History and Archaeology BA

Entry Requirements

Entry requirements

• A/AS-levels: ABB. Two AS-levels can be considered in place of one A-level. General Studies or Critical Thinking accepted. History A-level is preferred but not essential. 
• EPQ with A-levels: BBB EPQ at grade B.
• Access to HE Diploma: Pass relevant Diploma with 45 credits, 30 of which must be at Distinction. 
• International Baccalaureate: Pass Diploma with 30 points.
• BTEC Nationals: Pass Diploma with DDM 
• Other national and international qualifications considered. If you do not meet the entry requirements for this course, you can apply for the International Foundation Year – Society and Culture run by the Global Study Centre. The GSC provides academic support to help you progress to your chosen undergraduate degree at the University of Leicester.
• Second year entry may be possible with suitable qualifications.

Selection Process

• When considering your application, we will look for evidence that you will be able to fulfil the objectives of the course and achieve the standards required. We will take into account a range of factors including previous exam results.
• Applicants are not normally interviewed. If you receive an offer you will be invited to visit the University.

English Language Requirements

• IELTS 6.5 or equivalent. If your first language is not English, you may need to provide evidence of your English language ability. If you do not yet meet our requirements, our English Language Teaching Unit (ELTU) offers a range of courses to help you to improve your English to the necessary standard.

Year 1

• In your first year you will split your studies equally between archaeology and history, taking modules covering medieval, early modern and global history, providing you with a thorough grounding in historical methods and practice at university level. You will also study the archaeological past from the origins of the human species to the 21st century, along with the aims and methods of archaeology.
• You will be able to take part in a local archaeological fieldschool. Recently we have run fabulous fieldschools at Bradgate Park with sites from the Mesolithic to the historic period, including the Tudor mansion of Lady Jane Grey (England's nine-day Queen), and the Iron Age hillfort of Burrough Hill.

Core modules

• An Introduction to World Archaeology BC
• Archaeology: The Essentials
• Thinking Through Things
• An Introduction to World Archaeology AD
• Option modules

Choose one option module from:

• Barbarism and Civilisation: Medieval and Early Modern Europe
• The Shock of the Modern

Then choose three option modules from:

• Global History: Connections and Cultures in a Changing World, 1750 to the present
• Great Britain: The State We're In
• US History since 1877
• Europe 1861-1991: Emancipation and Subjugation

Year 2

• In your second year you will continue to balance your studies equally between the two subjects. You will have more opportunity to shape the course of your degree this year as you will be able to choose option modules from the areas of history and archaeology that interest you the most. You will also have the opportunity to study a range of laboratory-based modules, covering subjects such as environmental archaeology and artefact analysis. At the end of your second year you will participate in a research excavation, which can take place anywhere in the world.
• If you would like to write your third year dissertation on an area of history rather than archaeology then you must take the option module The Historian’s Craft.

Core modules

• Perceiving the Past
• Fieldwork 1
• Theory and Archaeology

Option modules

Choose one history option module from:

• Blood, Position and Power: The Nobility of Later Medieval England, 1066-1485
• Madness, Monarchy and Politics in Georgian Britain
• Jack-the-Ripper: Crime, Popular Culture and Policing in Victorian Times
• A World Connected: Welfare, Economy and Government since 1945
• Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union

Then choose one archaeology option module from:

• Environmental Archaeology 
• Neolithic, Bronze Age and Iron Age of Britain and Ireland 
• Living in Towns: Medieval and Post-Medieval Archaeology
• Archaeology of the Roman Empire

Then choose one archaeology option module from:

• Heritage Skills
• Celts, Britons and Barbarians: Iron Age Europe in context
• Artefact Analysis
• Archaeological Survey and Geomatics
• The Medieval Mediterranean World
• Plus either Becoming the Historical Researcher (you must choose this if you plan to write your third year dissertation on history)

Or two more history option modules: choose one option module from:

• Gender History
• Race and Ethnicity
• All Bourgeois Now? Class in History

And one option module from:

• The Latin World: Ancient, Medieval and Modern
• Enter the Dragon: Modern Chinese History, 1839-1989
• From Beer to Fraternity: Alcohol, Society, and Culture in North America 
• History in the Classroom
• Living with Dictatorship: European Societies, 1918-1941
• Holy Wars in Sacred Lands: Conflict and Coexistence during the Crusades
• Heritage Field Project
• Final Year (History dissertation)

Core module

Fieldwork 2

• Option modules
• Choose four option modules from the lists below, two from the lists marked A and two from the lists marked B. You can choose either one history module and three archaeology modules or two modules from each subject.

History modules list A

• The USA and the Vietnam War
• Crime and Punishment in African American History
• The Golden Age of Anglo-Saxon Northumbria
• Disasporas and Migrations in the Modern World
• From Empire to Nation: Modern South Asia, c. 1857-1947
• Gender, Crime and Deviance in Eighteenth Century Britain

Archaeology modules list A

• Warfare, Conflict and Violence in the Human Past
• Households and Domesticity in the Ancient World
• Early Christian Europe
• Archaeozoology
• Archaeology of Islamic Societies
• South Asian Archaeology and Heritage

History modules list B

• The Imperial Economy: Britain and the Wider World, 1815-1914
• What Difference Did the War Make? British Society and the Great War, 1900-1939
• When Two Dragons Fight: China and Japan at War in the Twentieth Century
  Indigenous Peoples of the Americas, c1350-1650
• The Medieval Natural World
• Abolitionists: Antislavery Activism in Britain and America, 1787-1865

Archaeology modules list B

• Greek and Roman Art
• The Archaeology of Colonialism in the Americas
• Archaeology and Ancient History in Education
• Plants and People
• Power and Difference in the Past
• Plus your History dissertation

Final Year (Archaeology dissertation)

Core module

Fieldwork 2

Option modules

• Either choose four option modules from the lists below, two from the lists marked A and two from the lists marked B - you should choose one archaeology module and three history modules.

History modules list A

• The USA and the Vietnam War
• Crime and Punishment in African American History
• The Golden Age of Anglo-Saxon Northumbria
• Disasporas and Migrations in the Modern World
• From Empire to Nation: Modern South Asia, c. 1857-1947
• Gender, Crime and Deviance in Eighteenth Century Britain

Archaeology modules list A

• Warfare, Conflict and Violence in the Human Past
• Households and Domesticity in the Ancient World
• Early Christian Europe
• Archaeology of Islamic Societies
• South Asian Archaeology and Heritage

History modules list B

• The Imperial Economy: Britain and the Wider World, 1815-1914
• What Difference Did the War Make? British Society and the Great War, 1900-1939
• When Two Dragons Fight: China and Japan at War in the Twentieth Century
• Indigenous Peoples of the Americas, c1350-1650
• The Medieval Natural World
• Abolitionists: Antislavery Activism in Britain and America, 1787-1865

Archaeology modules list B

• Greek and Roman Art
• Archaeology and Ancient History in Education
• The Archaeology of Colonialism in the Americas
• Plants and People
• Power and Difference in the Past
• Or choose one archaeology module from either of the Archaeology lists above and one history special subject module from this list:
• Ideals of Womanhood in 19th Century America
• The Holocaust: Genocide in Europe
• After Hitler: Society, Culture and The Politics of The Nazi Past in The Two Germanies, 1945-1990
  A Sea of Conflict? Christian Muslim Encounters c.1100-c.1300
• The Presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt
• Plus your Archaeology Dissertation

Year Abroad (optional)

• If you want to, you can spend your third year studying abroad at one of our partner institutions (eligibility is dependent on your academic performance in Years 1 and 2). Alternatively, you can opt to continue studying at the University and complete your degree in three years.