BA English and History
About this course
Bachelor of Arts in English and History, an English Literature and History degree exploring literary texts alongside historical events and global contexts. Core topics include Critical & Analytical Thinking, Historical Research, and Research Methods. Students can undertake an integrated placement year or spend time studying abroad at an international partner institution as part of their degree. The first year introduces foundational disciplinary perspectives through compulsory modules such as English on the Move, History Matters (Object, Image, Text), The Novel, and World Histories Introduced, alongside optional choices ranging from Antiquity and Authority: Ancient Persia in Modern Iranian Politics to The French Revolution. The second year examines long-century literature and public history through compulsory modules including Desire and Decay: Literature of the Long Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries and Making History: Historians and Audiences, while offering specialist options like Corpus Linguistics: Working with Large-scale Text Data and Ancient Greeks at War. Optional modules in the final year allow further study in specialized areas such as American Gothic and A Short History of the Far Right.
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: Pass, with 32 points overall with 16 points at Higher Level
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Real offers for this course
Applicants have posted 1 UCAS decision for BA English and History (QV31) at the University of Southampton for 2027 entry so far. The published offer is ABB at A level.
What students say
Based on about 6 final-year students who answered (a small group: a rough guide only)
- Teaching on my course: 96%
- Learning opportunities: 90%
- Assessment and feedback: 88%
- Academic support: 100%
- Organisation and management: 92%
- Learning resources: 93%
- Student voice: 94%
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 36 graduates who answered, across similar courses at this university
- Working: 57%
- Working and studying: 17%
- Further study: 11%
- Unemployed: 8%
Most common jobs
- Sales occupations: 15%
- Artistic, literary and media occupations: 15%
- Teaching Professionals: 15%
- Media Professionals: 10%
- Secretarial and related occupations: 5%
- Find their work meaningful: 75%
- Feel on track for their future plans: 55%
- Use what they learnt on the course: 40%
Where graduates work (5 years on)
Based on about 335 graduates, across similar courses at this university
- Yorkshire and the Humber: 1%
- East Midlands: 1%
- West Midlands: 2%
- East of England: 10%
- London: 32%
- South East: 41%
- South West: 10%
- Wales: 2%
Who gets in
Based on about 15 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
- English on the Move
- History Matters (Object, Image, Text)
- The Novel
- World Histories Introduced
- Antiquity and Authority: Ancient Persia in Modern Iranian Politics
- Introduction to Ethnography: Food and Culture
- Literary Transformations
- Putin and the Politics of Post-Soviet Russia
- Rebellions and Uprising in the age of the Tudors
- The Crimean War
- The French Revolution
- The Invention of English Literature: Medieval to Early Modern
- Theory and Criticism
- World Dramas
- Desire and Decay: Literature of the Long Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries
- Humanities Study Abroad Preparation Module
- Making History: Historians and Audiences
- Year Abroad Report Module for Humanities Students
- Year in Employment
- Eve and the Angels: Love, War, and the End of Epic in Milton's Paradise Lost
- Aesthetics and the Philosophy of Art
- African Freedoms and the Novel
- Ancient Greeks at War
- Ancient Rome: the First Metropolis
- Brief Encounters: Writing Short Stories
- Building London: the history of a city, 1666 – 2012
- Celebrity, Media and Mass Culture, Britain 1888-1952
- Cold War? Post-War Conflict from a Jewish perspective
- Corpus Linguistics: Working with Large-scale Text Data
- Decolonising Modernity
- Discipline and Punish: Prisons and Prisoners in England 1775 - 1898
- Film, Realism and Reality: representing the world, from revolution to the everyday
- Global Hip Hop
- Great Writers Steal: Creative Writing and Critical Thinking
- How the Arts Work: A Practical Introduction to Cultural Economics
- Immigration, Race and Ethnicity in France
- Imperial China: From China’s mythical emperors to the 19th century
- Islam's Identity Crisis: Between Violent Jihadism and Peaceful Reformation
- Jews in Germany before the Holocaust
- Latin 1
- Latin 2
- McCarthyism
- Myth and the Ancient World
- Napoleon and his legend
- Nelson Mandela: A South African life
- Peasants, Empresses and Holy Virgins: Women in Late Antiquity
- Plague, Fire and Popish Plots: The Worlds of Charles II
- Puzzles about Art and Literature
- Queens, Devils and Players in Early Modern England
- Ragtime! The Making of Modern America
- Responses to the Holocaust
- Retail Therapy: A Journey Through the Cultural History of Shopping
- Romantics and Victorians
- Songs of the Earth: Landscapes and Environments of Early Medieval England
- Speech Acts
- Sweatshops, Sex workers, and Asylum Seekers: World Literature and Visual Culture after Globalisation
- The Early Modern Body
- The Fall of the Russian Empire
- The First British Empire: the beginnings of English dominance, 1050-1300
- The Global Game: Football in the Modern Era
- The History of US: Telling Student Stories, 1862-Present
- The Life and Afterlife of the Vikings
- The Making of Modern India
- The Worlding of English Literature
- Vienna and Berlin: Society, Politics and Culture from 1890 to the Present
- Witchcraft in England, 1542-1736
- Women, Writing and the Canon, 1770-1900
- Burning Worlds, Drowning Worlds: Oil Cultures, Climate Crisis, and Traumatic Desires in World Literatures
- A Short History of Exploration
- A Short History of the Far Right
- A Short History of the Populist Leader
- AI Utopias and the Climate Crisis
- American Cinema Since 1965
- American Gothic
- China in the Cold War – Part 1 (The Chronology)
- China in the Cold War – Part 2 (Themes)
- Cities of the Dead: Death, Mourning and Remembrance in Modern Britain
- Creative Writing in Schools
- Crime and Punishment in England c.1688-1840 part 1
- Crime and Punishment in England c.1688-1840 part 2
- Cultures in Contact: A Diverse Ancient World
- Cultures in Contact: Resisting Rome
- Darwin and the Making of Evolutionary Thought: Myth, Memory, and Modern Society
- Data, Culture, and Justice
- Digital Futures of the Past: Power, Ethics, and Representation
- Digital Life: Myths, Social Media, And Artificial Intelligence
- English Dissertation
- Environmental Cinema and Media
- Eve and the Angels: Love, War, and the End of Epic in Milton's Paradise Lost
- Fantasy Film and Fiction
- Framing the Past:Stardom, History and Heritage in the Cinema
- From Tyranny to Revolution: England 1625-49: Part 1
- From Tyranny to Revolution: England, 1625-49 Part 2
- Historical Memory in Modern Latin America
- History Dissertation
- Holocaust Literature
- Language and the City
- Latin 1
- Latin 2
- Money and Meaning in American Fiction
- Pirates, Princesses and the Politics of Romance
- Queering the Digital
- Reading Histories
- Scriptwriting
- Shakespeare Then and Now
- Streaming, Social Media, and Stans: Music Culture in the Platform Era
- Telling True Stories: Narrative Non-Fiction
- The Hammer and the Scalpel: The American Precision Ethos and Culture of War (Part 1)
- The Hammer and the Scalpel: The American Precision Ethos and Culture of War (Part 2)
- The Origins of Climate Crisis: Ecology in Victorian Literature
- The Third Reich 1
- The Third Reich 2
- The imperial Other: Race, Religion and Identity in modern Britain and France
- The imperial Other: Race, Religion and Identity in the Russian and Soviet empires
- Utopias and Dystopias in Literature and Culture
- War, State and Society: The Hundred Years War (1337-1453), Part 1
- War, State and Society: The Hundred Years War (1337-1453), Part 2
Questions about this course
How much do graduates of BA English and History at University of Southampton earn?
The median salary is £26,000 after 15 months, £26,500 after 3 years, £34,000 after 5 years. After five years the middle half of graduates earn between £27,500 and £44,000. The £34,000 median after five years is £6,000 more than the UK median for Literature in English.
What do graduates of BA English and History at University of Southampton 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 English and History at University of Southampton?
96% of final-year students were positive about the teaching in the National Student Survey 2025-26.
What grades do I need for BA English and History at University of Southampton?
The typical offer is ABB at A level, or 32 points in the IB. The average entrant had 142 UCAS points.
Does BA English and History at University of Southampton include a placement year or year abroad?
The course has an optional year abroad.
How many students continue on BA English and History at University of Southampton?
100% of students continued into their second year, and 0% left higher education.