Studying History at York

As well as being located on a campus in one of Europe's most beautiful cities, York is a fantastic institution for students interested in studying History at university level.

Our curriculum offers incredible breadth of study driven by world class research expertise, and our teaching is carefully tailored to help you realise your potential both as a scholar and an individual.

Campus and City

Our students enjoy the best of both worlds: life at a campus university and access to one of the most attractive historic cities in Britain.

The main campus at Heslington is a 200-acre landscaped park built around an extensive lake, well known for its wildfowl. You might find yourself walking to class alongside a gaggle of geese!

The city, about fifteen minutes walk from the main campus, was founded by the Romans as Eboracum in 71 AD, captured and renamed Jórvík by the Vikings in 866 and became York following the Norman Conquest. Since then, it has been a major administrative and population centre in the north of England and, in the Minster, boasts one of the largest Gothic cathedrals in Europe - not to mention a pub for every day of the year.

York offers easy access to Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester by train, and you can be in London in less than two hours.

Range of study

At any one time, the Department of History offers well over a hundred courses to choose from, ranging across the history of the world and through the past two thousand years.

We have carefully planned our undergraduate programme to progress from broad to specialised topics over three years, to encourage work in a variety of fields, and to introduce themes and approaches that students will not have encountered before.

We offer a range of lecture series during your first and second year. But throughout the programme we place particular emphasis on small-group teaching and learning, especially in seminars, discussion groups and one-to-one tutorials.

All students are assigned an individual supervisor (personal tutor), who will provide a point of contact with faculty and offer help and advice during your three years of study. All faculty members also offer regular student hours in which students are free come in and discuss any issues relating to their courses, career and development.

Cutting edge, research-led teaching

Our faculty's world class research reputation directly benefits our students. From the very first term, students are introduced to tutors' particular specialisms and are encouraged to engage with these topics at a high level. This means that you could very well be among the first in the world to gain exposure to some historical topics.

Through example, we train our students to develop high-level skills in the use of primary sources, especially through the Special Subject, an intensive module taken in the third year, and the dissertation, a piece of independent research written over the course of the third year.

The Department offers a dissertation bursary to assist with travel and costs for undergraduate research. Read an example of how this was used.

We also emphasise reflection on the nature of historical inquiry. Many of our modules explicitly address issues relating to the methodology and philosophy of history and the study of historiography (the theory of history).

Personalised learning

As a history student you will learn not only to find out what happened in a particular instance, but why and how it happened. You will be encouraged to read evidence critically, to assess differing interpretations of it, to form your own views and to express them in essays or in discussion.

Accordingly, we place great stress on helping students develop as independent scholars rather than learning by rote. Students are actively encouraged to develop their own programme of study, guided by a supervisor (personal tutor). We pride ourselves on the fact that our students are hard-working, self-reliant and highly motivated.

Unsurprisingly, these intellectual qualities and transferable skills are highly regarded by employers and as such our graduates find themselves with a wide range of careers opportunities open to them upon graduation.

Competitive and challenging environment leads to success

History at York is demanding work, requiring a considerable degree of commitment to personal development, a willingness to work with others, and a real enthusiasm for historical issues and problems. We expect this from all our students.

However, our students usually match or exceed our high expectations. Over ninety percent of our students achieve first or upper second class degrees, and go on to successful careers in business and industry, law and accountancy, administration and management, teaching and research.