History and Politics University of Reading

Overview

Throughout the History and Politics degree from the University of Reading you'll discover a thousand years of history while experiencing all the specialist areas on offer at the University of Reading. The Department of History's expertise covers a wide and diverse range of regions, from Europe and Africa to America, South Asia and the Middle East.

Key features

In your first year, your core modules will explore people, politics and revolution – finding out how people struggled for power in past societies – and the culture and concepts those societies developed. We will teach you the skills you need to study and research history through an individual project of your choice. This joint degree enables you to address contemporary issues and trace them back to their historical roots.

The University of Reading is ranked in the top 200 in the world for History (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2023). In 2022, we achieved a 94% satisfaction score for BA History (National Student Survey 2022).

By studying politics, you will acquire a strong grounding in the fundamental elements of the subject such as political ideas and democratic processes. You can study a wide range of specialist core and optional modules, which cover topics such as British government and politics, European political integration, and political thinking.

You will be taught in small interactive seminar groups, encouraging discussion and debate with teaching staff and fellow students. We place a great deal of importance on employability skills in both sides of your degree, and our modules History Education, Discovering Archives and Collections, and Going Public all offer students short work placements and act as an introduction to possible career paths.

You have the option to apply to study abroad on this joint degree. Some of the universities we have links with include University of Maastricht, Netherlands; University of Georgia, USA; and Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. The University also offers all students the chance to learn a modern language alongside their core subjects.

Career opportunities:

Throughout your degree you will complete career and skills related modules, encouraging you to think about what career you would like and what skills you will need. If you would like a career in teaching, or in archives or records management, try our optional third-year modules, History Education and Discovering Archives and Collections. We have had a high success rate from students who have completed History Education, with many of our graduates gaining places for Initial Teacher Training. Additionally, both these modules develop a wide range of interpersonal, organisational, presentational and research skills readily transferable to other areas of employment.

As a history and politics graduate you will gain a broad range of transferable skills, including the ability to think clearly and critically, to communicate with confidence and work effectively both individually and as part of a team. 

The History and Politics graduates are valued by employers for their research, analytical, teamwork and communication skills. Overall, 94% of graduates from the Department of History are in work or further study within 15 months of graduation, and 89% of Politics and International Relations graduates [1]. Recent employers have included The British Museum, The Football Association, The House of Commons, Marks and Spencer, MI5, Morgan Stanley and Siemens Financial Services.