Ancient, Medieval and Modern History

You will learn through a combination of lectures, seminars and tutorials. Lectures introduce broad historical questions and offer context and critical commentary; seminars provide an opportunity for you to develop your critical skills through discussion.

You will progress from study skills and general subjects to specialised areas as you gain confidence and experience and develop as an independent, self-motivated learner.

Across the years there is an increasing emphasis on developing your critical and analytical skills. Your dissertation gives you the opportunity to exercise these skills, along with your independence, establishing your own research agenda and identifying your own sources and reading lists.

Assessment

We use various types of assessment, designed to test the different skills you have gained through your studies: essays, commentaries, translations and (in some modules) presentations or projects. 

In your final year, you will write a dissertation on a subject of your choice, giving you the opportunity to demonstrate your skills in independent learning and research and your ability to tie together areas of learning from across the entire course.

A level offer – A*AA including History.

BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma/OCR Cambridge Technical Extended Diploma – D*DD and grade A History A level.

IB Diploma score – 38 with 666 in higher level subjects, including History, Ancient History is only acceptable in conjunction with History.

In addition to satisfying the University’s general entry requirements, please note:

• We welcome applications from those with other qualifications equivalent to our standard entry requirements and from mature students with non-standard qualifications or who may have had a break in their study. Please contact our Admissions Tutor.

• Classical subjects are not essential for any of our courses.

• Ancient History is acceptable as one of three A levels but History A level must also be taken.

• We welcome enquiries regarding applications for deferred entry which may be considered in special circumstances. Please contact us using www.durham.ac.uk/study/askus/

Science A levels

Applicants taking Science A levels that include a practical component will be required to take and pass this as a condition of entry. This applies only to applicants sitting A levels with an English examination board.

Alternative qualifications

• Other UK qualifications

• EU qualifications 

• International qualifications

International students who do not meet direct entry requirements for this degree might have the option to complete an International Foundation Year.

English language requirements

Country specific information

The tuition fees for 2024/25 academic year have not yet been finalised, they will be displayed here once approved.

The tuition fees shown for home students are for one complete academic year of full time study and are set according to the academic year of entry. Fees for subsequent years of your course may rise in line with an inflationary uplift as determined by the government.

The tuition fees shown for overseas and EU students are for one complete academic year of full time study, are set according to the academic year of entry, and remain the same throughout the duration of the programme for that cohort (unless otherwise stated).

Please also check costs for colleges and accommodation.

Our students acquire many skills which are readily transferable to a whole range of professions. You will learn to search for, gather, and process information, to evaluate evidence and to express yourself clearly and succinctly, both verbally and in writing. 

Classics graduates have progressed to careers as diverse as computing, the Civil Service, gold dealing, teaching, journalism, law, accountancy, public relations and the theatre. A significant number of our students progress onto higher level study following their degree. Some remain within their academic field of interest and pursue a Master’s degree, either at Durham or elsewhere. Others choose professional postgraduate programmes in subjects such as law, finance and teaching.

Of those students who graduated in 2019:

• 87% are in paid employment or further study 15 months after graduation across all our programmes

Of those in employment:

• 79% are in high skilled employment
• With an average salary of £23,000.

(Source: HESA Graduate Outcomes Survey. The survey asks leavers from higher education what they are doing 15 months after graduation. Further information about the Graduate Outcomes survey can be found here www.graduateoutcomes.ac.uk)

History graduates are proficient in research, critical reasoning and analytical thinking, and a history degree from Durham will equip you with these skills and more. This rewarding subject also equips you to analyse, interpret and prioritise information which is essential to effective decision making and invaluable in a whole range of working environments.

Many of our graduates move into the arts and heritage sector including curatorial, archivist or education officer roles in museums, galleries and libraries, but there are many more career options open to you. The academic rigour and transferable skills demanded of a history degree opens career paths in teaching at schools and universities, in law, finance and accountancy, media, policy making, the Civil Service and the charity sector.

Of those students who graduated in 2019:

• 85% are in paid employment or further study 15 months after graduation across all our programmes

Of those in employment:

• 73% are in high skilled employment
• With an average salary of £26,000.

(Source: HESA Graduate Outcomes Survey. The survey asks leavers from higher education what they are doing 15 months after graduation. Further information about the Graduate Outcomes survey can be found here www.graduateoutcomes.ac.uk)

When you study at the Department of Classics and Ancient History you will join a large, forward-looking department that is genuinely diverse in both make up and outlook. We offer an intellectually stimulating learning environment in a welcoming community, and consistently rank highly for teaching, graduate employability and research.

We offer a range of flexible and challenging degree courses designed with the twenty-first-century student in mind. Each with a different emphasis, depending on which area you prefer to put at the centre of your studies: ancient languages, ancient history or ancient culture. We also offer joint honours courses with the departments of Archaeology and History.

Our degrees offer both academic rigour and an outstanding student experience, taught by a team of academic staff who between them specialise in the languages, literature, history, culture and philosophy of the Greco-Roman world, as well as its impact on later centuries up to the present day. The breadth of knowledge in the Department allows us to offer a wide range of study areas including ancient Greek and Latin languages from beginner to advanced level, surveys of the main periods and themes of Greek and Roman history, and teaching in all aspects of classical culture, such as philosophy, art and literature in translation.

For more information see our department pages.

Rankings

• 2nd in The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2023
• 2nd in The Complete University Guide 2024
• 4th in The Guardian University Gude 2023
• 8th in the QS World University Rankings 2023

Staff

For a current list of staff, please see the Classics and Ancient History Department pages.

Research Excellence Framework

• 4th in the UK for overall research quality (REF 2021).

Facilities

We are situated in the beautiful and historic centre of Durham next to the Cathedral and Castle and just two minutes’ walk from the city centre. The friendly and welcoming Department is housed in eighteenth-century buildings which includes dedicated study space and a library with an extensive collection of ancient texts and reference works. Our location, at the heart of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is highly conducive to study of the subject.

The student body is a large, close-knit and highly engaged community. Our student-led Classics Society organises regular social and academic events, often in conjunction with staff from the Department.

More information about our facilities.

The Department of History at Durham is one of the most highly regarded history departments in the UK. Staff and students contribute to a vibrant learning environment where you engage in the study of history from the fall of the Roman Empire through to the making of modern Africa. And all from the inspiring setting of Durham World Heritage Site.

The curriculum aims to develop your understanding of what is meant by the term ‘history’ and to challenge your assumptions about the past. You will develop an awareness of the complex relationship between the present and the past in a rich and varied learning environment that includes field trips and guided independent projects alongside traditional lectures and seminars.

Our degrees are built on flexibility and choice, with an extensive selection of modules that cover periods from the Middle Ages to the present from many different parts of the world. Chinese, Japanese, African, South Asian and US history are taught alongside the history of the British Isles and continental Europe. You can also apply to add a further dimension to your learning by spending a year studying abroad in a partner institution or undertaking a work placement.

For more information see our department pages. 

Ranking

• Top 50 in the world in the QS World University Subject Rankings 2023
• 4th in The Guardian University Guide 2024
• 4th in The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024
• 4th in The Complete University Guide 2024

Staff

For a current list of staff, please see the History Department web pages.

Facilities

The Department of History occupies a group of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century town houses in the heart of Durham World Heritage Site. Our location is within easy reach of all University colleges, lecture halls and libraries.

Our work incorporates everything from manuscripts to photography, printed sources to museum collections. From the start of your degree, you will work with staff on a rich array of primary sources, which range from medieval manuscripts in the cathedral archive, through the ceramics, prints and textiles held by the Oriental Museum, to the wealth records of the Sudan Archive, and more. The University Library, with its Archives and Special Collections, and the Durham Cathedral Library and Archives hold historical resources of international significance.

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