History BA (Hons) (with Foundation Year)
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UCAS Code: V101|Duration: 4 years|Full Time|Hope Park
UCAS Campus Code: L46
Work placement opportunities|International students can apply|Study Abroad opportunities
About the course
Studying History helps you see how people and societies lived in the past. These experiences shape our present and future. Our History degree lets you explore many periods, from the Early Modern era to today. You’ll cover key themes like nationalism, imperialism, colonisation, decolonisation, gender, and identity. The course encourages you to engage with and challenge interpretations, as history is always changing.
Liverpool’s rich cultural connections make it a great place to study history. Your study visits include local historic sites like Childwall from the Domesday Book. You’ll also explore attractions such as the Museum of Liverpool, the International Slavery Museum, and the World Museum. You’ll also visit sites like the Elizabethan Hardwick Hall.
Our History course is taught in a supportive environment alongside Politics and International Relations. You'll learn from recognized scholars who are active researchers and published authors. You’ll engage with a variety of historical evidence, including rare books from our Special Collections.
The courseoffers an optional placement year. This lets you apply your research and communication skills in a real-world setting. Close ties with National Museums Liverpool provide chances for final-year dissertations linked to museum projects, giving you valuable hands-on experience. Whatever topic you choose for your dissertation, it will show the practical and analytical skills gained in your History degree, which employers highly value.
Hear what a History student has to say about the course.
Course structure
The History degree at Liverpool Hope combines lectures, seminars, and tutorials to provide a structured and supportive learning experience. Lectures bring all students together, seminars involve smaller groups of 15–20 students, and tutorials typically include no more than 10 students. You also have the opportunity for weekly one-to-one meetings with your personal tutor.
Weekly teaching hours:
- Single honours: Approximately 12 hours in the first year, reducing to 10 hours in the second and third years
- Combined honours: Approximately 6 hours in the first year, reducing to 5 hours in later years
In addition to taught hours, you are expected to devote around 40 hours per week to your studies, including independent study, group work, and preparation for assessments. Course materials and presentations are regularly uploaded to Moodle, the University’s online learning platform, to support your learning.
Assessment and feedback
Assessment on the History degree includes formal exams based on lecture topics and a variety of written coursework assignments. Clear assessment criteria are provided at the start of the degree and throughout your studies. In your final year, you will complete a special study or dissertation to showcase your independent research skills.
Feedback is a key part of learning. You will receive timely, high-quality, and constructive written feedback that highlights the strengths and areas for improvement in your work. Exam scripts are also reviewed, with feedback provided on a form and discussed in the following autumn term.
Where possible, feedback is delivered verbally to the whole year group to address points of general relevance. You will also receive individual written feedback on assignments and have opportunities to discuss your work privately with tutors during office hours.
Curriculum overview
Please note topics marked with a * are studied by single honours students only.
Foundation Year
The Foundation Year is a great opportunity if you have the ability and enthusiasm to study for a degree, but do not yet have the qualifications required to enter directly onto our degree programmes. A significant part of the Foundation Year focuses upon core skills such as academic writing at HE level, becoming an independent learner, structuring academic work, critical thinking, time management and note taking.
Successful completion of the Foundation Year will enable you to progress into the first year (Level C) of your chosen honours degree. Further details can be found here.
Year One
In your first year of the History degree, you will develop a strong foundation in historical study and begin to build key research and analytical skills.
- Introduction to History: Explore Twentieth-Century Europe, including the First World War and its aftermath, the rise of fascism, the Spanish Civil War, the Second World War, the Cold War, post-war migration, hostile environments, and the revival of nationalism in the 1990s
- Early Modern England c.1530–1651: Study major themes in English history, including the Tudors, Henry VIII and the Reformation, Elizabethan England, English expansion and colonialism in Ireland and North America, the early Stuarts, and the Civil War. You will also examine social, cultural, political, and religious history, covering topics such as popular culture, class, international diplomacy, religion, crime, gender, economy, and witchcraft. Field trips and lectures will give you hands-on experience of material culture
Throughout the year, you will develop essay-writing skills and learn to engage with a wide range of sources, including texts, images, artefacts, and architecture.
Single honours History students will also study additional topics, including methodological approaches to history and a series of historical case studies linked to staff research interests. These may include The Troubles in Northern Ireland, The Habsburg Empire, the Labour movement and international socialism, and the British Empire. Field trips and museum visits are also integrated into the programme.
Year Two
In your second year of the History degree, you will build on the foundations developed in your first year and deepen your understanding of key historical themes.
Current course options include:
- Nationalism and Imperialism: Examine nationalism and imperialism from the late eighteenth to the twentieth centuries, exploring the origins of modern nationalism during the French revolutionary era, revolutionary developments in Europe and overseas colonies, and twentieth-century anti-colonial activism
- Britain and Ireland: Study the complex relationship between Britain and Ireland from the Cromwellian era to the Troubles, focusing on Irish nationalism, revolution, civil war, and the political and social developments of modern Ireland
- Witch Beliefs and Witch Hunting in Early Modern England and America: Explore the development of witch beliefs and witch hunting from c.1540 to 1720. The course examines the medieval origins of witchcraft beliefs across Europe before focusing on English and North American experiences.
- Gender and Politics in the Twentieth Century: Focused primarily on the UK and USA, this course examines changes and challenges to gender roles from the late nineteenth to the end of the twentieth century. You will study first-wave and second-wave feminism alongside changes and continuities in masculinity.
Year Three
In the final year of the History degree, course options are closely linked to staff research specialisms, allowing you to engage with advanced topics in depth. Current modules include:
- Ideology and Reaction: Fascism, Nazism, and the Holocaust 1919–1945
- The Taste of War: Examining the role of food in human conflict
- The British Empire: Colonial Encounter, 1775–1947
- The Spanish Civil War and the Crisis of Democracy, 1936–1939
- The Tudor Conquest of Ireland
Research Element
Single honours students complete a 10,000-word dissertation, while combined honours students either write an integrated dissertation with their other subject or a 5,000-word special study. All students receive individual guidance and support from an assigned tutor throughout the research and writing process, developing key skills in independent study, analysis, and historical argumentation.
Entry requirements
There may be some flexibility for mature students offering non-tariff qualifications and students meeting particular widening participation criteria.
Careers
A History degree equips you with highly transferable skills, including the ability to analyse diverse sources, construct clear arguments, and communicate effectively. Past graduates have gone on to careers in the BBC, National Trust, National Monuments Commission, the Civil Service, national and local newspapers, banking and accountancy, and museums and galleries.
Many graduates also apply their analytical and research skills in other sectors, including commercial business and retail. Others choose to continue their studies at postgraduate level. At Liverpool Hope, we offer a range of MA degrees, including History and Politics and International Relations, providing opportunities to specialise further and enhance career prospects.
Enhancement opportunities
SALA
The Service and Leadership Award (SALA) is offered as an extra-curricular programme involving service-based experiences, development of leadership potential and equipping you for a career in a rapidly changing world. It enhances your degree, it is something which is complimentary but different and which has a distinct ‘value-added’ component. Find out more on our Service and Leadership Award page.
Study Abroad
As part of your degree, you can choose to spend either a semester or a full year of study at one of our partner universities as part of our Study Abroad programme. Find out more on our Study Abroad page.
Tuition fees
The tuition fees for the 2026/27 academic year are £9,535* for full-time undergraduate courses.
If you are a student from the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands, your tuition fees will also be £9,535*.
The University reserves the right to increase Home and EU Undergraduate and PGCE tuition fees in line with any inflationary or other increase authorised by the Secretary of State for future years of study.
*subject to Council approval.
Additional costs
As well as tuition fees, you also need to consider the cost of core textbooks and the cost of transport to fieldwork locations, which is approximately £60-£100 each year.
You will also need to consider the cost of your accommodation each year whilst you study at university. Visit our accommodation pages for further details about our Halls of Residence.
Scholarships
We have a range of scholarships to help with the cost of your studies. Visit our scholarships page to find out more.
International tuition fees
The International Tuition fees for 2026/27 are £14,500.
Visit our International fees page for more information.
Course combinations
This course is also available with Foundation Year as a Combined Honours degree with the following subjects: