasts, webpages and exhibitions

  • Carry out research in Cambridge’s museums and archives and go on European field trips

  • Learn from trained historians with an international reputation for the work they publish

  • Attend talks by leading historians and other experts

  • Take a placement year, or seek a placement alongside your studies, and solve real-world challenges through live briefs set by local employers

Logo: THE Awards 2023
 

Study at an award-winning university

We were named Times Higher Education University of the Year 2023. We've also been awarded a Gold rating in the Teaching Excellence Framework – a reflection of the outstanding education we offer our students.

Careers

Studying in Cambridge… gave me an advantage when applying to volunteer at the Churchill Archives Centre and King’s College Archive Centre. Without that opportunity I wouldn't have got into my Masters.

Daisy Murray-Smith, BA (Hons) History graduate and Records Officer with Surrey Police

On this course, you'll build up skills valued by employers, such as critical thinking and complex problem solving.

You’ll receive training in research and data analysis, learning how to gain the most from sources and communicate your research using formats from the printed page through to podcasts, webpages and exhibitions.

You’ll also gain access to museums and archives where you'll meet professionals working in the field, and take part in live briefs for partner organisations.

Teaching and modules

In Year 1 you’ll study early modern Britain and Europe, how history links to modern news stories, and the development of the USA.

You’ll also access Cambridge museums and archives as you start to work as a historian.

In Year 2 you’ll explore nineteenth- and twentieth-century Britain, and political and social change in Britain and Europe, and choose from our range of optional modules.

Finally, you’ll complete a major piece of research on a topic of your choice, as well as considering gender and sexuality in modern Britain, and learning methods to communicate your research.

Modules are subject to change and availability, and may vary by location. If you have the choice of optional modules, these are indicated with a *.

Year 1
  • The Growth of the USA: Race, Politics and Conflict, 1776-1900
  • Faiths and Fury: The Early Modern Age in Britain and the Western World
  • A History of Now
  • Writing European History
  • Into ARU
Year 2
  • Britain in the 19th century
  • Welfare State to European State: Britain 1906-1975
  • From World War to Cold War
  • Ruskin Module (15 credits)
  • The British Empire 1783-1919 *
  • The United States in the 20th Century *
  • Hanging, Prisons and Community Service: Crime and Punishment in Britain throughout the Ages *
  • Professional Placement *
  • Battles Barricades and Ideas - Historians and Europe's Age of Revolution *
  • Leisure and Popular Culture in Britain, 1800 to the Present *
  • Anglia Language Programme (15 credits) *
Year 3
  • Undergraduate Major Project - History
  • From Workhouses to Universal Credit: The Past, Present and Future of the British Welfare State
  • Victorian London
  • The Making of Modern Media
  • The Era of Thatcher and Blair *
  • From Communism to Consumerism: Russia since 1917 *
  • Hitler to the Hashtag: Political Communication in Peace and War *
  • A Global History of Government and Society, 1945-1999 *
  • Gender and Sexuality in Britain: 1880-2000 *
  • Anglia Language Programme (15 credits) *
Module details

To prepare you for university study, you can take a foundation year at the start of this course. Find out more about foundation years.

Year 1
  • Foundation in Humanities, English, Media, Social Sciences and Education
Module details

You can choose to take an optional placement year as part of this course. Placements typically happen in Year 3, and your course will take four years overall. Find out more about placement years.

Placement year
  • Work Placement - Humanities and Social Sciences
Module details

Read profiles of teaching and research staff on this course.

Facilities

Benefit from award-winning learning facilities, including a huge range of digital resources to sustain your research.

You can also access support, should you need it, with study skills, careers advice, health and wellbeing, and more.

All our History students have the opportunity to carry out research in Cambridge’s museums and archives, go on European field trips, or study abroad for a semester with funding available to help cover the cost.

Studying in the ancient university city of Cambridge will also give you access to many more resources, libraries and institutions both in the city and beyond.

Take a guided tour and meet our students.

Entry requirements

Fees and funding

Apply for History

Clearing places available

UK students, apply through Clearing for a September 2025 start

UK students

Call our Clearing line

01245 686868

UK students

Apply through UCAS for 2026

International students

Apply direct

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