Archaeology and History
University of Reading
UCAS Code: VV14 | Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)
University of Reading
UCAS Code: VV14 | Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)
Entry requirements
A level
Including grade B in History or a humanities-based essay subject. Humanities-based essay subjects include: Classical Civilisation, English Language, English Literature, Geography, Philosophy, Politics, Religious Studies.
Access to HE Diploma
Including at least 12 level 3 credits in History or a humanities-based essay subject. Humanities-based essay subjects include: Classical Civilisation, English Language, English Literature, Geography, Philosophy, Politics, Religious Studies.
Cambridge International Pre-U Certificate - Principal
Including grade M2 in History or a humanities-based essay subject. Humanities-based essay subjects include: Classical Civilisation, English Language, English Literature, Geography, Philosophy, Politics, Religious Studies.
Extended Project
In recognition of the excellent preparation that the Extended Project Qualification provides to students for University study, we now include achievement in the EPQ as part of a formal offer. Eligible applicants would receive two offers, our usual offer plus an alternative offer of a B in the EPQ and one grade lower in their A level subjects
GCSE/National 4/National 5
GCSE Maths C (or 4), English Language or English Literature C (or 4).
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
Including higher level History or a humanities-based essay subject at grade 5. Humanities-based essay subjects include: Classical Civilisation, English Language, English Literature, Geography, Philosophy, Politics, Religious Studies.
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
including relevant history/humanities modules.
Scottish Higher
Including grade B in History or a humanities-based essay subject. Humanities-based essay subjects include: Classical Civilisation, English Language, English Literature, Geography, Philosophy, Politics, Religious Studies.
UCAS Tariff
We've calculated how many Ucas points you'll need for this course.
About this course
Explore the richness and variety of past human experience, and discover its influence on our present and future, with our BA Archaeology and History. This degree combines the study of history – and its political, social and cultural contexts – with invaluable archaeological training.
In your archaeological studies, you’ll study material remains to uncover our human past, from as early as the first hominins millions of years ago. Your historical studies will span the last thousand years, with a broad geographical spread that covers Britain and Europe, Africa, America, the Middle East and South Asia. You’ll examine historical records and explore visual and material culture through texts, paintings, photographs, films and oral sources.
Studying these complementary subjects together will provide a richer, more holistic understanding of our shared human past. You’ll balance your critical evaluation of historical sources against the physical evidence of lived experience provided by archaeological finds.
The University of Reading is ranked in the Top 100 in the world for Archaeology (QS World Rankings by Subject 2023). 100% of students in the Department of Archaeology and 100% of students studying BA History said our teaching staff were good or very good at explaining things (National Student Survey, 2023).
For more information, please visit the programme page: https://www.reading.ac.uk/ready-to-study/study/subject-area/archaeology-ug/ba-archaeology-and-history
Modules
Modules may include:
- Archaeology Today: Methods and Practice
- Doomsday Dystopias: Nuclear Disaster in the Cold War Imagination
- Forensic Anthropology and the Archaeology of Death
- Ancient Objects: Materials and Meanings
- Changing the Face of the Earth: Past, Present and Future Sustainability.
Please note that all modules are subject to change. Check our website for more details about the course structure.
Tuition fees
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The Uni
University of Reading
School of Archaeology, Geography and Environmental Science
What students say
We've crunched the numbers to see if the overall teaching satisfaction score here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.
How do students rate their degree experience?
The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Archaeology
Teaching and learning
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
History
Teaching and learning
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
After graduation
The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Archaeology
What are graduates doing after six months?
This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.
Top job areas of graduates
Want to do a job in the arts - with lots of the great outdoors? Try archaeology! There don't tend to be many archaeology undergraduates out there (just under 700 graduated in 2015) - but it's quite a popular subject at postgraduate level. In fact, over a quarter of archaeology graduates take some kind of further study when they graduate - usually more study of archaeology. When you look at the stats, be aware that junior jobs in archaeology are not always well paid at the start of your career, and that temporary contracts are not uncommon. Thankfully, though, unpaid work, whilst not completely gone, is less common than it used to be. The archaeology graduates of 2015 found jobs in archaeology, of course, but also management and heritage and environment work, as well as more conventional graduate jobs in marketing and the finance industry.
History
What are graduates doing after six months?
This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.
Top job areas of graduates
History is a very popular subject (although numbers have fallen of late) — in 2015, over 10,000 UK students graduated in a history-related course. Obviously, there aren't 11,000 jobs as historians available every year, but history is a good, flexible degree that allows graduates to go into a wide range of different jobs, and consequently history graduates have an unemployment rate comparable to the national graduate average. Many — probably most — jobs for graduates don't ask for a particular degree to go into them and history graduates are well set to take advantage. That's why so many go into jobs in the finance industry, human resources, marketing, PR and events management, as well as the more obvious roles in education, welfare and the arts. Around one in five history graduates went into further study last year. History and teaching were the most popular further study subjects for history graduates, but law, journalism, and politics were also popular postgraduate courses.
What about your long term prospects?
Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.
Archaeology
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£20k
£24k
£27k
Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.
History
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£20k
£24k
£27k
Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.
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Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):
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This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).
This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.
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This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for undergraduate students only.
You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.
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Post-six month graduation stats:
This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.
It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.
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Graduate field commentary:
The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show
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The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.
While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?
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