BA History
About this course
Bachelor of Arts in History BA, a history degree centred on the study of past societies, global developments, and cultural change. Core topics include Research Methods. The course spans three years and culminates in an independent dissertation alongside advanced options. The first year covers foundations through Discover History: Skills and Sources, The Making of the Contemporary World: 1800 to the Present, and The Making of the Early Modern World, 1500-1800. The second year builds core competencies with modules such as Innovations in History, Topics in History, and Public History, while allowing students to select from diverse options covering American, European, Asian, and British histories. The final year involves advanced special subjects and options ranging from medieval studies to twentieth-century political history, alongside a compulsory dissertation.
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
A Level: AAB See below for full information.. IB: 6,6,5 including 32 points overall.. BTEC: BTEC Extended Diploma: DDM, plus a B at A level. See below for full information.
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Real offers for this course
Applicants have posted 2 UCAS decisions for BA History (V100) at the University of Birmingham for 2027 entry so far. The published offer is AAB at A level.
What students say
Based on about 71 final-year students who answered
- Teaching on my course: 96%
- Learning opportunities: 85%
- Assessment and feedback: 84%
- Academic support: 92%
- Organisation and management: 90%
- Learning resources: 90%
- Student voice: 78%
Do students stay on the course?
Based on about 110 students who started
- Continued on course: 93%
- Left higher education: 7%
What graduates do next
Based on about 29 graduates who answered (a small group: a rough guide only)
- Working: 75%
- Working and studying: 9%
- Further study: 4%
- Unemployed: 5%
Most common jobs
- Teaching Professionals: 25%
- Business and public service associate professionals: 15%
- Administrative occupations: 10%
- Elementary occupations: 10%
- Finance Professionals: 5%
- Find their work meaningful: 90%
- Feel on track for their future plans: 65%
- Use what they learnt on the course: 45%
Where graduates work (5 years on)
Based on about 335 graduates, across similar courses at this university
- North West: 6%
- Yorkshire and the Humber: 5%
- East Midlands: 5%
- West Midlands: 27%
- East of England: 9%
- London: 26%
- South East: 13%
- South West: 6%
- Wales: 1%
Who gets in
Based on about 110 students who started
- A levels: 97%
- Other qualifications: 3%
Accreditation & quality ratings
TEF 2023 (whole university): Silver overall, Bronze for student experience, Gold for student outcomes.
Modules
- Discover History: Skills and Sources
- Options in History and Heritage
- The Making of the Contemporary World: 1800 to the Present
- The Making of the Early Modern World, 1500-1800.
- The History of Africa in Global Context
- The Making of the Medieval World, 500- 1050
- The Roman World
- Innovations in History
- Topics in History
- Public History
- Option: 1619 and the Making of America: A 400 Year History
- Option: American Empire: The United States and the World
- Option: Confronting Colonialism: Histories of Empire in India and Ireland
- Option: In Search of Wealth and Power: China since 1800
- Option: Mass Culture and the Modern United States, 1877-1939
- Option: Modern Britain from the Margins
- Option: Pandora’s Box: Europe and the First World War, 1900-1930
- Option: Radical Pieties: Militants, Martyrs and Mystics in Medieval Christianity and Islam
- Option: Revolution, Nation, and the Global South
- Option: Saints and Sinners: Heroes, Villains, and ‘Influencers’ in Britain and Europe, 800-1800
- Option: Society in the Viking World c.800-c.1100
- Option: Tudor Terrors: inner worlds, hidden worlds, new worlds
- Option: Before Globalization?: Afro-Eurasian World History 500-1800
- Option: Crusading Societies in Medieval Europe
- Option: In the Eye of the Storm: Europe & the Second World War, 1930-1960
- Option: Rebellious Women and the Latin American Nation
- Option: State and Empire in the Early Modern World, 1400-1800
- Option: The Global Cold War
- Option: ‘There is Black in the Union Jack’: An Introduction to Black and South Asian British History
- Sources in History: Memorials
- Sources in History: Money
- Sources in History: News
- Sources in History: Official Documents
- Sources in History: Personal Documents
- Sources in History: Possessions
- Sources in History: Protest Documents
- Sources in History: Testimonies
- Sources in History: Texts and Tales
- Dissertation
- Special Subject: 1066, 1099: Chronicling Conquest on the Frontiers of Medieval Europe: A
- Special Subject: A History of the Tudors in 100 Objects A
- Special Subject: After Hitler: Politics and Society in (West) Germany during the Adenauer Era, 1945-1965 A
- Special Subject: Beauty, Blood, Sweat and Tears: The Body in Britain, c1680-1820: A
- Special Subject: Britain and the First World War A
- Special Subject: Britain at Bay in the Age of the Dictators. From Appeasement to World War Two, 1931-1942A
- Special Subject: British Women and Internationalism since 1850 A
- Special Subject: Conflict, nationalism and genocide in East Central Europe, ca. 1880 – 1953 A
- Special Subject: Dossers: Homelessness in Modern Britain, 1900 to Present A
- Special Subject: Egypt in Revolution. Modernity, Masculinity and Revolution in 20th Century Egypt A
- Special Subject: Empire comes home: India in the making of Britain: A
- Special Subject: Games without Thrones? North Atlantic Societies in the wake of the Vikings, c.800-c.1200 A
- Special Subject: Global Cities and Urban Lives, 1690-1914 A
- Special Subject: Gross Indecency to Gay Marriage? Gender and Sexual Minorities in the British World A
- Special Subject: Gunpowder, Treason and Plot: England under Elizabeth I and James I A
- Special Subject: People of the Aftermath: British Culture in the 1920s and 1930s A
- Special Subject: Terrorising History: Terrorist Motivations, Methods, and Mayhem A
- Special Subject: The Revolting Right: Conservative Activism in Post-war Britain A
- Special Subject: The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich A
- Special Subject: Where There Is Discord: Making Thatcher’s Britain A
- Special Subject: Women and Social Movements in Brazil: A
- Special Subject: ‘The Young Ones’: Youth, popular culture, and social change in twentieth century Britain A
- Special Subject: Fighting Over Freedom: American Political Ideas from Revolution to Civil War A
- Adv Option: Feeling Politics in 20th Century Britain: Emotions and Politics in Britain From the Stiff Upper Lip to :)
- Advanced Option: Black Activisms in the US South: Power, Feminisms, and Black Lives Mattering from 1960-present
- Advanced Option: Britain’s Wars of Colonisation and Decolonisation
- Advanced Option: Empire, Equality and Environment: Modern France, 1870 to 2020
- Advanced Option: Experts, Scholars, and Spies: the Information Revolution in Early Modern Europe
- Advanced Option: Gross Indecency to Gay Marriage? Gender and Sexual Minorities 1885 to the Present
- Advanced Option: History of Technology and Culture in the United States
- Advanced Option: Land, Law, and Violence in the American West
- Advanced Option: Politics and Religion in Islamic History: The Gunpowder Empires, c. 1450-1750
- Advanced Option: Terrorism in the USA: From the Klan to Al Qaeda to White Power
- Advanced Option: The Dark Side of History in Public
- Advanced Option: The Making of England, 850-1100
- Advanced Option: The Making of the British Raj: Gender, Conquest and Race in early colonial India, c.1757-1885
- Advanced Option: Women Behaving Badly in Tudor and Stuart England
- Advanced Option: America at War: From the Civil War to the War on Terror
- Advanced Option: Before Globalization?: Afro-Eurasian World History 500-1800
- Advanced Option: Capital Lives: Experiencing the City in Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Britain
- Advanced Option: China in Revolution: China under Mao (1949-1976)
- Advanced Option: Conflict in the Modern Middle East
- Advanced Option: Faith and Fire: Religion and Rebellion in England from Henry VIII to Elizabeth I
- Advanced Option: From the OSS to Snowden: A History of American Intelligence Agencies since 1945
- Advanced Option: Indigenous and Settler Histories
- Advanced Option: Life After Death: Europe, 1945-1989
- Advanced Option: Practising Public History
- Advanced Option: Reason and Romance: The Cultural History of Nineteenth-Century Britain
- Advanced Option: Revolution, Regicide, & Republic: The British Civil Wars, 1642-1660
- Advanced Option: ‘A Holiday from Reality’: A History of Drugs and Drug Use in the Modern Era
- Advanced Option: ‘Growing with the Times’ Green Spaces and Gardens as heritage places in the age of environmental...
- Advanced Option: ‘The Young Ones’: Youth, popular culture, and social change in twentieth century Britain
- The United States South: From Plantations to NASCAR
Questions about this course
How much do graduates of BA History at University of Birmingham earn?
The median salary is £30,000 after 15 months, £26,000 after 3 years, £34,000 after 5 years. After five years the middle half of graduates earn between £26,500 and £42,500. The £34,000 median after five years is £3,500 more than the UK median for History.
What do graduates of BA History at University of Birmingham do next?
88% were in work or further study 15 months after finishing (Graduate Outcomes 2023-24).
Are students happy with the teaching on BA History at University of Birmingham?
96% of final-year students were positive about the teaching in the National Student Survey 2025-26.
What grades do I need for BA History at University of Birmingham?
The typical offer is AAB at A level, or 32 points in the IB. The average entrant had 143 UCAS points.
Does BA History at University of Birmingham include a placement year or year abroad?
The course has an optional year abroad.
How many students continue on BA History at University of Birmingham?
93% of students continued into their second year, and 7% left higher education.