Program Overview

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At the University of Essex we’re about social conscience, wondering why, and understanding the bigger picture. We teach you to find your own critical voice and view history through the eyes of different people, telling hidden histories that might otherwise be forgotten. Our BA History allows you to explore challenging questions about the impact of political, social and cultural change on individuals, social groups and regions. From African-American slavery to Stalin’s Russia—from households in Essex to witchcraft in Germany—from the history of disease to revolutions in China, we urge you to explore the past in order to better understand the present. You have the flexibility to choose from a wide range of optional modules about subjects close to home and further afield. You are taught by award-winning academics from all over the world: our corridors are truly cosmopolitan. We also provide you with opportunities to explore local history and have close ties with the Essex Record Office, one of the best county record offices in the UK. Our students love us too – we are top 30 for overall student satisfaction for History in the National Student Survey 2021 Why we're great.

• You can choose from a unique and diverse range of topics, periods and countries.
• Top 30 for overall student satisfaction for History in the National Student Survey 2021
• We offer financial assistance for voluntary work at local museums, archives and heritage sites.

Study abroad

Your education extends beyond the university campus. We support you in expanding your education through offering the opportunity to spend a year or a term studying abroad at one of our partner universities. The four-year version of our degree allows you to spend the third year abroad or employed on a placement abroad, while otherwise remaining identical to the three-year course. Studying abroad allows you to experience other cultures and languages, to broaden your degree socially and academically, and to demonstrate to employers that you are mature, adaptable, and organised. If you spend a full year abroad you'll only pay 15% of your usual tuition fee to Essex for that year. You won't pay any tuition fees to your host university

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Placement year

When you arrive at Essex, you can decide whether you would like to combine your course with a placement year. You will be responsible for finding your placement, but with support and guidance provided by both your department and the placements team. If you complete a placement year you'll only pay 20% of your usual tuition fee to Essex for that year.

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Our expert staff

Our staff are among world leaders in their field, and our enthusiasm for our subject is infectious. Our flexible course is combined with a supportive structure which helps you to pursue the modules best-suited to your interests. We take the time to get to know you as an individual, welcome you into our scholarly community, and value your views.

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Specialist facilities

• We have several Special Collections in history, including the Essex Society for Archaeology and History Library, the Harsnett Collection, the Hervey Benham Oral History Sound Archive, the Bensusan Collection, and the Colchester Medical Society Library
• Access the UK Data Archive, a national service provider digital resources for historians, which is particularly strong in nineteenth and twentieth-century economic and social history
• Attend an exciting programme of events
• Access a variety of textbooks and journals in our Albert Sloman Library which houses materials on Latin America, Russia and the US that are of national significance

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Your future

In addition to the opportunity to learn about the past and come to a better understanding of the present, a course in history also provides you with important skills that will be of value after leaving university. You learn to absorb, analyse and assess a wide variety of information and viewpoints, to express your arguments in oral and written form, and to think and work both independently and in co-operation with others. You therefore graduate prepared for a wide range of careers. Our graduates have gone on to have careers in a wide variety of fields including:

• teaching
• librarianship
• museum and archive services
• the Civil Service
• local government
• law enforcement
• charity administration

Others have proceeded to work in banking, industrial and retail management, media research, electronic publishing, marketing, IT, health service administration, counselling and social work, while others still have chosen to enhance their career opportunities by studying for MA or PhD degrees . Some of our recent graduates have found employment as:

• a warden for the Royal Collection at Windsor Castle
• a planning support officer for a local council
• a senior underwriting assistant at CNA Insurance Company Limited
• a researcher at the House of Commons
• a graduate trainee for the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew
• a library assistant for the University of Cambridge

We also work with the university's Student Development Team to help you find out about further work experience, internships, placements, and voluntary opportunities.