History

Across centuries and continents

History at Cambridge reflects the quality and breadth of interests of our expert historians and our course has been ranked among the top three of the world's best for several years. The History degree gives you the opportunity to explore the past from many different angles, as well as the interaction between history and other disciplines, including politics, anthropology, sociology, economics and archaeology.

There is ample scope to pursue personal interests and experiment with different historical approaches. Specialist papers allow you to work with source materials as varied as Hollywood movies, Middle Eastern newspapers or medieval plague records. Our academics are active researchers, who publish books and scholarly articles as well as writing and speaking regularly for the wider public and media.

Studying History in Cambridge

Cambridge is an ideal place to study History. There are many libraries, offering a wealth of rare books and manuscripts to students as they embark on their own research projects. The city's museums offer access to an even wider range of sources, unlocking the study of art, material culture, and the history of science.

All undergraduate historians are encouraged to study foreign languages, and specialist support is available in the University Language Centre.

Course outline

Teaching includes Faculty lectures and seminar classes and College supervisions. On average, you attend eight to 10 lectures and classes each week. You will have regular supervisions, for which you typically write an essay, giving you the opportunity to debate and develop your ideas with an expert in the field. A wide range of papers is available each year. In your first year, one Outline paper must cover the period before c.1750, and the other after c.1750. The only other constraint will be class sizes, which are limited for some papers.

Papers are typically assessed by examination and coursework including essays and book reviews. There is also an optional dissertation in Year 3. 

Year 1 (Part IA)

You take five papers:

• Two Outline papers – these typically survey a long period and broad geographical area. You choose from around ten papers, ranging over Britain and Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia
• A Sources paper – this examines in detail a body of primary material on a particular historical theme, issue, or event. You choose from a range of options which vary each year. Typical examples include Travel and Trade in the Medieval World; Letters in Antiquity; Arab Intellectual History.
• An Historical Thinking paper – this introduces methods and debates by examining a single work of history that has influenced the discipline
• An Historical Skills paper – this covers the research skills essential in History, such as the use of archives, digital sources, and oral history, as well as quantitative approaches. After an introductory series of lectures, you choose one skill in which to specialise

Year 2 (Part IB)

You take four papers:

• Two Topic papers – these explore focused areas of historical knowledge in depth. The topics available each year may vary, but there will be a wide choice, reflecting the diverse research interests of the Faculty's staff. Typical examples include British Worlds 1750-1914; The Life of an Imperial Capital: Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman Constantinople, c.330-1924; Religious Rhetoric in Politics.
• A Research Project – this paper equips you to undertake your own historical research. Each project covers analytical and conceptual features of a particular area of history, and offers guidance on the methodologies and skills needed to research it
• Historical Thinking IB – this introduces you to broad methodological fields of history, such as environmental history, material culture, and intellectual history.

Year 3 (Part II)

You take five papers, three of which are compulsory:

• Historical Thinking II – a general methods paper building on IA and IB, encouraging you to reflect critically on major historical concepts encountered throughout your degree. These range from empire to gender, and from revolutions to race.
• A Special Subject – which counts as two papers and provides sophisticated in-depth study of an historical period, process or problem, using primary sources. Topics on offer vary year to year, but currently include the heresy in medieval southern France, early modern memory, the 1848 revolutions, women's experience of war in the 18th century, and Zimbabwe from 1948 onwards.

Additionally, you choose two taught options from amongst the following categories of paper:

• Advanced Topic papers – exploring a complex theme at the forefront of historical scholarship. Topics change from year to year, but currently include the supernatural, medicine, women's work, material culture, and frontiers.
• Political Thought papers – examining changing ideas about how societies and individuals should govern themselves and each other

Alternatively, you take one taught option and write a dissertation of 10,000 words, on a topic you devise. Many students find this one of the most rewarding aspects of their time at Cambridge. Recent examples of dissertation topics include Elizabeth I's Scottish correspondence; British India from the standpoint of a nineteenth-century Bengali intellectual; community life on a twentieth-century council estate; and the Iranian revolution in twentieth-century France.

For further information about studying History at the University of Cambridge see the Faculty of History website.

The application process

The Cambridge application process is slightly different to other universities. You still need to apply through UCAS, however, at Cambridge the process starts earlier to give us time to collect and consider all of the application information. The steps below and the following pages will guide you through the process.

You’re going to be studying to a very high level for several years so make sure you choose a course you’re personally interested in and will really enjoy studying! Check, also, that you meet the entrance requirements of the course you want to study.

Most applicants need to take a written admission assessment as part of the application process. Some applicants will also be asked to submit examples of their written work.

Please check the type of assessment required for your course as early as possible as some assessments require you to be registered before the UCAS application deadline (15 or 30 September).

Where would you like to live when you’re here? In your UCAS application, you can apply directly to one of our 29 Colleges or make an open application. 

You need to submit your UCAS application by 15 October – our institution code is CAM C05. Please note:

• Earlier or later deadlines may apply for Mature Students, Foundation Year and Organ Scholarship applicants.
• There's an additional application form if you're applying for the Graduate Course in Medicine.
• You can’t apply to both the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford in the same year.
• Some applicants will be required to submit an academic transcript.

After you’ve submitted your UCAS application, you will need to fill in an additional Cambridge-specific application form, which we’ll send you a link to by email.

Everyone with a good chance of being offered a place is invited to attend an interview. If you decide to apply, you can find videos and full information on what to expect and how to prepare, in our interviews section.

We’ll advise you of our decision before the end of January.