BA

History (with integrated year studying abroad)

BA History (with integrated year studying abroad) Code V102 Attend an Open Day Attend an Open Day

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Key Facts

V102

  • UCAS Tariff

    120 - 96

  • Course duration

    4 years

Available for September start 2025

Further details on entry requirements

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Our BA in History with an Integrated Year Studying Abroad (V102) builds on the international research and teaching partnerships of the Department of History and Welsh History to offer you a unique learning experience across two different universities and national cultures during your degree studies. As a student on this scheme you will spend your first and second years studying History at Aberystwyth, then for your third year will enrol at one of our partner universities overseas. This year abroad will enable you to deepen and broaden your historical studies, study subjects in addition to History should you wish, and immerse yourself in another culture for a full year. You will then return to Aberystwyth to complete your final year of studies, boosted by new skills, new experiences and new areas of historical expertise.  

Course Overview

Why study History with an Integrated Year Studying Abroad?

  • The studying abroad component of this course will give you the opportunity to spend a year studying in a leading international university, developing your historical knowledge and cultural understanding, and other valuable skills that are highly sought after by employers.
  • You will keep in touch with us during your year abroad, and have access to all our online facilities as well as those of your host university while you are away.
  • Our teaching is innovative, research-based, and designed to develop your transferable skills in areas such as analysis, interpretation and communication, which will prepare you for a wide range of careers.
  • Our subject specialisms enable you to follow your historical interests from the medieval period to the present day, ranging across four continents, and embracing political, social, economic and cultural history.
  • As an Aber History student you will have full use of the National Library of Wales, one of the five Copyright Libraries of the UK and Wales’s leading archive repository.
Our Staff

Staff in the Department of History and Welsh History are active researchers and experts in their field of History. Most are qualified to PhD level and hold PGCHE. To find out more about our staff, please visit our departmental staff page.

Modules September start - 2025

Please note: The modules listed below are those currently intended for delivery during the next academic year and may be subject to change. They are included here to give an indication of how the course is structured.

Core

Module Name Module Code Credit Value
Introduction to History * HY12120 20

Options

Module Name Module Code Credit Value
'Hands on' History: Sources and their Historians HY10420 20
Europe and the World, 1000-2000 HY12420 20
Medieval and Early Modern Britain and Europe, 1000-1800 HY11420 20
People, Power and Identity: Wales 1200-1999 WH11720 20
The Modern World, 1789 to the present HY11820 20

* Also available partially or entirely through the medium of Welsh

Careers

What career prospects exist with a History degree with an integrated year abroad?

Our graduates have been successful in securing professions in many different fields:

  • education
  • academic scholarship and research
  • archive curation and management
  • law
  • national, regional and local politics
  • the Civil Service
  • the Police
  • the Military
  • media and the creative industries
  • business and entrepreneurship.

Our former students include:

  • Glanmor Williams, Historian
  • Alun Lewis, Second World War poet
  • Tim Brain, former Chief Constable of Gloucestershire
  • Guto Bebb, Member of Parliament
  • Joanne Cayford, BBC
  • Berwyn Davies, Head of the Welsh Higher Education Office, Brussels
  • Iwan Griffiths, Sports reporter for S4C.

Your year abroad:

Your year abroad will both enhance the key skills developed through your degree studies and demonstrate to employers your initiative, self-reliance, responsibility and adaptability to new environments and challenges.

A recent Erasmus Impact survey showed that 64% of employers considered international experience important for recruitment and that studying or working abroad will increase your chances of finding employment by up to 41% compared to students who do not study or work abroad.

Alumni mentoring and graduate talks 

The eMentoring Scheme will enable you to make contact with past graduates in a range of careers within a safe and supportive environment, offering you the chance to find out how they progressed into their current roles and what insights they can offer you as you think about your next steps. The Department of History & Welsh History collaborates with the Careers Service with the aim of arranging talks from alumni at different stages of their careers, such as the successful ‘From university to a career in cultural heritage: first steps’, presented by a recent graduate who secured a place on a prestigious Tate Gallery traineeship.

What work experience opportunities exist while studying? 

Click here to find out about the various opportunities that our Aberystwyth University Careers team offer.

Enhance your employability prospects with GO Wales and YES (Year in Employment Scheme) managed by our Careers department. 

Teaching & Learning

What will I learn?

During your four years of study you will develop your historical interests by choosing option modules from the full range of subject areas taught by our department and your overseas host institution. You will also be learning and applying research approaches and methods that will ready you for your final year dissertation.

In your first year you will be introduced to:

  • new historical skills and concepts, and a comprehensive introduction to university-level study skills, through our Year 1 core module Introduction to History
  • new historical periods, themes and subject areas, through our wide choice of Year 1 option modules.

In your second year you will explore:

  • the ways in which the meaning, methods and writing of history have changed over time, through our Year 2 core module Making History
  • insights into the historian’s craft, through practice-based seminar classes
  • different topics and periods from our extensive list of Year 2 option modules.

In your third year you will undertake your study year abroad in a European or International country:

  • choose your destination based on culture, location or historical interests
  • study new historical subjects or gain more expertise in the subjects that interest you most
  • all courses taught in English
  • if you wish, take modules in other subjects useful to historians (a foreign language, international studies, media and communications, etc.)
  • develop and demonstrate transferable employability skills such as self-reliance, cultural awareness, independence and initiative
  • Your studies abroad will not formally count to your final Aberystwyth degree result but will be acknowledged through a separate transcript from the partner university that you can attach to your CV.

In your final year back in Aber you will study:

  • two option modules of your choice
  • a Special Subject, in which you undertake in-depth research, using original sources and engaging with cutting-edge scholarship
  • your History Dissertation, independently researched by you on a subject of your choice, supervised by an expert historian in the department.

How will I be taught and assessed?

Our wide variety of different learning, teaching and assessment modes will enable you to develop skills in formal writing, small group presentations, constructing informed arguments under time pressure, independent research, and working as part of a team, using the most up-to-date resources and digital platforms. The Department of History & Welsh History also maintains individual essay tutorials for all students - rare outside Oxbridge - and has a supportive system of personal tutors, providing unrivalled one-to-one contact throughout your degree.

Typical Entry Requirements

UCAS Tariff 120 - 96

A Levels BBB-CCC

GCSE requirements (minimum grade C/4):
English or Welsh

BTEC National Diploma:
DDM-MMM

International Baccalaureate:
30-26

European Baccalaureate:
75%-65% overall

English Language Requirements:
See our Undergraduate English Language Requirements for this course. Pre-sessional English Programmes are also available for students who do not meet our English Language Requirements.

Country Specific Entry Requirements:
International students whose qualification is not listed on this page, can check our Country Specific Entry Requirements for further information.

The University welcomes undergraduate applications from students studying the Access to Higher Education Diploma or T-level qualifications, provided that relevant subject content and learning outcomes are met. We are not able to accept Access to Higher Education Diplomas or T-levels as a general qualification for every undergraduate degree course.
Our inclusive admissions policy values breadth as well as depth of study. Applicants are selected on their own individual merits and offers can vary. If you would like to check the eligibility of your qualifications before submitting an application, please contact the Undergraduate Admissions Office for advice and guidance.

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