- UCAS course code
- V100
- UCAS institution code
- M20
Bachelor of Arts (BA)
BA History
Learn from passionate historians at the cutting-edge of their specialist subjects.
Duration: 3 years
Year of entry: 2025
UCAS course code: V100 / Institution code: M20
- Key features:
Study abroad
- Typical A-level offer: AAA including specific subjects
- Typical contextual A-level offer: ABB including specific subjects
- Refugee/care-experienced offer: ABC including specific subjects
- Typical International Baccalaureate offer: 36 points overall with 6,6,6 at HL including specific subjects
Course description
"We can learn so much from the past. It's made me understand some of the more current problems.
"I think no other university that I looked at before applying gave you so much selection and gave you so much freedom to actually do the modules you want to do."
Hanna Matt / BA History Student
Our BA History course will give you the opportunity to tailor your degree to suit your own interests while learning from one of the largest concentrations of historians in Britain.
You will be able to choose course units covering a wide range of periods and topics, including ancient, medieval, modern and economic and social history, as well as the history of science, technology and medicine.
In Years 1 and 2, you can also take course units in other disciplines, including languages, the humanities and the social sciences. There are also opportunities for you to spend part of your degree studying abroad.
Students will have the option to specialise in a particular area of interest or continue to study a broad range of areas in their final year, when you have a choice of units covering topics such as British, European, American, African and Asian history at different periods, culminating in a dissertation.
You will receive expert training in analysis and critical reasoning while developing important transferable skills in communication and presentation, argument and debate, teamwork, research, and time management, all of which will help prepare you for life after university.
Special features
Manchester is such a vibrant city.
Living here is an enriching experience that goes beyond academics, allowing you to explore and learn about both history and yourself.
Dainey Palhares / BA History Student
Placement year option
Apply your subject-specific knowledge in a real-world context through a placement year in your third year of study, enabling you to enhance your employment prospects, clarify your career goals and build your external networks.
Study abroad
You can apply to spend one semester studying abroad during Year 2, with exchange partners including those in Europe as well as the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Singapore.
Get involved
Our students can take part in history-related activities outside of the course, including the Manchester Histories Festival .
Explore world-class collections
Enjoy unique opportunities to explore special archived material and carry out research in a wide range of archives, libraries, museums and other research institutions in Manchester and beyond.
Teaching and learning
You will learn through a variety of channels, including lectures, face-to-face and online seminars, and small group tutorials.
We encourage students to undertake independent study at every level.
Coursework and assessment
Assessment procedures in different course units vary, but our basic objective is to achieve a good balance between formal examinations, continuous assessment and project work.
The Year 3 dissertation is a major piece of original work, accounting for 22% of the final overall mark.
Course content for year 1
Designed to assist students with the intellectual and academic transition to university study, level 1 modules focus on introducing students to key conceptual and methodological issues in relation to studying History.
All students take History in Practice, in which students learn important skills in research and writing to equip them for historical study at university level.
Course units for year 1
The course unit details given below are subject to change, and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.
| Title | Code | Credit rating | Mandatory/optional |
|---|---|---|---|
| History in Practice | HIST10101 | 20 | Mandatory |
| A Global Nation: Power, Politics, and Struggle Across the American Century, 1870-2020 | AMER10002 | 20 | Optional |
| Constructing Archaic Greek History | CAHE10011 | 20 | Optional |
| From Republic to Empire: Introduction to Roman History, Society & Culture 218-31BC | CAHE10022 | 20 | Optional |
| The Odyssey | CAHE10101 | 20 | Optional |
| The Story of Britain: one million years of humanity | CAHE10142 | 20 | Optional |
| Cities and Citizens | CAHE10232 | 20 | Optional |
| Discoveries and Discoverers: Sights and Sites | CAHE10281 | 20 | Optional |
| Introduction to the History and Culture of Pharaonic Egypt | CAHE10651 | 20 | Optional |
| Decoding Inequality: Reimagining Digital Culture | DIGI10031 | 20 | Optional |
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Course content for year 2
Modules become increasingly specialist and the programme offers significant choice and flexibility.
Students write an Independent Research Project, which is an extended piece of coursework supervised on a one-to-one basis on a topic of the student's choice.
Course units for year 2
The course unit details given below are subject to change, and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.
| Title | Code | Credit rating | Mandatory/optional |
|---|---|---|---|
| Independent Research Project | HIST20392 | 20 | Mandatory |
| From Jamestown to James Brown: African-American History and Culture | AMER20141 | 20 | Optional |
| The American Civil War | AMER21002 | 20 | Optional |
| The Conquering Hero: The Life, Times and Legacy of Alexander The Great | CAHE20042 | 20 | Optional |
| The Roman Empire 31BC - AD313 Rome's Golden Age | CAHE20052 | 20 | Optional |
| Politics and Society in Classical Greece | CAHE20061 | 20 | Optional |
| Roman Women in 22 Objects | CAHE20531 | 20 | Optional |
| Weimar Culture? Art, Film and Politics in Germany, 1918-33 | GERM20262 | 20 | Optional |
| Making of the Modern Mind: European Intellectual History in a Global Context | HIST20182 | 20 | Optional |
| Winds of Change: Politics, Society and Culture in Britain, 1899 -1990 | HIST20251 | 20 | Optional |
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Course content for year 3
Students may specialise in the periods and subjects that they have found most interesting.
All students write a History Dissertation, which is an extended piece of coursework based on independent primary research and supervised on a one-to-one basis on a topic of the student's choice, which our students generally find to be the most enjoyable and fulfilling part of their studies.
Course units for year 3
The course unit details given below are subject to change, and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.
| Title | Code | Credit rating | Mandatory/optional |
|---|---|---|---|
| History Dissertation | HIST30970 | 40 | Mandatory |
| Slavery and the Old South | AMER30021 | 20 | Optional |
| The Roman Army and the North-West Frontiers | CAHE30881 | 20 | Optional |
| 'A Nation In The Making': India, 1800-1947 | HIST30292 | 20 | Optional |
| Wealth and Welfare: Reconceptualising British Economy and Society between 1832 and 1942 | HIST31052 | 20 | Optional |
| China and the West: the Age of Empire and Beyond | HIST31202 | 20 | Optional |
| Heroes and Holy Men: The Irish Sea World in the Viking Age, c. 780-1100 | HIST31362 | 20 | Optional |
| The Holocaust: History, Historiography, Memory | HIST31491 | 20 | Optional |
| The Comparative and Transnational History of Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany | HIST31522 | 20 | Optional |
| John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and U.S. Foreign Policy in the 1960s | HIST31551 | 20 | Optional |
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Facilities
I think that Manchester and the study of History really complement each other.
There are so many museums, libraries and archival resources in the city that the University really make use of, and that has meant my knowledge and skill set has really progressed.
Carrie Martin / BA History and Sociology Student
As well as taking advantage of the University Library and study spaces such as Alan Gilbert Learning Commons, you will be able to explore a wealth of archives, libraries, museums and other research institutions in Manchester and beyond, including the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Resource Centre, John Rylands Library and the Manchester Museum.
Visit the Facilities page on the History website to find out more.
Disability support
Practical support and advice for current students and applicants from the Disability Support Office .