History

Our History course offers a huge range of options that span three millennia and circle the globe. In fact, you have the opportunity to investigate practically any period or aspect of history that interests you.

Across centuries and continents

Cambridge has one of the largest and best history faculties in the world, and our course reflects the quality and breadth of interest of our teaching staff. The History degree gives you the opportunity to explore the past from many different angles – including political, economic, social and cultural history – and to explore  the interaction between history and other disciplines, such as politics, anthropology and archaeology.There’s ample scope throughout to pursue personal interests and experiment with different historical approaches. Some paper options are shared with other courses, such as Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, Classics, and Politics and International Relations and specialist papers allow you to work with a variety of source materials as varied as Hollywood movies and Renaissance art.

Facilities and resources

Our major resource is our teaching staff, made up of more than 100 leading academics, who are experts in fields as varied as the history of medieval Britain and modern India and China, nineteenth-century Europe and twentieth-century South Africa.

Cambridge was considered the world’s best university for History in the QS World University Rankings 2016, and both the Times and Guardian consistently rank our course the best in the UK. The Seeley Library, one of the largest history libraries in the world, and the nearby University Library mean that finding the right book is rarely a problem, and there is a wealth of rare materials and manuscripts within collections in Cambridge suitable for students’ research. All undergraduate historians (not just those taking History and Modern Languages) are also encouraged to take up or improve foreign languages, and they have access to both the University Language Centre and specialist language teaching. Many Colleges have travel grants for students who wish to study the history of another country.

Careers and research

Cambridge historians acquire a range of skills that are attractive to employers: the ability to work independently, to evaluate evidence, and to present arguments clearly and persuasively.

In the past, our graduates have had no difficulty in securing rewarding jobs in a wide variety of sectors, ranging from journalism and broadcasting to teaching and research, finance, consultancy, law and public administration.

Teaching is provided through a combination of Faculty lectures and classes to cover course content, and College supervisions. On average, you attend eight to 10 lectures each week.

Your weekly supervisions, for which you typically write an essay, give you the opportunity to debate and develop your ideas with a senior historian and expert supervisor.

Years 1 and 2 (Part I)

Part I lasts two years (six terms) and comprises six papers, the first five of which are broad survey papers designed to give you an overview of a period in history. You study one each term for the first five terms and sit a written examination in each at the end of Year 2.

• You take at least one paper on a period of British political history and at least one paper on a period of British economic and social history.
• For the other three papers it’s possible to study any period of European history from the Greeks to the present, global and imperial history, the history of North America and the United States, and/or the history of political thought. If you wish, you can begin to specialise, for example in ancient and medieval papers, or almost entirely in the twentieth century.

For the compulsory sixth paper – Themes and Sources, an introduction to the handling of primary sources – you submit a 3,000-5,000 word essay. There’s a wide choice of topics, typically investigating a major comparative theme in history (such as the environment, money and society, or the history of the body). The essay is written over a period of some months and involves individual research.

Year 3 (Part II)

You take five papers, three of which are compulsory:

• Historical Argument and Practice – a general methodological paper that reflects on the broad issues of historical argument and practice arising out of work throughout the degree course (themes range from empire to gender, and from revolutions to race)
• a Special Subject – consisting of two papers (one assessed by a long essay of 6,000-7,000 words, the other by a written examination) that provide an opportunity for advanced in-depth study of an important historical period, process or problem (eg the Angevin Empire, Indian democracy, the Black Death, the history of Ireland) through detailed examination of primary sources

For your remaining papers, you can either choose two Specified Subjects from a selection of topics or comparable themes in history, or choose one Specified Subject paper and write a dissertation of 10,000-15,000 words on a topic you have devised.

Specified Subject papers cover many different time periods and parts of the world, from the Roman world to the twentieth century, and from the history of the Pacific Ocean to America’s involvement in Vietnam.

Though the dissertation isn’t compulsory more than half of our students take the opportunity to write one, and many find it one of the most rewarding aspects of their time here at Cambridge. Recent examples of dissertation titles include Crime and the Entertainment Industry of Chicago 1921-33, The Decline of Vauxhall Gardens 1780-1859, and Robert Clive and the ‘Gift’ in Eighteenth-Century India.

• All applicants to the University of Cambridge must submit an application to UCAS (the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service) by the relevant deadline.
• The Attestat o (polnom) Srednem Obshchem Obrazovanii (Certificate of Secondary Education) is not considered to be suitable preparation for a competitive application to the University of Cambridge. We strongly recommend that you undertake further study if you wish to apply for an undergraduate degree. Examples of the qualifications that would be considered suitable for admission to Cambridge are A Levels, the International Baccalaureate (IB), five or more Advanced Placement (AP) courses, or possibly the first year of an undergraduate degree at a university outside the UK. We recommend that you contact the College that you wish to apply to directly for further advice and guidance.
• IELTS – normally a minimum overall grade of 7.5, usually with 7.0 or above in each element.
• Cambridge English: Advanced – grade A or B.
• Cambridge English: Proficiency – grade A, B or C.

Admissions assessments

All applicants are required to take the pre-interview written assessment for History at an authorised centre local to them (for a lot of applicants, this will be their school/college).

Assessment format

• Section 1: Reading Comprehension (60 minutes)
• Section 2: Essay/text response (60 minutes)

• Cambridge Commonwealth, European and International Trust

Your living expenses may be higher than for a Home student (eg if you stay in Cambridge/the UK during vacations). The minimum resources needed in Cambridge for the year (excluding tuition and College fees) are estimated to be approximately £10,080 in 2017-18 and £10,310 in 2018-19, depending on lifestyle (you should allow for increases in future years).