BA History and Music
Royal Holloway, University of London
About this course
BA in History and Music, combining the study of human history with musical composition and performance. Core topics include historical research, research methods, critical analysis, fieldwork, and creative composition practices. The programme features a solo performance module with weekly one-to-one tuition and a final-year history dissertation requiring independent primary source research.
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-BBB (Required subjects: A-level Music or Grade 7 Music Theory at pass Applicants without A-level in Music or pass in Grade 7 Music Theory may be eligible for the Intensive Theory entry. This requires Music GCSE grade A/7 or equivalent, plus performance at Grade 7 level. In term 1 you will be required to take Fundamentals of Music Theory, an intensive music literacy course. Students wishing to take Solo Performance options will need to be of Grade 8 level in performance at point of entry. If you are studying two A-level subjects, you may still be eligible for entry to the Music BMus (single honours), if you are able to provide evidence of your ongoing commitment to music. For this pathway, the standard offer is A B including Music. We require candidates to be performing to Grade 8 ABRSM standard, to have studied music theory to Grade 5 ABRSM level, and have a substantial record of musical performance or other musical achievements, which they should detail in their Personal Statement. We require English Language and Mathematics GCSE at grade 4 (C)) IB: 6,5,5 at Higher Level or 32 points overall including Music at Higher Level or Grade 7 Music Theory and Grade 7 practical
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What students say
Based on about 44 final-year students who answered, across similar courses at this university
- Teaching on my course: 94%
- Learning opportunities: 90%
- Assessment and feedback: 90%
- Academic support: 94%
- Organisation and management: 86%
- Learning resources: 92%
- Student voice: 90%
Do students stay on the course?
Based on about 85 students who started, across similar courses at this university
- Continued on course: 92%
- Left higher education: 8%
What graduates do next
Based on about 13 graduates who answered, across similar courses at this university (a small group: a rough guide only)
- Working: 70%
- Working and studying: 15%
- Further study: 10%
Most common jobs
- Elementary occupations: 20%
- Administrative occupations: 15%
- Business and public service associate professionals: 10%
- Teaching Professionals: 10%
- Artistic, literary and media occupations: 10%
- Find their work meaningful: 90%
- Feel on track for their future plans: 75%
- Use what they learnt on the course: 50%
Where graduates work (5 years on)
Based on about 135 graduates, across similar courses at this university
- North West: 3%
- Yorkshire and the Humber: 3%
- East Midlands: 3%
- West Midlands: 2%
- East of England: 12%
- London: 38%
- South East: 27%
- South West: 7%
- Wales: 3%
- Scotland: 2%
Who gets in
Based on about 70 students who started, across similar courses at this university
- A levels: 94%
- Baccalaureate: 3%
- Access course: 1%
- Other HE qualification: 1%
Accreditation & quality ratings
TEF 2023 (whole university): Silver overall, Silver for student experience, Silver for student outcomes.
Modules
- History in the Making
- Theory and Analysis
- Fundamentals of Music Theory
- Creative Composition Techniques
- Practical Composition Skills
- A Very Short History of Music
- Introduction to Historical Musicology
- Introduction to World Music
- Contemporary Debates in Music
- Solo Performance
- Creative Ensemble Performance
- Gods, Men and Power: An Introduction to the Ancient World, from Homer to Mohammed
- Republics, Kings and People: The Foundations of European Political Thought from Plato to Rousseau
- Rome to Renaissance: An Introduction to the Middle Ages
- From Renaissance to Revolutions: Europe and the World, 1500-1800
- Conflict and Identity in Modern Europe, c. 1770 to 2000
- From Mao to Bin Laden: Twentieth-Century Leaders in the Non-Western World
- The British and the World: 1763-1900
- The Rise and Fall of the Roman Republic
- Rome and its Empire from Augustus to Commodus
- Globalising Capital: Britain and the World, 1846 to 1913
- The Pursuit of Power: Europe 1000-1250
- Religion, Culture and Society in Europe, 1000-1250
- Politics, Pestilence and War in Late Medieval Europe, 1300 to 1500
- The Sacred and Profane: Cultural Life in Renaissance Europe
- The Dark Continent: Europe, 1914-1948
- Safe European Home? Europe 1945-2000
- Twentieth-Century World History: the Asian resurgence
- The Tudor Monarchy 1485-1603
- Killing the King: England in an Age of Revolution, 1603-1714
- Gorgeous Georgians?: Society, Culture and Crime, 1714-1830
- The Shock of the New: European Culture and Society 1789-1905
- The Light of Burning Heretics: Popular Heresy in the Middle Ages
- Twentieth-Century World History: The Middle East, Africa and Latin America
- Medicine from Antiquity to the Medieval Near East
- The Western Powers and East Asia, 1839-1945
- The Ottomans: The Muslim Empire in the Early Modern World, 1453-1789
- Apocalypse Postponed: The Global Cold War 1945-98
- Virtue and Power: Political Thought from Cicero to Machiavelli
- The Making of the Modern Middle East, 1789-1939
- Everyday Life in the Italian Renaissance
- American Economic Hegemony: Its Rise and Fall, 1941-2012
- Vice, Virtue and the Victorians: British History 1837-1901
- Modern British History 1914-1973
- An Empire of Liberty? History of the USA 1787-1877
- The United States in the Twentieth Century
- Spain 1898-1939
- Spain from Dictatorship to Democracy 1939-1989
- Awakening China: From the Opium Wars to the Present Day
- The Holy Man: Sanctity and the Sacred in Historical Research
- Centre of the Universe: Science from Antiquity to the early Middle Ages
- Byzantine Twilight, 1200-1460
- The Greek World from the Fall of Byzantium to the Rise of Nationalism, 1453-1910
- Italy from Unification to the Present
- The History of Cyprus from the Ottoman Conquest to the Present Day
- From Venizelos to Varoufakis: The History of Greece from 1910 to the Present Day
- The Later Roman Empire
- Byzantium and its Neighbours, 641-1081
- London Urban Society, 1400-1600
- Tudor Queenship: Mary I and Elizabeth I, 1553-1603
- The Crusades and the Eastern Mediterranean, 1095-1291
- Medicine and Society in Medieval Europe
- Martin Luther King Jr and the Black Freedom Struggle
- Modern Girls: Women in Twentieth-Century Britain
- The Pursuit of Power: the Russian Empire in the Age of Reform and Revolution
- Spain in Conflict 1930-1953
- Borderlands: Coexistence and Conflict, Democracy and Authoritarianism in Eastern Europe, 1912-1945
- The Devil's Decade: Britain, America and the Great Slump, 1929-41
- The Islamic Revival: from C18 Reform to C20 Political Action
- Genocide: A Global History
- A History of Terrorism
- Grand Designs: Art, Architecture and Power in the Roman World
- Histories of Humanitarianism, From the 1880s to the Present
- Justice, Power and Religion in the Muslim World
- Entangled Histories: The Interconnected Atlantic World, 1500-1800
- 'Dragon Ladies'? Society, Politics and Gender in Modern China
- Waging Armageddon: WW1 in British Experience and Memory
- The Vietnam War and the Cold War in Southeast Asia
- Children of the Revolution? France from 1789 to the Great War
- Art, Architecture & Power in the Roman World
- From Constantinople to Alexandria: Eastern Mediterranean Cities, 1798-1956
- The Age of Thatcher
- Sex, Society and Identity in Britain, c. 1660-1815
- Explorers and Inventors in Classical and Late Antiquity
- Independent Research Project
- Studies in Music Analysis
- Studies in Composition
- Studies in Music History
- Studies in Ethnomusicology
- Studies in Music, Media and Technology
- Practical Performance I
- Ensemble Performance
- Composition Portfolio
- Practical and Creative Orchestration
- Practical Conducting (Choral and Orchestral)
- Composing with Technology 1
- Introduction to Jazz: Theory, Practice and Contexts
- Popular Music and Musicians in Post-War Britain and North America
- Korean Percussion Performance
- Practical Ethics
- Musical Aesthetics
- Mozart's Operas
- Issues in Sound, Music and the Moving Image
- Intercultural Performance: Theory and Practice
- Music and Society in Purcell's London
- Contemporary Music Performance
- Music, Power and Politics
- Ideas of German Music from Mozart to Henze
- Music and Gender
- Hearing the Orient: Critical and Practical Approaches to the Middle East
- Historians on History: Why Historiography Matters
- Concepts in History
- History Dissertation
- The Kingdom of Darkness Destroyed: Reason and Religion, 1651 to 1718
- Faith and Fire: Religious Culture in England, c.1375 to 1525
- The Origins and Impact of the Second Crusade
- The City and the Conqueror: The Fall of Constantinople (1453)
- Heresy, Crusade and Inquisition in Southern France, c.1140 to c.1300
- The Empire in Victorian Britain, c.1830 to 1870
- The Origins of Environmentalism: Critics of Modernity in Britain
- Berlin: A European Metropolis in the Twentieth Century
- The Holocaust
- A Clash of Powers: The United States, China and the Cold War
- Stalinism
- Christians and Pagans from Constantine to Augustine (AD 306-430)
- Victorian Babylon: Life, Work and People in London, c.1840 to 1890
- Comparing Religious Fundamentalisms in the 19th and 20th Centuries
- Migration, Identity and Citizenship in Modern Britain
- The Age of Terror: Terrorism from 1945 - Present
- Britain on Camera: Photography, Film and Society, 1840-1965
- China and the World: Migrations and Frontiers, 1800-1960
- Malcolm X: Islam and Black Protest in America
- Europe, 1900: Cultures of Conflict and the Shock of the New
- A Nation Torn Asunder: Civil War America
- Visions of Europe: Political and Intellectual Readings of European Integration from the Interwar years to the Present
- ‘With Intent to Destroy’: Genocide in the Modern World
- The Holocaust Witness: Personal Histories of Survival and Resilience
- From Inverts to Perverts: Queer Life and Identity in Modern Britain
- Special Study: Composition
- Special Study: Dissertation
- Special Study: Theory and Analysis
- Special Study: Solo Performance
- Practical Performance 2
- Composing with Technology 2
Questions about this course
How much do graduates of BA History and Music at Royal Holloway, University of London earn?
The median salary is £25,000 after 15 months, £22,500 after 3 years, £28,000 after 5 years. After five years the middle half of graduates earn between £23,000 and £34,500. The £28,000 median after five years is £2,500 less than the UK median for History.
What do graduates of BA History and Music at Royal Holloway, University of London do next?
95% were in work or further study 15 months after finishing (Graduate Outcomes 2023-24).
Are students happy with the teaching on BA History and Music at Royal Holloway, University of London?
94% of final-year students were positive about the teaching in the National Student Survey 2025-26.
What grades do I need for BA History and Music at Royal Holloway, University of London?
The typical offer is ABB at A level, or 32 points in the IB. The average entrant had 148 UCAS points.
Does BA History and Music at Royal Holloway, University of London include a placement year or year abroad?
The course has an optional placement year and an optional year abroad.
How many students continue on BA History and Music at Royal Holloway, University of London?
92% of students continued into their second year, and 8% left higher education.