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Contact information
- Undergraduate admissions team
- history.admissions@ucl.ac.uk
- +(44) (0)207 679 7125
History BA
Studying history at UCL gives you opportunities to explore the subject which are unrivalled in the UK or in Europe. This flexible degree programme offers an exceptional range of modules, enabling you to study ancient, medieval and modern history, from the third millennium BCE to the contemporary world.
Covid-19 programme updates
Due to COVID-19, there may have been updates to this programme for the 2020 academic year. Where there has been an update, these are indicated with a red alert and a link which will provide further information.
Key Information
Programme starts
September 2020
- UCAS code
- Duration
-
Full-time: 3 years
- Application deadline
- 15 January 2020
- Location
- London, Bloomsbury
Entry requirements
A Levels
- Grades
- AAA
- Subjects
- History required.
- GCSEs
- English Language and Mathematics at grade C or 5. For UK-based students, a grade C or 5 or equivalent in a foreign language (other than Ancient Greek, Biblical Hebrew or Latin) is required. UCL provides opportunities to meet the foreign language requirement following enrolment, further details at: www.ucl.ac.uk/ug-reqs
Contextual offer
- Grades
- ABB (more about contextual offers)
- Subjects
- History required.
- GCSEs
- English Language and Mathematics at grade C or 5. For UK-based students, a grade C or 5 or equivalent in a foreign language (other than Ancient Greek, Biblical Hebrew or Latin) is required. UCL provides opportunities to meet the foreign language requirement following enrolment, further details at: www.ucl.ac.uk/ug-reqs
IB Diploma
- Points
- 38
- Subjects
- A score of 18 points in three higher level subjects including grade 6 in History, with no score lower than 5.
Contextual offer
- Points
- 34 (more about contextual offers)
- Subjects
- A score of 16 points in three higher level subject including grade 6 in History, no score lower than 5.
UK applicants qualifications
For entry requirements with other UK qualifications accepted by UCL, choose your qualification from the list below:
Equivalent qualification
Not acceptable for entrance to this programme.
Pass in Access to HE Diploma, with a minimum of 23 credits awarded with Distinction in the Level 3 units, the remainder of the Level 3 units awarded with Merit. Level 3 units must include elements of History or clearly demonstrated modules with historical approach.
D3,D3,D3 in three Cambridge Pre-U Principal Subjects, including History
AAA at Advanced Highers (or AA at Advanced Higher and AAA at Higher), including History at Advanced Higher.
Successful completion of the WBQ Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate plus 2 GCE A-Levels at grades AAA, including History.
International applications
In addition to A level and International Baccalaureate, UCL considers a wide range of international qualifications for entry to its undergraduate degree programmes.
English language requirements
If your education has not been conducted in the English language, you will be expected to demonstrate evidence of an adequate level of English proficiency. Information about the evidence required, acceptable qualifications and test providers can be found on our English language requirements page.
The English language level for this programme is: Advanced
A variety of English language programmes are offered at the UCL Centre for Languages & International Education.
Degree benefits
Drawing upon UCL History, related UCL departments, including the Institute of the Americas and the School of Slavonic & East European Studies, and relevant University of London colleges, the programme offers a wide variety of courses spanning extraordinary chronological and geographical range.
Specialisms of the department include the history of the ancient Near East; the history of the Americas; the cultural and intellectual history of Europe; and imperial and transnational history.
The flexible programme structure allows you to pursue your own intellectual passions. You are encouraged to study languages and can take courses in related subjects such as archaeology or anthropology.
Exceptional resources, including the British Museum and the British Library, are within walking distance, and other London-based museums and organisations provide unrivalled opportunities for accessing primary source material.
Degree structure
In each year of your degree you will take a number of individual modules, normally valued at 15 or 30 credits, adding up to a total of 120 credits for the year. Modules are assessed in the academic year in which they are taken. The balance of compulsory and optional modules varies from programme to programme and year to year. A 30-credit module is considered equivalent to 15 credits in the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS).
The programme includes three first-year compulsory modules, a research project in the second year, and a dissertation, a special subject, and options chosen from a range of full-year and half-year modules in the final year.
We strongly encourage all our students to gain maximum benefit from the chronological range of expertise in the department by taking at least one module in each of ancient history; medieval or early modern history; and modern history.
Our syllabus is very flexible. You may take up to 30 credits a year from another discipline, such as archaeology, geography, history of art, or a language.
In your second and third year you may choose specialist history courses offered throughout the University of London.
Teaching is delivered via lectures and seminars, and one-to-one tutorials provide personal feedback on essays. All seminar groups are capped at a maximum of 15; final-year dissertation subjects at a maximum of 10.
Modules
An indicative guide to the structure of this programme, year by year.
Core or compulsory module(s)
Writing History
Making History
Approaching History
Optional modules
You will select 60 credits of optional modules, including at least 30 credits from a wide range of options in History. Options may include:
The Roman Republic, 350 BC - 44 BC
The First European Union? Christendom 1187-1321
History of Political Thought in the West
British History 1850-1997
History of Modern Germany 1815-1990
History of Latin America 1830-c1930
Tudor and Stuart Britain: 1500-1700
Remaining credits can be selected from another approved interdepartmental module.
Core or compulsory module(s)
Research Seminar
Optional modules
You will select 90 credits of optional modules, including at least 60 credits from a wide range of options in History. Options may include:
Asia, the Aegean, Europe: Dividing the World in Ancient Greece
Sin in the Middle Ages
American History in Hollywood Film
Jewish-Muslim Relations in the Modern Middle East
Africa, Decolonization and Internationalism
Up to 30 credits can be selected from another approved interdepartmental or intercollegiate module.
Core or compulsory module(s)
Dissertation
Optional modules
You will select 90 credits of optional modules, including at least 30 credits from a History Special Subject, at least 30 credits from History full-year and half-year modules (which may include an approved intercollegiate module) and up to 30 credits from another department or discipline.
History Special Subject options may include:
Death and Dying in Ancient Mesopotamia
Animals, Demons and the Boundaries of the Human in the Late Middle Ages
Abraham Lincoln and the Crisis of the Union, 1854-1865
The British civil wars and interregnum
Great Britain and the American Colonies, 1760-1776
Untold Stories: Constructing Lives, Narratives and Experiences in Wartime East Asia
Apartheid's Collapse and the New South Africa
Homelessness in London c.1900-2000
Covid-19 module updates
Due to COVID-19, there may be updates to the modules for your chosen programme of study this year. Some modules may not be available or may need to be moved to a later term or year of study.
These updates are relevant for 2020-21 academic year only. The full list of modules will be available in the module catalogue from late August. From the first week of September, you will be invited to complete module selection from Portico, our student record system.
There may need to be additional updates or changes to modules during the academic year to allow for new guidance from the UK Government and Public Health England. Your department shall keep you updated of these changes as they become available
Your learning
Our approach to learning places emphasis on active student participation in seminar discussion, always in groups of fifteen or fewer. Some modules, particularly in your first year, will also include lectures. Essays you write will always be returned to you in individual face-to-face tutorials in which you will receive constructive, personal feedback.
Covid-19 contact hours on campus
In Term One, while campus will be open, all the learning activity for the core content of your modules will take place online – including lectures, tutorials, seminars and assessments. By “core content” we mean everything you need to learn to complete the module successfully.
In addition to these online contact hours, we will be offering some face-to-face educational activities for students on campus, and we will provide alternative online activities for those students unable to join us on campus. These activities, which will include contact with academic staff, will be relevant to your programme of study may include seminars, academic and employability skills workshops, small-group or individual tutorials, lab and practice-based teaching.
UK Government safety guidelines will limit the amount of ‘in person’ activity we can offer and while it will vary from programme to programme, is likely to be no more than 1-2 hours per week. This will vary across departments, particularly if your programme includes laboratory/practical/studio/workshop sessions. You will be updated with more specific details as they are available and your timetable will indicate which sessions will be on campus and which will be available online.
Communicating further Covid-19 mitigation plans
We are continuing to follow UK Government guidance, as well as the expertise of our researchers, including specialists in health, education, human behaviour and infection prevention, to make sure UCL is as safe as possible during the COVID-19 pandemic. If it becomes necessary to make further changes to your programme as a result of new guidance/regulations, UCL and your department will communicate these as soon as this becomes clear. We will keep you up-to-date with our plans throughout term one, so you have the information you need to be able to take decisions that are right for your circumstances. Please ensure that you keep in touch with your department by regularly checking your UCL emails, Moodle courses, the Coronavirus FAQs for Students page and any UCL online groups or social media you follow.
Assessment
Your work will be assessed by a mixture of examinations and written coursework. Significant weight is given to an extended essay based on original sources, produced in your final year.
Covid-19 assessment updates
There may be changes to the format of assessments for modules in this programme due to COVID-19. These will be summarised for each module on the module catalogue from 17 August 2020.
If any changes to assessments need to be made during the academic year due to updates in government guidance, these will be communicated to you as soon as possible from your department.
Detailed course descriptions are available on the department website: History BA.
Careers
The programme is designed to teach many transferable skills: how to gather and organise evidence; how to analyse it and present a structured argument; how to express yourself clearly both in writing and orally.
UCL's History graduates have excelled in a wide range of occupations, as lawyers, financial advisers, stockbrokers, television producers, diplomats, journalists, bankers, teachers, and in the health service, the police and overseas development programmes, as well as in progressing to further study.
UCL is commited to helping you get the best start after graduation. Read more about how UCL Careers and UCL Innovation and Enterprise can help you find employment or learn about entrepreneurship.
Alumni view
“During my BA I volunteered at the Foundling Museum, which helped me understand the different approaches to academic history and popular history. I have chosen to stay at UCL to carry on with postgraduate work at Master’s level, and I will be applying to do a PhD here, as well. The quality of teaching, the expertise of the staff and the wealth of resources in and around UCL – especially the libraries – are crucial to the history research I am interested in.”Agata Izis Zielinska - History BA 2015
Fees and funding
Tuition fees
The fees indicated are for undergraduate entry in the 2020/21 academic year. The UK/EU fees shown are for the first year of the programme at UCL only. Fees for future years may be subject to an inflationary increase. The Overseas fees shown are the fees that will be charged to 2020/21 entrants for each year of study on the programme, unless otherwise indicated below.
- UK/EU students
- £9,250 (2020/21)
- Overseas students
- £21,260 (2020/21)
Full details of UCL's tuition fees, tuition fee policy and potential increases to fees can be found on the UCL Students website.
Additional costs
If you are concerned by potential additional costs for books, equipment, etc. on this programme, please get in touch with the relevant departmental contact (details given on this page).
Funding
Various funding options are available, including student loans, scholarships and bursaries. UK students whose household income falls below a certain level may also be eligible for a non-repayable bursary or for certain scholarships. Please see the Fees and funding pages for more details.
Departmental scholarships
Funding opportunities relevant to the department may appear in this section when they are available. Please check carefully or confirm with the programme contact to ensure they apply to this degree programme.
The Scholarships and Funding website lists scholarships and funding schemes available to UCL students. These may be open to all students, or restricted to specific nationalities, regions or academic department.
Application and next steps
Your application
Each candidate's profile is considered as a complete picture, taking into account your interest in and suitability for the degree, as shown in your personal statement and referee's report, as well as achieved and predicted grades. Your ability to present an argument, evidence of intellectual curiosity and your enthusiasm for and commitment to studying history will also be assessed.
How to apply
Application for admission should be made through UCAS (the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service). Applicants currently at school or college will be provided with advice on the process; however, applicants who have left school or who are based outside the United Kingdom may obtain information directly from UCAS.
Application deadline: 15 January 2020
Selection
We are keen to attract students from a wide range of backgrounds as this helps us to maintain an intellectually and socially stimulating community. Applicants will normally have studied History; English or a language taken to a higher level is also an advantage.
For further information on UCL's selection process see: Selection of students.
Page last modified on 11 August 2020