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Public History MA

London, Stratford (UCL East)

How is history shaped, shared, and experienced in today’s world? Discover the many ways history comes alive across museums, heritage, culture, media, technology, and even the video game industry with this one-year MA at UCL’s dynamic new East campus, with access to historic Bloomsbury. Learn from leading practitioners and gain real-world insights through exclusive behind-the-scenes field trips with industry experts. Step into public history and explore its impact on a local and global scale!

UK students International students
Study mode
UK tuition fees (2025/26)
£16,000
£8,000
Overseas tuition fees (2025/26)
£33,000
£16,500
Duration
1 calendar year
2 calendar years
Programme starts
September 2025
Applications accepted
Applicants who require a visa: 14 Oct 2024 – 27 Jun 2025
Applications close at 5pm UK time

Applications open

Applicants who do not require a visa: 14 Oct 2024 – 29 Aug 2025
Applications close at 5pm UK time

Applications open

Apply for this course

Entry requirements

A minimum of an upper second-class Bachelor's degree in a relevant discipline from a UK university or an overseas qualification of an equivalent standard.

The English language level for this programme is: Level 4

UCL Pre-Master's and Pre-sessional English courses are for international students who are aiming to study for a postgraduate degree at UCL. The courses will develop your academic English and academic skills required to succeed at postgraduate level.

Further information can be found on our English language requirements page.

Equivalent qualifications

Country-specific information, including details of when UCL representatives are visiting your part of the world, can be obtained from the International Students website.

International applicants can find out the equivalent qualification for their country by selecting from the list below. Please note that the equivalency will correspond to the broad UK degree classification stated on this page (e.g. upper second-class). Where a specific overall percentage is required in the UK qualification, the international equivalency will be higher than that stated below. Please contact Graduate Admissions should you require further advice.

About this degree


“I chose Public History because I believe in humanistic inquiry, free of barriers. Having the city of London as your campus is an incomparable experience. As part of the London cultural hub, UCL provides opportunities to attend talks, museum exhibitions, events, etc. The Public History MA takes advantage of that by having field trips to institutions like the Imperial War Museum and the Migration Museum, where students get a behind-the-scenes look at the heritage sector.”
(Ariella Hartstein, MA Public History)

The MA in Public History combines cutting-edge, research-led knowledge of how history is produced and engaged with in public contexts, with training in the practices through which public historical understanding is created and communicated.

The approach of the MA in Public History is distinctively global and interdisciplinary. Students will be primarily based out of UCL East, working alongside those undertaking studies in the related fields of global urbanism, heritage studies, creative humanities, and media studies. They will first examine what public history means and how it changes over time and place across distinct global contexts, exploring key concepts and debates centring on memory, heritage, history as activism, history as business, policy, and as institutional and community memory, as well as the arts and acts of remembrance.

Students will then focus on developing their practical public history skills in an area, or areas, of public history relevant to them, through project-based work in collaboration with one of UCL’s experienced practitioner-mentors. The programme’s emphasis on combining a theoretical framework with practice-based learning will allow students to critically self-reflect on their public history efforts as they produce them.

Who this course is for

The programme provides an ideal foundation for students interested in expanding their knowledge of public history and their skills in communicating historical research to diverse audiences or those keen to pursue careers in various public-history-related sectors, such as the media or heritage industries. The programme will also appeal to those with existing public history experience eager to develop critical and practical skills.

Read about what it takes to study for a Master's at UCL

What this course will give you

UCL History enjoys an outstanding international reputation for its research and teaching. The department is committed to the intellectual development of all our students; if you come to UCL, you will receive individual supervision from leading historians.

Public History MA students will be primarily based at UCL East, our new state-of-the-art Stratford, East London campus. The new campus will provide access to many collaborative and creative spaces:

  • The Memory Workshop.
  • Centre for public-facing history teaching and research.
  • The Urban Room.
  • The Culture Lab.
  • Conservation and media studios, and other exhibition and curating spaces. 

Students also have access to the Bloomsbury campus, just minutes away from the exceptional resources:

  • The British Library.
  • The British Museum.
  • The Warburg.
  • The Institute of Historical Research. 
  • The Petrie Museum at UCL.

There is a range of focus from the local to the global; core courses and optional modules range from real embeddedness in East London to how public history changes in Asian and Middle Eastern global contexts.

Students will benefit from UCL’s rich experience working with national heritage institutions, museums and media outlets, as well as local communities in London, and from the university’s own role as a public history provider (through its three on-campus museums and special collections). They will work with internationally-recognised practitioner-researchers in oral history, documentary film and radio, exhibition curation, digital history, historical dramatization and heritage-making.

Students will also have opportunities to study with public history professionals from beyond UCL and thus gain exposure to a range of career pathways.

Read about what you'll get out of a graduate programme

The foundation of your career

Through this degree, students develop an enviable range of skills. Debates, small-group seminars and tutorials help students acquire strong presentation and negotiation skills for their future careers. Employers from various industries also highly value the analytical and research skills gained. Many additional opportunities are available within the department and the wider UCL community for students to enhance their employability by engaging in career talks and networking events. Networks made at UCL East will also expand students' career prospects.

Over the past years Department of History graduates have gone onto careers in education, publishing and journalism, policy and government and health and social care (Graduate Outcomes survey 2017-2022).

I chose Public History because I believe in humanistic inquiry, free of barriers. Having the city of London as your campus is an incomparable experience. As part of the London cultural hub, UCL provides opportunities to attend talks, museum exhibitions, events, etc. The Public History MA takes advantage of that by having field trips to institutions like the Imperial War Museum and the Migration Museum, where students get a behind-the-scenes look at the heritage sector.

UCL Portico building with welcome sign between columns.

Ariella Hartstein

Public History MA

Employability

The programme is designed to teach many of the transferable skills that history MA programmes offer and which provide a strong foundation for those hoping to undertake PhD research and an academic career. On top of this, the programme provides the transferable skills necessary to pursue a career in media and arts, heritage, education, civil service, and business.

Debate, small group seminars and tutorials provide you with solid presentation and negotiation skills for your future career. Project-based work will help you learn to collaborate and manage your time and workload effectively. Employers highly prize these skills across a range of sectors. The media and digital skills training you acquire will develop your ability to communicate effectively across various genres and audiences. By learning with industry professionals and specialist practitioners, you will gain knowledge of multiple career pathways and possibilities for further networking. 

Many additional activities are available, both within the department and the wider UCL community, to help you focus on employability skills whilst you are here, for example, departmental careers talks and networking opportunities with UCL History alums.

Networking

Students on the MA in Public History undertake field trips to museums, archives and other public history organisations in London as part of their core and optional modules, where they will meet with public history experts in various roles. This has included the Imperial War Museum, the Migration Museum and the Living Refugee Archive in past years. 

Students have also been involved in local public history projects as volunteers, connecting with practitioners in East London. Students are encouraged to attend relevant talks and seminars within UCL and at the Institute of Historical Research (IHR). The programme lead regularly communicates relevant events, conferences and workshops.

Teaching and learning

Through your optional and elective modules, the MA programme will offer you the opportunity to explore a range of periods, locations, and practices through which public history is made. The compulsory module Critical Public History is broken into two parts. In Term 1, you can develop an understanding of conceptual and theoretical approaches to the study of public history to be applied to your project-based work, which you will begin to plan and prepare for in this term. In Term 2, you can develop your practical skills as a public historian by designing and producing a small public history output, working with a small team in a collaborative environment while mentored by a professional public history practitioner. In Term 3, you can combine your practical and critical knowledge in your capstone Public History Research Project.

You will learn through a mixture of seminars (including student-moderated guest speaker talks with Q&As), film screenings, field trips, studio-based learning at UCL East’s new Urban Room and Memory Workshop, and undertaking private reading and research. Most of your education will be in small groups. A module typically involves about two hours of contact time and ten hours of individual study per week. Seminar groups generally have a maximum of twelve students. Much of your teaching is likely to be research led. In addition to lectures, seminars, and studio work, you will also receive one-to-one tutorial-style teaching and mentoring by public history practitioners.

A core part of assessment will be through coursework essays. However, students will also be assessed through video and audio productions, oral presentations, web resources, project reports and proposals, treatments, and scripts.

You are expected to spend approximately 150 hours studying for a 15-credit module and approximately 300 hours studying for a 30-credit module.

For full-time students, typical contact hours are around 7- 8-hours of lectures, seminars, workshops and tutorials per teaching week. Outside of lectures, seminars, workshops and tutorials, full-time students typically study the equivalent of a full-time job, using their remaining time for self-directed study and completing coursework assignments.

In term three and the summer period students will be completing their own dissertation research, keeping regular contact with their dissertation supervisors.

Modules

The programme is designed so you can develop your trajectory within the field of public history, developing your practical skills in specific modes of public history practice as you extend and apply your critical understanding of them.

In Term 1, you will gain a solid foundation in the concepts and debates relevant to public history, beginning to explore the distinct shapes it has taken across time and geography and the distinct publics that consume and create historical understanding. You will learn about the commercial, community and political applications of historical knowledge while reflecting on how taking history public impacts academic research and historiography.

In Term 2, you will deepen your public history-making skills by researching and co-creating an assessed small public history project mentored by experienced practitioners within UCL and beyond.

In both terms, you will be able to take recommended module options which will deepen:

  • your understanding of the diverse contexts in which public history is made, consumed, and applied;
  • the history from which you intend to make public history outputs; and
  • your practical knowledge of the various genres and spaces through which you intend to make public history.

The culmination of your studies will be a capstone public history research project, which you will focus on in Term 3. This project will allow you to combine your practical, historical or critical knowledge of public history. It is assessed by both a written piece of work and a public history output. However, before starting your studies, you will decide which element to focus on. 

The Public History Research Project: Examining Public History involves working on a 10,000-word research dissertation or public history report (70%) and accompanying public history output (30%, equivalent to work for a 5,000-word essay). The latter will comprise either an audio or video essay or audio tour OR a project proposal pitching a history radio programme, documentary television programme or immersive VR experience OR a history web resource (such as a blog, an online teaching resource or a small online exhibition).

Alternatively, if you decide on the Public History Research Project: Creating Public History, you will focus on a public history output (70%, equivalent in work to a 10,000-word dissertation), accompanied by a 5,000-word reflective essay (30%). Subject to availability, your public history output will comprise a podcast or documentary film, OR an audio tour, OR a script for an episodic history documentary or dramatized history documentary radio or television programme, OR a history web resource (such as a curated oral history collection, a teaching resource for schools, or a virtual exhibition).

The programme is designed so you can develop your trajectory within the field of public history, developing your practical skills in specific modes of public history practice as you extend and apply your critical understanding of them.

In Year 1, you will gain a solid foundation in the concepts and debates relevant to public history, beginning to explore the distinct shapes it has taken across time and geography and the distinct publics that consume and create historical understanding. You will learn about the commercial, community and political applications of historical knowledge while reflecting on how taking history public impacts academic research and historiography.

You will also deepen your public history-making skills by researching and co-creating an assessed small public history project mentored by experienced practitioners within UCL and beyond.

In Year 2, you will focus on a capstone public history research project, which will allow you to combine your practical, historical and critical knowledge of public history. This project is assessed by both a written piece of work and a public history output. However, before your first year of study ends, you will choose which element you wish to focus on more by selecting one of two options.

The Public History Research Project: Examining Public History involves working on a 10,000-word research dissertation or public history report (70%) and accompanying public history output (30%, equivalent to work for a 5,000-word essay). The latter will comprise either an audio or video essay or audio tour OR a project proposal pitching a history radio programme, documentary television programme or immersive VR experience OR a history web resource (such as a blog, an online teaching resource or a small online exhibition).

Alternatively, the Public History Research Project: Creating Public History allows you to focus on a public history output (70%, equivalent in work to a 10,000-word dissertation), accompanied by a 5,000-word reflective essay (30%). Subject to availability, your public history output will comprise either a podcast or documentary film OR an audio tour OR a script for an episodic history documentary or dramatized history documentary radio or television programme OR a history web resource.

In both years, you will be able to take recommended module options which will deepen:

  • your understanding of the diverse contexts in which public history is made, consumed, and applied;
  • the history from which you intend to make public history outputs; and,
  • your practical knowledge of the various genres and spaces through which you intend to make public history.

Compulsory modules





Optional modules



Migrant City: Migration, Public History and London

New Public Histories in Conflict-Affected Contexts




Topics in Economic History


Please note that the list of modules given here is indicative. This information is published a long time in advance of enrolment and module content and availability are subject to change. Modules that are in use for the current academic year are linked for further information. Where no link is present, further information is not yet available.

Students undertake modules to the value of 180 credits. Upon successful completion of 180 credits, you will be awarded an MA in Public History. Upon successful completion of 60 credits, you will be awarded a PG Cert in Public History.

Accessibility

Details of the accessibility of UCL buildings can be obtained from AccessAble. Further information can also be obtained from the UCL Student Support and Wellbeing Services team.

Fees and funding

Fees for this course

UK students International students
Fee description Full-time Part-time
Tuition fees (2025/26) £16,000 £8,000
Tuition fees (2025/26) £33,000 £16,500

Additional costs

For Full-time and Part-time offer holders a fee deposit will be charged at 10% of the first year fee.

There is no fee deposit required for PG Dip and PG Cert applicants.

Further information can be found in the Tuition fee deposits section on this page: Tuition fees.

Students are expected to pay the entrance fee to any admission-charging exhibition or museum or archive visited by a class; the tutor will usually negotiate a group discount where this is significantly cheaper than the individual student discount.

Students who are facing financial hardships can apply for UCL Financial Assistance Funds.

UCL’s main teaching locations are in zones 1 (Bloomsbury) and zones 2/3 (UCL East). The cost of a monthly 18+ Oyster travel card for zones 1-2 is £114.50. This price was published by TfL in 2024. For more information on additional costs for prospective students and the cost of living in London, please view our estimated cost of essential expenditure at UCL's cost of living guide.

Funding your studies

UCL East London Scholarship The scholarship works to support the ambitions of east Londoners by funding the fees and living costs of eligible Master's programmes including this MA at UCL. Find details at ucl.ac.uk/scholarships/ucl-east-london-scholarship

For a comprehensive list of the funding opportunities available at UCL, including funding relevant to your nationality, please visit the Scholarships and Funding website.

See all the ways you can fund your studies

Aziz Foundation Scholarships in Social and Historical Sciences

Value: Full tuition fees (equivalent to 1yr full-time) (1 year)
Criteria Based on financial need
Eligibility: UK

UCL East London Scholarship

Deadline: 26 June 2025
Value: Tuition fees plus £16,000 stipend ()
Criteria Based on financial need
Eligibility: UK

Next steps

When we assess your application, we would like to learn:

  • why you want to study Public History at graduate level
  • why you want to study Public History at UCL
  • what particularly attracts you to this programme
  • how your academic background meets the demands of this challenging programme
  • where you would like to go professionally with your degree

Along with essential academic requirements, the personal statement is your opportunity to show how your reasons for applying to this programme match what the programme delivers.

Please note that you may submit applications for a maximum of two graduate programmes (or one application for the Law LLM) in any application cycle.

Choose your programme

Please read the Application Guidance before proceeding with your application.

Year of entry: 2025-2026

Apply for this course

Got questions? Get in touch

History
History

history.programmes@ucl.ac.uk

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