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What makes History with Politics at Worcester special?

By studying History with Politics, you can learn about political history as it’s being written. Your lecturers will be the authors of some of the books you’re using - and you’ll even get the chance to contribute to their research. And, as well as benefiting from the latest thinking, you can learn through a work placement - perhaps in archives, museums, local community groups, schools, a National Trust property, or by working for a political party or campaign.

You'll learn to understand how historical study has contemporary relevance, particularly in politics. Indeed, politics enhances your knowledge of history by contextualising these studies within the contemporary systems and philosophies of Westminster, Europe and the world.

Overview

Overview

Key features

  • Guest lectures, from experts such as the historical consultant for the BBC’s Peaky Blinders, Producer of Radio 4’s Home Front
  • Opportunities to attend Women’s History Network Conferences
  • Bespoke writing retreats to help you write your dissertation, with support from staff and other students
  • Trips to various local, regional and national sites of historical and political interest, including the Infirmary Museum, Imperial War Museum, Slavery Museum, and Parliament
  • Specialist careers advice and work-based learning opportunities in local museums, archives, and with political parties in local constituencies and Parliament that will increase your employability
  • Specialist resources, including the County Archives, based in our library, the Hive, and the Cathedral libraries in Worcester and Hereford, not to mention a range of available online historical and political resources through the University’s Library Services

Register your interest

Enter your details below and we will keep you up to date with useful information about studying at the University of Worcester.


Entry requirements

Entry requirements

104
UCAS tariff points

Entry requirements

104 UCAS tariff points (for example, BCC at A Level)

 

Other information

If you have any questions about entry requirements, please contact the Admissions Office on 01905 855111 or email admissions@worc.ac.uk for advice.

Further information about the UCAS Tariff can be obtained from the UCAS Website.

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Course content

Course content

Our courses are informed by research and current developments in the discipline and feedback from students, external examiners and employers. Modules do therefore change periodically in the interests of keeping the course relevant and reflecting best practice. The most up-to-date information will be available to you once you have accepted a place and registered for the course. If there are insufficient numbers of students interested in an optional module, this might not be offered, but we will advise you as soon as possible and help you choose an alternative. 

Year 1

Mandatory

  • Westminster Politics 
  • Ideology and conflict in Europe since 1789
  • Britain since the Reformation
  • Reconstructing the Past: Academic, Public and Popular History

Year 2

Mandatory

  • Historical Research: Method and Practice 
  • European Politics

 

Optional

  • The American Century, 1917-2001 
  • The German Empire, 1862-1918
  • History Work Experience Module
  • War and Peace: The Making of Modern Ireland
  • ‘A People’s War?’ Britain and the Second World War
  • Georgian Britain and the Atlantic World, 1760-1820

Year 3

Mandatory

  • Global Politics 
  • Independent Study/Dissertation

Optional

  • The Good War: USA in WW2 (30 credits)
  • The Atlantic Slave Trade
  • Nazi Germany
  • Research Experience Module
  • British Imperialism, c.1857-1972
  • Gender, Sexuality and Welfare. The Body in History.
  • Witchcraft and the Devil
  • Japan's World, 1854-1951
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Follow Politics on Twitter

To get a feel for Politics at Worcester you can follow our course account.

@politicsworc
Teaching and assessment

Teaching and assessment

The University places emphasis on enabling students to develop the independent learning capabilities that will equip you for lifelong learning and future employment, as well as academic achievement. A mixture of independent study, teaching and academic support through the personal academic tutoring system enables you to reflect on progress and build up a profile of skills, achievements and experiences that will enable you to flourish and be successful.

Teaching

Modules are delivered through a combination of lectures, seminars, workshops, tutorials and directed learning. Lectures introduce students to the relevant historiography and/or political research/data and identify appropriate learning materials. Seminars encourage students to discuss their views on topics introduced in lectures, supplemented by the additional research they have undertaken.

In addition, meetings with personal academic tutors are scheduled on at least four occasions in the first year and three occasions in each of the other years of the course.

The History with Politics work project module offers students the opportunity to gain work experience with a range of local employers including the George Marshall Medical Museum, Mercian Regimental Museum, the Commandery, Hartlebury Castle, Worcestershire Yeomanry Museum and the Archive and Archaeology Service at the Hive. Moreover, the Politics team enjoys links with local councillors, MPs, and parties. In the past, students have gained valuable work experience across a range of political parties and campaigns, including working at a

Modules are delivered through a combination of lectures, seminars, workshops, tutorials and directed learning. Lectures introduce students to the relevant historiography and/or political research/data and identify appropriate learning materials. Seminars encourage students to discuss their views on topics introduced in lectures, supplemented by the additional research they have undertaken.

In addition, meetings with personal academic tutors are scheduled on at least four occasions in the first year and three occasions in each of the other years of the course.

The History with Politics work project module offers students the opportunity to gain work experience with a range of local employers including the George Marshall Medical Museum, Mercian Regimental Museum, the Commandery, Hartlebury Castle, Worcestershire Yeomanry Museum and the Archive and Archaeology Service at the Hive. Moreover, the Politics team enjoys links with local councillors, MPs, and parties. In the past, students have gained valuable work experience across a range of political parties and campaigns, including working at a local level with the Labour, Lib Dem, Green, and Conservative parties, campaigning in the last General Election, and more generally helping MPs on a day-to-day basis in their constituency offices and Parliament.

Contact time

Modules normally involve three contact hours of teaching per week. Thus at Levels 4 and 5 total weekly contact time is a maximum of 12 hours and 9 hours at Level 6.  

The nature of the weekly class contact time will depend upon the teaching strategies of the optional modules chosen. Typically, however, students could expect to experience:

  • 8 hours lectures/workshops
  • 4 hours seminars 

Independent self-study

In addition to the contact time, you are expected to undertake around 25 hours of personal self-study per week. Typically, this will involve directed reading in preparation for the following week's seminars and independent researching and writing upcoming assessments.

Independent learning is supported by a range of excellent learning facilities, including the Hive and library resources, the virtual learning environment, and extensive electronic learning resources (e-books, e-journals, historical/political databases, etc.).

Duration

3 years full-time; 4-6 years part-time

Timetables

Timetables are normally available one month before registration. Please note that whilst we try to be as student-friendly as possible, scheduled teaching can take place on any day of the week; and some classes can be scheduled in the evenings.

Teaching staff

You will be taught by a highly qualified and experienced teaching team whose expertise and knowledge are closely matched to the content of the modules on the course. Most teaching is directly related to the research and publications of the lecturers. Moreover, 66% of course lecturers have a higher education teaching qualification and are Fellows of the Higher Education Academy.

Assessment

The History with Politics course provides opportunities to test understanding and learning informally through the completion of practice or ‘formative’ assignments. Each module has one or more formal or ‘summative’ assessments which are graded and count towards the overall module grade.

Assessment takes a variety of forms - essays, document analyses, oral presentations, book, article and film reviews, portfolios, examinations, research proposals, projects, reports, discussion papers, and a dissertation. Assessments are carefully devised to provide students with the opportunity to practise and improve a range of skills in written and oral communication, research and analysis, and presentation.

The precise assessment requirements for an individual student in an academic year will vary according to the mandatory and optional modules taken, but a typical formal summative assessment pattern for each year of the course is:

Year 1

  • 3 document analyses
  • 3 essays
  • 1 article summary
  • 1 examination
  • 1 discussion paper
  • 1 portfolio
  • 2 reports  

Year 2

  • 3 essays
  • 1 political discourse analysis
  • 1 book review
  • 1 document analysis
  • 1 examinations
  • 2 presentations
  • 1 research proposal
  • 2 reports
  • 1 blog entry  

Year 3

  • 1 dissertation
  • 5 essays
  • 1 political discourse analysis
  • 1 seminar presentation
  • 1 article review
  • 3 document analyses 
  • 1 blog post
  • 1 examination 

Feedback

You will receive feedback on practice assessments and on formal assessments. You will also receive feedback on draft chapters of your dissertation. Feedback on examination performance is available upon request from the module leader. Feedback is intended to support learning and you are encouraged to discuss it with personal academic tutors and module tutors as appropriate.

We aim to provide you with feedback on formal course work assessments within 20 working days of hand-in.

Programme specification

For comprehensive details on the aims and intended learning outcomes of the course, and the means by which these are achieved through learning, teaching and assessment, please download the latest programme specification document.

Hannah Carstairs - Former Politics student

Politics is such a vast subject covering topics of history, sociology, ethics and a little philosophy. It helps you to gain a clear understanding of the world around you and I have really enjoyed how the course focuses on contemporary political issues rather than just ideologies. The lecturers use a variety of interactive media to engage students and help you find interesting research. Studying politics has assisted me to fine tune the skills I will need to seek a career in teaching and writing. I will take what I have learnt on this course into my Masters.

I would highly recommend the university to others. The lecturers on my course have been incredibly supportive and understanding allowing me to take the course at my own pace.

Linda Lukangu - Former Politics student

The politics classes are quite small, so it’s easy to get your voice heard and you really get to know your lecturer and your classmates. The classes are usually divided into a lecture about a specific subject and the second half is more about discussions and group work where you can develop your critical thinking.

I would definitely recommend the university. It's the right size with loads of greenery and a good sized town centre only walking distance away. The university also offers loads of assistance for those who need it so you never feel alone and the course selection is so big, everyone is guaranteed to find something they are interested in

Meet the team

Professor Neil Fleming

Neil Fleming's research and teaching focusses on aspects of British, Irish and imperial history since the late nineteenth century.

Dr Luke Devine

Luke is currently Course Leader for Sociology

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Professor Darren Oldridge

Darren Oldridge is a specialist in sixteenth and seventeenth-century religious history. His interests include witchcraft and the Devil, the supernatural, and the religious context of the English Civil Wars. A recurring theme of his work is the rationality underpinning apparently strange beliefs: this is reflected, most recently, in the new edition of Strange Histories (Routledge: 2017). More broadly, he is interested in the relationship between poetry and film and the past.

At Worcester Darren teaches modules that reflect these interests, including The Early Modern World and Witchcraft and the Devil. At present he is editing the third edition of The Witchcraft Reader, to be published by Routledge in 2018.

Dr Paddy McNally


Paddy McNally's teaching and research interests are focused on Irish history from 1690 until 1848, German history from 1870 to 1945, and the history of political thought. He is author of the book, Parties, Patriots and Undertakers. Parliamentary politics in early Hanoverian Ireland and numerous articles on eighteenth-century Irish history. He is currently writing From the Boyne to the Famine. A thematic history of Ireland, 1690-1848, to be published by Routledge. He teaches specialist modules on Irish history 1690-1848, German history 1870-1945, and Nationalism. He has successfully supervised PhD and MPhil students to completion and welcomes expressions of interest from prospective postgraduate researchers in most aspects of British and Irish history from the late seventeenth to the early nineteenth centuries.

Dr Simon Hardy

Dr Simon Hardy

Simon has lectured at Worcester in Sociology and Media & Cultural Studies since 1995, with specialisms in the history of sexuality, the sociology of pornography and contemporary media coverage of warfare.

Dr Wendy Toon

Wendy Toon is an historian of the United States of America, specialising in the twentieth century. She is currently writing Images of the Enemy: American Constructions of the Germans and Japanese in World War Two (Routledge, forthcoming 2020).

Wendy joined the University of Worcester in September 2002. She previously held positions at Staffordshire University and Keele University, and was a Royal Historical Society Fellow (Peter Marshall Fellowship) at the Institute of Historical Research.  

Candid headshot of Suzanne Schwarz

Professor Suzanne Schwarz

Suzanne Schwarz’s teaching at the University of Worcester focuses on the transatlantic slave trade and West Africa in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. She also focuses on developing historical research skills for students through the study of regional and local history. She was the recipient of two student-led teaching awards in 2013 and 2014.

Anna Muggeridge

Dr Anna Muggeridge

Dr Anna Muggeridge is a historian of modern Britain with a particular specialism in women’s and gender history. She researches histories of women’s political activism, with a particular focus on the local. Currently, she is researching a history of women in local government in interwar England and Wales, as well as working collaboratively with colleagues at a number of other institutions on projects related to women’s activism in the twentieth century.

Dr Elspeth King

Dr Elspeth King

Elspeth King joined the university in August 2022 after 8 years of being an Associate Lecturer. Her research and teaching interests are in twentieth-century British history, especially the First and Second World Wars and Women’s History.

Elspeth is also interested in social class and the impact this has on the lived experience of people in everyday life.

Careers

Careers

During your time at Worcester you will have the opportunity to take part in subject-related work experience and volunteering activities. In Year 2 you can choose to take a History with Politics work experience module, and volunteering opportunities with local and regional historical and political organisations are regularly publicised to all History with Politics students.

The study of History with Politics equips you with a wide range of ‘transferable skills’ which will serve you well in subsequent paid employment.

The course prepares you successfully to undertake further training or postgraduate research and to work in a range of areas including:

  • Law and policing
  • Accountancy and financial services
  • Media and marketing
  • Historical research and heritage industries
  • Hospitality and retail management
  • Public service and administration
  • Teaching and social work
  • Politics
  • Pressure groups
  • Voluntary organisations
  • Charities
  • Community work
  • Journalism
  • Publishing

Thus, History with Politics remains an attractive and personally satisfying degree to study, with a strong track record of supporting graduate employability in a range of professional, managerial, administrative, political, and media-related careers.

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Careers and Employability

Our Graduates pursue exciting and diverse careers in a wide variety of employment sectors.

Find out how we can support you to achieve your potential
Costs

Fees and funding

Full-time tuition fees

UK and EU students

The standard fee for full-time home and EU undergraduate students enrolling on BA/BSc/LLB degrees and FdA/FdSc degrees in the 2024/25 academic year is £9,250 per year.

For more details, please visit our course fees page.

International students

The standard tuition fee for full-time international students enrolling on BA/BSc/LLB degrees and FdA/FdSc degrees in the 2024/25 academic year is £16,200 per year.

For more details, please visit our course fees page.

Part-time tuition fees

UK and EU students

The standard tuition fees for part-time UK and EU students enrolling on BA/BSc/LLB degrees and FdA/FdSc degrees in the academic year 2024/25 are £1,156 per 15-credit module, £1,542 per 20-credit module, £2,312 per 30-credit module, £3,083 per 40-credit module, £3,469 per 45-credit module and £4,625 per 60 credit module.

For more details, please visit our course fees page.

Additional costs

Every course has day-to-day costs for basic books, stationery, printing and photocopying. The amounts vary between courses.

If your course offers a placement opportunity, you may need to pay for an Enhanced Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check.

Accommodation

Finding the right accommodation is paramount to your university experience. Our halls of residence are home to friendly student communities, making them great places to live and study.

We have over 1,000 rooms across our range of student halls. With rooms to suit every budget and need, from our 'Chestnut Halls' at £131 per week to 'Oak Halls' at £221 per week (2024/25 prices).

For full details visit our accommodation page.

How to apply

How to apply

Applying through UCAS

History with Politics: VL22

UCAS is the central organisation through which applications are processed for entry into full-time undergraduate courses in Higher Education in the UK. For the latest information, check the UCAS website at www.ucas.com

Read our How to apply pages for more information on applying and to find out what happens to your application.

UCAS Code

VL22

Get in touch

If you have any questions, please get in touch. We're here to help you every step of the way.

Professor Neil Fleming

Admissions Tutor

Dr Luke Devine

Politics Lead