BA History
About this course
BA (Hons) in History BA (Hons), a history degree centred on the study of past societies, political structures, and cultural transformations from antiquity to the modern era. Core topics include Research Methods, Historical Research, Critical & Analytical Thinking, and Global & Comparative Perspective. The course includes a final-year dissertation and opportunities for work experience through partnerships with local archives and heritage sites. The first year establishes fundamental academic capabilities through compulsory modules such as Researching and Presenting the Past, Global York: A Social and Cultural History of the City, and War and Society, alongside optional choices addressing environmental history and international affairs. The second year continues with compulsory modules like Making History and History Pathways, while offering diverse optional modules covering medieval kingship, Soviet history, and nineteenth-century France. The final year centres on the Dissertation in History, supported by optional modules exploring the Reformation, the Korean War, and the Wars of the Roses.
Written by AI from the university's course page and module list. It can get details wrong, so check the official course page before you rely on it.
Entry requirements
Minimum entry requirements: 104 UCAS Tariff points; and 3 GCSEs at grade C/4 (or equivalent) including English Language.
See the highest paying History, Philosophy & Religion degrees in the UK →
What students say
Based on about 49 final-year students who answered, across similar courses at this university
- Teaching on my course: 98%
- Learning opportunities: 93%
- Assessment and feedback: 92%
- Academic support: 92%
- Organisation and management: 91%
- Learning resources: 94%
- Student voice: 78%
Do students stay on the course?
Based on about 10 students who started (a small group: a rough guide only)
- Continued on course: 80%
- Left higher education: 20%
What graduates do next
Based on about 33 graduates who answered, across similar courses at this university
- Working: 56%
- Working and studying: 15%
- Further study: 10%
- Unemployed: 8%
Most common jobs
- Teaching Professionals: 20%
- Elementary occupations: 20%
- Administrative occupations: 15%
- Teaching and Childcare Support Occupation: 10%
- Leisure, travel and related personal service occupations: 10%
- Find their work meaningful: 75%
- Feel on track for their future plans: 45%
- Use what they learnt on the course: 30%
Where graduates work (5 years on)
Based on about 145 graduates, across similar courses at this university
- North East: 18%
- North West: 11%
- Yorkshire and the Humber: 51%
- East Midlands: 8%
- West Midlands: 2%
- East of England: 2%
- London: 6%
- South East: 3%
- South West: 1%
Who gets in
Based on about 20 students who started (a small group: a rough guide only)
- A levels: 90%
- Access course: 5%
- Other qualifications: 5%
Accreditation & quality ratings
TEF 2023 (whole university): Silver overall, Gold for student experience, Silver for student outcomes.
Modules
- Researching and Presenting the Past
- Global York: A Social and Cultural History of the City
- War and Society
- The Visible Past
- People and Nature: An Environmental History
- United States: Empire of Liberty?
- A World in Crisis
- Making History
- History Pathways
- Tyranny and Majesty: Kingship in Late Medieval England
- Lives and Experiences of Sixteenth-Century Women
- Russian Between Lenin and Stalin
- C’est La Vie! An Everyday History of Nineteenth-Century France
- From Slavery to Freedom
- The United States since 9/11
- European Conflict, c.1660-1815
- Alfred the Great and the Idea of England
- The Great Society: America in the 1960s
- The Chinese Revolutions: From Empire to Communism
- Living and Dying in Revolutionary England, 1620 - 1670
- ‘You’ve Never Had It So Good!’ Britain 1945-1997
- Dissertation in History
- A Cultural History of the Reformation
- Cold War, Hot War: The International History of the Korean War
- Doomed Youth: A Social and Cultural History of the First World War
- Life After Death in the Early Middle Ages: Saints, Ghosts, and Dynasties
- Life Through Letters, 1780 - 1850
- Myth, Murder, Memory: Traumatic Histories and the American Experience
- Napoleonic Europe
- Roads to War: The International Origins of World War Two
- The Assassination of John F. Kennedy
- The Wars of the Roses
- War Without Fronts: The Wars in Indochina, 1946 - 1975
- Watchers and the Watched: Surveillance in Early Modern England
Questions about this course
How much do graduates of BA History at York St John University earn?
The median salary is £22,000 after 15 months, £19,000 after 3 years, £23,000 after 5 years. After five years the middle half of graduates earn between £19,500 and £29,000. The £23,000 median after five years is £7,500 less than the UK median for History.
What do graduates of BA History at York St John University do next?
81% were in work or further study 15 months after finishing (Graduate Outcomes 2022-23).
Are students happy with the teaching on BA History at York St John University?
98% of final-year students were positive about the teaching in the National Student Survey 2024-25.
What grades do I need for BA History at York St John University?
The average entrant had 68 UCAS points.
Does BA History at York St John University include a placement year or year abroad?
The course has an optional placement year and an optional year abroad.
How many students continue on BA History at York St John University?
80% of students continued into their second year, and 20% left higher education.