(Full time) 2021 start
Ancient History and History BA
Overview
This degree allows you to study history from the ancient world right up to the 20th century. You’ll have the chance to study the civilisations of ancient Greece, Rome and Persia as well as more recent history across the globe.
A combination of core modules will give you a good grounding in different types of historical research methods, archaeology, literary analysis and life in ancient Greek and Roman society. You’ll also choose from a range of optional modules that covers everything from Pompeii to the Tudors, the history of Britain, modern Chinese history or black politics in the US to the present day. You’ll even have the chance to begin or continue with Latin or Ancient Greek throughout your degree. This degree allows you to combine the skills of the classicist and the historian to pursue your interests across periods and cultures.
Explore our libraries
Leeds has plenty of useful resources for History and Ancient History students. The world-class Brotherton Library holds a wide variety of manuscript, archive and early printed material in its Special Collections. Our other library resources are also excellent, and the University Library offers a full training programme to help you make the most of them.
Take a look around our libraries:
Course content
A joint honours degree allows you to study the same core topics as students on each single honours course, but you’ll take fewer optional and discovery modules so you can fit in both subjects.
This combination will allow you to explore how ancient concepts, ideas, events, art, architecture and literature continue to influence the modern world.
From your first year, you'll develop your historical skills and knowledge, as well as an understanding of concepts like historiography. You’ll also gain an understanding of the development of Greek and Roman civilisation and literature.
Once you have this firm foundation, you’ll choose from a range of optional modules over the following two years while striking a balance across historical periods. You could study Greek religion, the legacy of Augustus, Persia under the Achaemenids, the Crusades, medicine in the Middle Ages, Victorian England, pre-colonial India, 20th century African history, the fall of the Soviet Union and more.
By the end of your final year, you will have built a wide range of skills across disciplines, allowing you to research topics and think critically about what you find. You’ll apply these to an independently researched dissertation on a topic of your choice.
Classical sources are taught in translation, so you don’t need to have studied an ancient language. However, we offer Ancient Greek and Latin in every year of the degree if you want to learn or continue with either.
Course structure
The list shown below represents typical modules/components studied and may change from time to time. Read more in our Terms and conditions.
Modules
Year 1
Compulsory modules
- The Greek World: an Introduction 20 credits
- The Roman World: An Introduction 20 credits
- Historiography and Historical Skills 20 credits
- Primary Sources for the Historian: An Introduction to Documentary study 20 credits
Optional modules (selection of typical options shown below)
- Ancient Lives 20 credits
- Intermediate Ancient Greek (Level 1) 20 credits
- Intermediate Latin (Level 1) 20 credits
- Introduction to Classical Archaeology 20 credits
- Beginners Ancient Greek (Level 1) 20 credits
- Beginners Latin 20 credits
Year 2
Compulsory modules
- Evidence and Enquiry in Classics 20 credits
- Ancient Empires: Power and Control 20 credits
Optional modules (selection of typical options shown below)
- Herodotus and the Beginning of History 20 credits
- Virgil's Aeneid 20 credits
- Homer's Iliad 20 credits
- Plato on Love 20 credits
- Beginners Ancient Greek (Level 2) 20 credits
- The Crusades and the Crusader States in the 12th Century 20 credits
- Spain, 1898-1936: Disaster, Reaction and Reform 20 credits
- The Global Caribbean, 1641-1848 20 credits
- Black Politics from Emancipation to Obama 20 credits
- Global Business History 20 credits
- Mao Zedong and Modern China, 1949-Present 20 credits
- Black Europe 20 credits
Year 3
Compulsory modules
You are required to study ONE of the following Final Year Project modules in either Classics or History.
- Final Year Project 40 credits
- Major Research Project 40 credits
Optional modules (selection of typical options shown below)
- Advanced Ancient Language 20 credits
- The Rise of Rome: Myth and History 20 credits
- The Ancient Greek Novel 20 credits
- Pompeii - Past, Present and Future 20 credits
- Heroines: Representations of Mythological Women from Antiquity to the Present 20 credits
- Conquest, Convivencia and Conflict: Christian and Muslim Spain, 711-1212 40 credits
- Twentieth Century Southeast Asia: From Empire to Independence 20 credits
- Gendering the Raj: Women, Imperialism and Nationalism in Colonial and Postcolonial India 40 credits
- Material Cultures and Cultures of Consumption 20 credits
- Decolonial Approaches 20 credits
Learning and teaching
Our tutors are experts in their subjects whose teaching is informed by high-quality research. We use different teaching and learning methods to help you benefit from their knowledge and experience. These include lectures, seminars and tutorials, and occasionally workshops. However, independent learning is also an important part of the degree, since this is where you build your critical and research skills.
On this course you’ll be taught by our expert academics, from lecturers through to professors. You may also be taught by industry professionals with years of experience, as well as trained postgraduate researchers, connecting you to some of the brightest minds on campus.
Assessment
As well as exams and essays, you’ll be assessed using wikis, posters, student surveys and online discussion forums among others (depending on which modules you study). Our aim is to make sure you develop skills not only in your chosen subjects, but also ones which you can take into your future career. We offer plenty of support, and extra classes are available on issues like exam technique and public speaking throughout your time at Leeds.
Entry requirements, fees and applying
Entry requirements
A-level: AAB including A in History
Other course specific tests:Where an applicant is taking the EPQ in a relevant subject this might be considered alongside other Level 3 qualifications and may attract an alternative offer in addition to the standard offer. If you are taking A Levels, this would be ABB at A Level including A in History and grade A in the EPQ.
We welcome applications from mature students with Access qualifications, and from students with a wide range of qualifications.
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Access to HE Diploma
Pass diploma with 60 credits overall, including at least 45 credits at level 3, of which 30 credits must be at Distinction and 15 credits at Merit or higher. An interview and a piece of written work may also be required. This course has additional subject specific requirements for History. Contact the Admissions Office for more information.
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BTEC
We will consider this qualification in combination with other qualifications. Please contact the Admissions Office for more information.
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Cambridge Pre-U
D3, M1, M1 including D3 in History
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International Baccalaureate
35 points overall with 16 at Higher Level including 6 in History at Higher Level
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Irish Highers (Leaving Certificate)
H2, H2, H2, H2, H3, H3 including H2 in History
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Scottish Highers / Advanced Highers
AB in Advanced Highers including A in History and AABBB in Highers, or A in History in Advanced Highers and AABBB in Highers
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Welsh Baccalaureate
The Welsh Baccalaureate is not typically included in the academic conditions of an offer made to you for this course. If you choose to undertake the Welsh Baccalaureate we would strongly encourage you to draw upon these experiences within your personal statement, as your qualification will then be taken into account both when your application is initially considered by the selection panel and again when reviewed by the admissions tutor at the time your A-level results are passed to us.
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Other Qualifications
European Baccalaureate: 80% including 85% in History
Read more about UK and Republic of Ireland accepted qualifications or contact the School’s Undergraduate Admissions Team.
Alternative entry
We’re committed to identifying the best possible applicants, regardless of personal circumstances or background.
Access to Leeds is an alternative admissions scheme which accepts applications from individuals who might be from low income households, in the first generation of their immediate family to apply to higher education, or have had their studies disrupted.
Find out more about Access to Leeds and alternative admissions.
Typical Access to Leeds offer: BBB including History at A Level and pass Access to Leeds
International
We accept a range of international equivalent qualifications. Contact the Undergraduate Admissions Office for more information.
International Foundation Year
International students who do not meet the academic requirements for undergraduate study may be able to study the University of Leeds International Foundation Year. This gives you the opportunity to study on campus, be taught by University of Leeds academics and progress onto a wide range of Leeds undergraduate courses. Find out more about International Foundation Year programmes.
English language requirements
IELTS 6.5 overall, with no less than 6.0 in any component. For other English qualifications, read English language equivalent qualifications.
Improve your English
If you're an international student and you don't meet the English language requirements for this programme, you may be able to study our undergraduate pre-sessional English course, to help improve your English language level.
How to apply
Apply to this course through UCAS. The institution code for the University of Leeds is L23. Check the deadline for applications on the UCAS website.
International students apply through UCAS in the same way as UK/EU students. Our network of international representatives can help you with your application. If you’re unsure about the application process, contact the admissions team for help.
Read about visas, immigration and other information in International students. We recommend that international students apply as early as possible to ensure that they have time to apply for their visa.
Admissions policy
Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures Undergraduate Admissions Policy 2021
Fees
UK/EU: To be confirmed
International: To be confirmed
Undergraduate tuition fees for 2020 entry
For UK and non-UK EU full-time students starting in 2020, the fee for 2020/21 will be £9,250.
The fee may increase in future years of your course in line with inflation, and as permitted by law. Fees for UK and non-UK EU undergraduate students are decided by Government and may vary if policy changes.
The UK government has confirmed that non-UK EU students starting in the 2020/21 academic year will have home fee status and be eligible for UK government student loans for the duration of their course. The UK government has not confirmed the situation for future years, so keep checking our website for updates.
UK undergraduate tuition fees for 2021 entry
Tuition fees for UK full-time undergraduate students starting in 2021/22 have not yet been confirmed by the UK government. In other years, the government has confirmed fee levels in summer. When the fee is confirmed, we will publish an update on this website.
Tuition fees for a study abroad or work placement year
If you take a study abroad or work placement year, you’ll pay a reduced tuition fee during this period. For more information, see Study abroad and work placement tuition fees and loans.
Read more about paying fees and charges.
Brexit
Visit our Brexit page for the latest information on the effect of the UK's exit from the EU on current students and applicants to the University.
Part-time fees
Fees for part-time courses are normally calculated based on the number of credits you study in a year compared to the equivalent full-time course. For example, if you study half the course credits in a year, you will pay half the full-time course fees for that year.
There may be additional costs related to your course or programme of study, or related to being a student at the University of Leeds. Read more about additional costs
Financial support
If you have the talent and drive, we want you to be able to study with us, whatever your financial circumstances. There is help for students in the form of loans and non-repayable grants from the University and from the government. Find out more in our Undergraduate funding overview.
Career opportunities
A degree in ancient history and history crosses disciplines and gives you a wide range of knowledge and skills.
You’ll be capable of researching complex topics independently and thinking critically about information from different sources. You’ll be analytical and have highly developed communication skills. You’ll also have organisational and time management skills. In addition, studying for a joint honours degree allows you to become intellectually versatile as you switch between different disciplines.
Graduates from the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures go on to a wide range of careers, including publishing, the armed forces, journalism, law, curatorship, the civil service, advertising and marketing, education, business and finance and the charity sector. Some of our graduates progress onto postgraduate study.
We do everything we can to help prepare you for your career. Student-run career groups allow you to get together with other students who share your career ambitions, while you could also become a peer mentor under our scheme or apply for one of the internships offered every year.
You can read more about the range of careers our Ancient History and History graduates progress into, as well as the support we offer you throughout your degree.
Careers support
We encourage you to prepare for your career from day one. That’s one of the reasons Leeds graduates are so sought after by employers.
Leeds for Life is our unique approach to helping you make the most of University by supporting your academic and personal development. Find out more at the Leeds for Life website.
The Careers Centre and staff in your faculty provide a range of help and advice to help you plan your career and make well-informed decisions along the way, even after you graduate. Find out more at the Careers website.
Study abroad and work placements
Study abroad
On this course you have the opportunity to apply to spend time abroad, usually as an extra academic year. We have over 300 University partners worldwide and popular destinations for our students include Europe, the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Africa and Latin America.
Find out more at the Study Abroad website.
Classics and Ancient History at Leeds has specific exchange links with:
- University of Göttingen (Germany)
- Verona University (Italy)
- Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece).
You could apply to spend a year studying at any one of our three exchange institutions and modern language classes will be available before you go to prepare you for the experience.
Work placements
Practical work experience can help you decide on your career and improve your employability. On this course you have the option to apply to take a placement year module with organisations across the public, private and voluntary sectors in the UK, or overseas.
Find out more about work experience on the Careers website.
A work placement year is a popular choice with our students as it provides an opportunity to gain invaluable work experience as part of your degree. As with study abroad, you don't have to decide whether to pursue this before you come to Leeds.
You'll apply for the work placement year when you are already here and settled into your degree. If you are successful, you'll work in a graduate-level role and return to Leeds to complete your final year.
Hannah spent a year working for an integrated marketing group.