BA History and Modern Languages & Cultures
About this course
BA in History and Modern Languages & Cultures, a modern languages and history degree centred on historical investigation alongside language proficiency. Core topics include Historical Research, Critical & Analytical Thinking, Research Methods, Fieldwork, and Global & Comparative Perspective. The programme incorporates a dedicated year abroad spent studying or working in a country where the chosen language is spoken. The first year introduces foundational disciplinary concepts through modules such as History Workshop, Thinking Historically, and Understanding Modern French and Francophone Cultures. Year two expands analytical approaches with modules including Arts of Persuasion, History and the Public, and Parchment to Pixels: Interrogating Historical Evidence. The third year consists of an immersive year abroad, allowing students to develop linguistic fluency in regions relevant to their studies. In the final stage, students undertake advanced language study alongside compulsory independent research through the Project in Languages and Cultures, complemented by options exploring specialized historical periods and cultural contexts.
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 IB: 33, typically with 5 in a Higher Level modern foreign language; 32, typically with 5 in a Higher Level modern foreign language, and B in the extended essay
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Real offers for this course
Applicants have posted 1 UCAS decision for BA History and Modern Languages & Cultures (RV50) at the University of Sheffield for 2027 entry so far. The published offer is ABB at A level.
Admissions (2022 entry, home applicants)
Offer rate 95%: 92 offers from 97 applications, from the university's Freedom of Information return.
What students say
Based on about 8 final-year students who answered (a small group: a rough guide only)
- Teaching on my course: 93%
- Learning opportunities: 88%
- Assessment and feedback: 82%
- Academic support: 95%
- Organisation and management: 65%
- Learning resources: 87%
- Student voice: 77%
Do students stay on the course?
Based on about 15 students who started (a small group: a rough guide only)
- Continued on course: 100%
What graduates do next
Based on about 6 graduates who answered (a small group: a rough guide only)
- Working: 60%
- Further study: 25%
Most common jobs
- Administrative occupations: 20%
- Teaching Professionals: 20%
- Business and public service associate professionals: 15%
- Elementary occupations: 5%
- Managers, directors and senior officials: 5%
- Find their work meaningful: 90%
- Feel on track for their future plans: 65%
- Use what they learnt on the course: 40%
Where graduates work (5 years on)
Based on about 310 graduates, across similar courses at this university
- North East: 3%
- North West: 17%
- Yorkshire and the Humber: 22%
- East Midlands: 9%
- West Midlands: 5%
- East of England: 8%
- London: 25%
- South East: 5%
- South West: 5%
- Wales: 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, Silver for student outcomes.
Modules
- Project in Languages and Cultures
- French Proficient
- German Proficient
- Dutch Proficient
- Russian Proficient
- Czech Proficient
- Spanish Proficient
- Catalan Proficient
- Portuguese Proficient
- Permissive Britain? Social and Cultural Change 1956-74
- The World of Intoxicants in Early Modern England
- Cannibals and Christians: Mexico and Spain, c.1492-1600
- The Wars for Vietnam: Empire, Decolonisation and Liberation
- Resistance & Liberation in South Africa: Gandhi to Mandela
- Makers of a New World: Merchants, Scholars and Commoners in Late Medieval Europe
- Merchants, Pirates and Planters: The English Overseas, 1570-1624
- The National Security State, Treason, and Individual Rights during the Twentieth Century
- Italy in the Age of Dante, ca. 1200-1350
- The World Transformed? The League of Nations and the End of Empire, 1919-46
- Is the United States an Empire?
- Crafting Consensus: Afterlives of Dictatorship and the Struggle for the Past
- What's Love Got to Do with It?: A History of the Family in Europe and North America, c.1600-present
- Women's Suffrage in Britain: Protest and the Public History of Memory and Memorialization
- A National Reckoning? Slavery and it's Legacies in Modern Britain
- Collecting the World: From Cabinets of Curiosity to the British Museum
- Decolonising history? Academia and society after empire
- Short Dissertation
- Social Approaches to Multilingualism
- Comparative Critique of Consumer Culture
- Tales of Cities. Mapping and Marketing the Urban as a Site of Encounter and Conflict
- Global Careers in Languages
- Music and Performance
- History Workshop
- Thinking Historically
- French Beginner Intensive
- French Advanced
- Understanding Modern French and Francophone Cultures
- German Advanced
- German Beginner Intensive
- Dutch Beginner
- Understanding German and Dutch Histories and Cultures
- Russian Advanced
- Russian Beginner Intensive
- Czech Beginner
- Russian and Czech Cultures in the Age of Empire and beyond
- Spanish Beginner Intensive
- Catalan Beginner
- Portuguese Beginner
- Understanding Spanish, Catalan and Portuguese Histories and Cultures
- Empire, from the Ancient World to the Early Modern
- Beyond Borders? A Deep History of the Connected World
- Common People: Everyday Lives in Modern Britain and Ireland
- The 'Disenchantment' of Early Modern Europe, c. 1570-1770
- The Long View: an introduction to archaeology
- Euro-Visions: Imagining and Questioning Europe
- Language at Work
- Resist! The Art of Protest in Berlin and Amsterdam
- You will also have the option to select 20 credits of Languages for All modules in your chosen language.
- Arts of Persuasion
- History and the Public
- Parchment to Pixels: Interrogating Historical Evidence
- French Higher Advanced
- French Intermediate Intensive
- German Higher Advanced
- German Intermediate Intensive
- Dutch Intermediate
- Russian Higher Advanced
- Russian Intermediate
- Czech Intermediate
- Spanish Higher Advanced
- Spanish Intermediate Intensive
- Catalan Intermediate
- Portuguese Intermediate
- History and Historians
- Trumpism: An American Biography
- A History of Eastern Africa since 1940
- Byzantine Intersectionality: Gender, Race and Power in the Medieval Mediterranean, c.500-1300
- Holy Russia, Soviet Empire: Nation, Religion, and Identity in the 20th Century
- Life Worth Living
- Gender and the Georgians: Sex and Society in Britain 1714-1837
- The Battle for China's Future, 1839-1949
- Egypt's Golden Empire
- From Democracy to Dictatorship: the 1973 coup in Chile
- Murder in the cathedral: the Becket Affair
- The Irish Republican Brotherhood, 1858-85
- The Putney Debates, October 1647
- A Very British Revolution? The 1926 General Strike
- Contemporary Crises in Historical Perspective
- 'That is not my (hi)story'. Shaping the future of our inherited past
- Languages of Gender and Sexuality
- Language and the Self
- Translation
- Revolutions and Revolutionary Trends
- Plus the Languages for All module
- French Year Abroad
- Germanic Studies Year Abroad
- Hispanic Studies Year Abroad
- Russian and Slavonic Studies Year Abroad
- Luxembourg Studies Year Abroad
Questions about this course
How much do graduates of BA History and Modern Languages & Cultures at University of Sheffield earn?
The median salary is £28,500 after 15 months, £24,500 after 3 years, £31,000 after 5 years. After five years the middle half of graduates earn between £25,500 and £40,000. The £31,000 median after five years is £2,000 less than the UK median for Language and area studies (other).
What do graduates of BA History and Modern Languages & Cultures at University of Sheffield do next?
85% were in work or further study 15 months after finishing (Graduate Outcomes 2023-24).
Are students happy with the teaching on BA History and Modern Languages & Cultures at University of Sheffield?
93% 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 Modern Languages & Cultures at University of Sheffield?
The typical offer is ABB at A level. The average entrant had 162 UCAS points.
What is the offer rate for BA History and Modern Languages & Cultures at University of Sheffield?
95% of home applicants received an offer for 2022 entry: 92 offers from 97 applications, according to the university's Freedom of Information return.
Does BA History and Modern Languages & Cultures at University of Sheffield include a placement year or year abroad?
The course has a compulsory year abroad.
How many students continue on BA History and Modern Languages & Cultures at University of Sheffield?
100% of students continued into their second year, and 0% left higher education.