BA Archaeology and Anthropology
About this course
BA Archaeology and Anthropology is an undergraduate degree exploring past and present human societies through their cultural practices, material remains and built environments. Core topics include Research Methods and Global & Comparative Perspective. Students gain practical experience through excavation projects and fieldwork in locations such as Scotland and the Mediterranean, supported by dedicated archaeological laboratories. The first year covers foundational ideas through modules like Discoveries and Discoverers: Sights and Sites, Doing Archaeology 1, Power and Culture: Inequality in Everyday Life, Cultural Diversity in Global Perspective, Key Ideas in Social Anthropology, and Intro to Ethnographic Reading. Optional choices in the first year include Cities and Citizens and Climate change and societal response: Lessons from the past. The second year progresses with Thinking Archaeology, Doing Archaeology 2, and Materiality and Representation, alongside optional modules such as Anthropology of Kinship, Gender and Sex and Data Literacy in a Digital World. In the final year, students can pursue specialised optional modules including The Anthropology of Health and Wellbeing, Migrants, Borders and Im/mobilities, and Food and Eating: The Cultural Body, as well as undertaking a 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: ABB including one essay based subject
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What students say
Based on about 19 final-year students who answered, across similar courses at this university (a small group: a rough guide only)
- Teaching on my course: 94%
- Learning opportunities: 81%
- Assessment and feedback: 84%
- Academic support: 94%
- Organisation and management: 88%
- Learning resources: 85%
- Student voice: 82%
Do students stay on the course?
Based on about 15 students who started (a small group: a rough guide only)
- Continued on course: 95%
- Left higher education: 5%
What graduates do next
Based on about 77 graduates who answered, across similar courses at this university
- Working: 63%
- Working and studying: 12%
- Further study: 8%
- Unemployed: 10%
Most common jobs
- Welfare and housing associate professionals: 20%
- Business and public service associate professionals: 15%
- Elementary occupations: 10%
- Teaching and Childcare Support Occupation: 10%
- Artistic, literary and media occupations: 5%
- Find their work meaningful: 61%
- Feel on track for their future plans: 49%
- Use what they learnt on the course: 35%
Where graduates work (5 years on)
Based on about 545 graduates, across similar courses at this university
- North East: 2%
- North West: 31%
- Yorkshire and the Humber: 5%
- East Midlands: 3%
- West Midlands: 5%
- East of England: 4%
- London: 36%
- South East: 8%
- South West: 4%
- Wales: 1%
- Scotland: 1%
Who gets in
Based on about 20 students who started (a small group: a rough guide only)
- A levels: 100%
Accreditation & quality ratings
TEF 2023 (whole university): Silver overall, Silver for student experience, Gold for student outcomes.
Modules
- Discoveries and Discoverers: Sights and Sites
- Doing Archaeology 1
- Power and Culture: Inequality in Everyday Life
- Cultural Diversity in Global Perspective
- Key Ideas in Social Anthropology
- Intro to Ethnographic Reading
- Cities and Citizens
- Introduction to the History and Culture of Pharaonic Egypt
- Climate change and societal response: Lessons from the past
- Regional Studies of Culture: 1
- Regional Studies of Culture: 2
- Thinking Archaeology
- Doing Archaeology 2
- Materiality and Representation
- Introduction to Egyptian Hieroglyphs
- Greco-Roman Society and Technology
- Roman Women in 22 Objects
- The First Cities: The Archaeology of Urbanism in the Near East
- The Archaeology of Ritual
- Data Literacy in a Digital World
- Anthropology of Kinship, Gender and Sex
- Anthropology of Religion
- Political and Economic Anthropology
- The Ethnographer's Craft
- The Human and the Digital
- Classics, Ancient History, Archaeology and Egyptology Dissertation
- The Hellenistic World, c. 323-31 BCE
- Greco-Roman Society and Technology
- The First Cities: The Archaeology of Urbanism in the Near East
- The Archaeology of Ritual
- Finding Happiness in the Ancient World
- From Sites to Statues: Understanding Heritage in a time of Culture Wars
- The Anthropology of Health and Wellbeing
- The Good Life: An Anthropology of Ethics
- Migrants, Borders and Im/mobilities
- Dissertation A
- Screening Culture
- Anthropology of Vision, Senses and Memory
- Food and Eating: The Cultural Body
Questions about this course
How much do graduates of BA Archaeology and Anthropology at University of Manchester earn?
The median salary is £26,500 after 15 months, £24,500 after 3 years, £31,000 after 5 years. After five years the middle half of graduates earn between £23,500 and £39,500. The £31,000 median after five years is £500 more than the UK median for Anthropology.
What do graduates of BA Archaeology and Anthropology at University of Manchester do next?
82% were in work or further study 15 months after finishing (Graduate Outcomes 2023-24).
Are students happy with the teaching on BA Archaeology and Anthropology at University of Manchester?
94% of final-year students were positive about the teaching in the National Student Survey 2025-26.
What grades do I need for BA Archaeology and Anthropology at University of Manchester?
The typical offer is ABB at A level. The average entrant had 145 UCAS points.
How many students continue on BA Archaeology and Anthropology at University of Manchester?
95% of students continued into their second year, and 5% left higher education.