History and International Relations (BA)

Applicants come from a diverse range of backgrounds and we accept a broad range of qualifications. Special consideration will be given to mature applicants, and we are happy to consider applicants with other qualifications, including QAA-approved Access to HE courses.

Students from overseas should visit the International| pages for further information on the entry requirements from their country and English language requirements.  Royal Holloway International offers an International Foundation Programme and English language pre-sessional courses, allowing students the opportunity to develop their study skills and English language before starting their undergraduate degree.

We make decisions based on achieved or predicted grades, personal statements and references. More information on how your application will be assessed, and tips for your personal statement can be found on our Applying| pages.

We occasionally invite candidates to interview, usually in cases where we would like more information on which to base a decision. Applicants who are unable to attend, such as overseas students, are interviewed by telephone.

• Study a rich set of periods, events and places, each fascinating in its own right, and each yielding unique insights.
• Explore under the guidance of internationally-renowned specialists a coherent and compelling historical framework that brings history alive and addresses key debates.
• We have strong links with universities elsewhere in Europe, as well as in the USA and in Asia.
• Study in a warm, engaging environment with student-friendly academic and administrative staff.
• Choose from a wide range of elective course units to build the study content that matches your interests.

Each year you will take two course units in each subject.

History is a unique blend of analysis, narrative and argument. Mastery of its content and techniques is not only valuable and rewarding in itself, but also forms an excellent foundation for careers that call for a critical approach to information and an ability to make reasoned cases.

You'll gain a thorough grounding in Politics and International Relations by analysing and criticising classic and contemporary texts. You'll also study the growth of globalisation and its effects on nations, regions and their dealings with each other.

Throughout the course, you will:

• understand and critique primary and secondary historical sources
• develop insights, narratives and themes that account for historical events
• compare different approaches to history and find and account for links between periods, events and movements
• map the political currents that have shaped our world and understand how they interact with each other – and how the models underlying them can be challenged
• appreciate the theory and practice of diplomacy, the mechanisms of international consensus-building, and the role of transnational institutions.

The websites of the Department of History| and the Department of Politics and International Relations| give detailed lists of the course units taken for each different degree.

The course has a modular structure, whereby students take twelve course units at the rate of four per year. Some course units are compulsory while others are elective thereby offering versatility and choice.  

You wwill be taught through a combination of lectures, tutorials and seminars. Outside class, teaching you will work both independently and collaboratively with other students, researching topics in the in preparation for class discussion and producing your assessed coursework. Private study and preparation are essential parts of every course, and you will have access to many online resources and the University’s comprehensive e-learning facility, Moodle.

The department has a number of special online learning resources, such as access to the full collection of the prestigious Oxford Handbooks of Political Science and the entire Communication and Mass Media Complete journals database. All our academic staff hold regular drop-in consultation sessions with students and, when you start with us, you will be assigned a Personal Tutor to support you academically and personally.

Most modules contain an element of assessed coursework, such as an essay, a report, group work, a research blog, or a presentation, which contributes to the final examination mark awarded. The results of the first year exams qualify you to progress to the second year but do not contribute to your final degree award. The second and final year results do contribute to the final degree result, with the final year work counting double that of the second year.

You will take a study skills course during your first year, designed to equip you with and enhance the writing skills you will need to be successful in your degree. This course does not count towards your final degree award but you are required to pass it to progress to your second year.

Choosing History at Royal Holloway will equip you with exactly the skills and qualities that employers are looking for. Studying an intellectually demanding discipline will demonstrate to employers that you enjoy being challenged and are able to understand complex issues. As a historian, you will be well-informed, culturally-informed and alert, with strong skills in problem-solving, organisation and planning, research, critical and analytical skills and the ability to craft an argument. Choosing Politics and International Relations at Royal Holloway will equip you with valuable specific knowledge on the workings of diverse political institutions, which places you well to develop a career in the public sector, as a parliamentary researcher, a civil servant or a journalist. You will also develop the transferable skills valued by employers: how to build an argument, construct a debate, communication and presentation skills, teamwork, time management and critical thinking.

Our recent graduates have very successfully entered a wide range of careers including working as curators (Imperial War Museum, Museum of London), in information management (British Museum), teaching, finance, law (a barrister in the Lord Chancellor's office), broadcasting (Director of the BBC), marketing/PR, national defence (Royal Navy), performing arts, think-tanks, human resources, management and journalism. We work closely with the University’s careers service, which offers a range of tailor-made careers events, one-to-one careers advice sessions and skills workshops. For more information on what our students are doing now, please see the History Department’s website| and the PIR Department's website|.

Our recent graduates have very successfully entered a wide range of careers including roles in the Civil Service and the diplomatic service, political parties and  Many graduates also go on to advanced study in a variety of fields, at prestigious institutions both at home and abroad. For more information about what are graduates are doing now, please see the department’s