Course overview

This three-year degree focuses on developing your expertise as a historian, while equipping you with the skills you need to become a professional archaeologist.

You're introduced to new peoples, places and periods from across the globe, and you'll explore how archaeology has changed our understanding of the past.

Our flexible degree allows you to tailor your course to suit your interests, so you can explore the periods and regions that excite you through a wide range of modules.

You'll also be able to explore North East England, a region that's steeped in history while on field trips. There's a rich past to discover here.

Download information about this course as a PDF

Your course during COVID-19
Please rest assured we make all reasonable efforts to provide you with the programmes, services and facilities described. However, it may be necessary to make changes due to significant disruption.

Given the changing nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, the commitments outlined are subject to guidelines that may be in place from time to time.

View our COVID-19 Study page, which gives information about your Newcastle University study experience for the academic year 2021-22.

See our terms and conditions and student complaints information

Quality and ranking

• 8th in the UK– The Guardian University Guide 2020
• top 100 – Archaeology category – QS World University Rankings by Subject 2020
• top 175 – Arts and Humanities category – Times Higher Education World University Rankings by Subject 2020

Teaching excellence

TEF Gold

A ringing endorsement of Newcastle University’s long tradition of excellence in teaching.

Modules and learning

Modules

The information below is intended to provide an example of what you will study.

Most degrees are divided into stages. Each stage lasts for one academic year, and you'll complete modules totalling 120 credits by the end of each stage. 

Our teaching is informed by research. Course content may change periodically to reflect developments in the discipline, the requirements of external bodies and partners, and student feedback.

Optional module availability
Student demand for optional modules may affect availability.

Full details of the modules on offer will be published through the Programme Regulations and Specifications ahead of each academic year. This usually happens in May.

To find out more please see our terms and conditions.

You will learn the essential theories, methods and practical skills used in archaeology.

You will take the History module Evidence and Argument and select options in, Public History, or Historical Sources and Methods. At the end of Year 1, you complete at least two weeks’ excavation fieldwork.

Modules

Compulsory Modules	Credits
Foundational Fieldwork Training	0
Introduction to Archaeology	20
The Archaeology of Britain from the Romans to the 20th Century	20
Evidence and Argument	20

Optional Modules	Credits
Introduction to Archaeological Science	20
Prehistoric Britain	20
Greek and Roman Art and Archaeology	20
Slavery	20
Big History: From the Big Bang to Climate change	20
Stuff: living in a material world	20
Global Ancient Histories	20
Historical Sources and Methods	20
History Lab I	20
History Lab II	20
Public History	20
What is History For?	20

You continue to explore archaeological methods, and choose from options in both history and archaeology. Many of these complement each other: you can choose to study the medieval world, through modules in both disciplines.

You will also complete two weeks of fieldwork at the end of Year 2.

Modules

Compulsory Modules	Credits
Advanced Fieldwork Training	0
Fieldwork and Archaeological Practice	20

Optional Modules	Credits
Archaeological Theory and Interpretation	20
Animals, Plants and People: an Introduction to Environmental Archaeology	20
Prehistoric Europe	20
Archaeologies of the Roman Empire: The Roman World from Augustus to Justinian	20
The Medieval World: AD 400-1500	20
Historical Archaeology of the Modern World (post 1492)	20
Cold Case: Archaeological Science in Action	20
Africa: History of a Continent	20
Social Histories of Alcohol: Britain and Ireland, 1700 - Present	20
Oral History and Memory	20
Greece from ancient times to the 21st century: Interdisciplinary approaches to the study of the past	20
1968: A Global Moment?	20
Communication in the Medieval World, from Europe to Asia: Prayer, Poetry, Pictures, and Travel	20
Contesting Reproductive Rights in the UK and Ireland	20
Crafting History: The Dissertation Proposal	20
War, Wounds, and Disabilities in the Modern Russian, American and British Worlds	20
Famines in History	20
Germany and Central Europe in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries	20
History and Film: Representing the Past	20
The Sea in History	20
Violence in the American South: From Enslavement to Civil Rights	20
Researching History	20
The Aftermath of War in Europe and Asia, 1945-56	20
Revolutions of the Mind: European Thought, 1550–1750	20
Reformation and Revolution: Tudors to the Georgians	20
The Supernatural: The Cultural History of Occult Forces	20
Global Environmental History: From the ‘Little Ice Age’ to Greta Thunberg	20
Diversities of Sexuality and Gender in History	20
Britain since the 60s	20
Black Atlantic History from c.1500 to the present	20
Comparative History of Hispano-America and Brazil: from Independence to the Mexican Revolution (1789/1810-1917)	20
Developing Enterprise, Entrepreneurship and Employability	20

In Stage 3, you'll complete a dissertation in archaeology, history or a combination of both, conducting in-depth research.

You will have a choice of optional modules, which complement each other. You can choose to study the Archaeology of Britain after 1500, alongside history options on Elizabeth I, and the Georgian period.

Modules

Optional Modules

• Dissertation in Archaeology 
• Dissertation in Archaeology and History 
• Writing History
• Geoarchaeology 
• Early Medieval Britain
• The Archaeology of Byzantium and its Neighbours 
• Frontier Communities of Roman Britain
• Historical Archaeology of Britain 1500-Present 
• Neolithic & Early Bronze Age Britain 
• The Archaeology of Animal Bones 
• Origins and Transformations: Early Prehistoric Europe 
• Sex, bodies and identities in Classical Greece 
• Elizabeth I: the Politics of Religion
• China in Revolution
• The Great Patriotic War and its Aftermath 
• The Nazi New Order in Europe 
• The American Civil War, 1861-1865 
• Madness, Nerves and Narratives in Georgian Britain, c. 1714-1830 
• The Irish Revolution, 1879-1923 
• Reconstruction and the New South, 1865-1914 
• Living Together: Christians, Muslims and Jews in Medieval Iberia 
• British Foreign Policy since Suez
• Birth Control in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries 
• May 1968 
• The Spanish Second Republic and Civil War, 1931-1939 
• Civil Rights and Armalites: Northern Ireland since 1969 
• Civil Rights in America, 1948-1975 
• The Mexican Revolution 
• Royal Portraits: Christian Kings and Kingship, c. 870-c. 930 
• Viking-Age Scandinavia 
• Women in Colonial South Asia: Tradition, Reform and Modernity 
• Imagined Futures 
• Islamism and its Origins 
• God's Terrible Voice: the experience and impact of Plague in England, 1500 – 1722 
• Talking Cures and Troubles: An Oral History of Health and Medicine in Britain, c. 1948 – 2000 
• Punishing the Criminal Dead: Crime, culture and corpses in Modern Britain 
• Russian Cities and Culture from Peter the Great to the Revolution 
• Lunatic to Citizen? Madness and Society since 1900 
• The Reluctant Republic
• The Rise and Fall of the Berlin Wall 
• Reading History 
• Public History: History and Society 
• Our Visual Past: Ancient Rock Art in the UK and Internationally 
• Career Development for Final Year Students 

Information about these graphs

We base these figures and graphs on the most up-to-date information available to us. They combine data on the planned delivery and assessments of our courses in 2021-22 with data on the modules chosen by our students in 2020-21.

Teaching time is made up of:

• scheduled learning and teaching activities. These are timetabled activities with a member of staff present
• structured guided learning. These are activities developed by staff to support engagement with module learning. Students or groups of students undertake these activities without direct staff participation or supervision

Teaching and assessment

Teaching methods

You'll learn from:

• lectures
• seminars
• tutorials
• workshops
• practical activities
• site visits and fieldwork training
• independent study

These activities take place in the classroom, the library, the field, the museum and the laboratory.

Assessment methods

You'll be assessed through a combination of:

• 

  Dissertation or research project

• 

  Essays

• 

  Examinations – practical or online

• 

  Presentations

• 

  Reports

Skills and experience

Practical skills 

You will analyse documentary sources and take part in practical sessions using the Robinson Library’s Special Collections, and have opportunities to handle historical artefacts from the nearby Great North Museum's collections.

You'll also undertake excavation fieldwork, giving you the chance to study and implement the methods and practices used in the profession.

In the summer of their first year, all archaeology students undertake two weeks of fully funded fieldwork at Hadrian's Wall World Heritage Site.

Research skills

In your final year, you'll write your dissertation in an area of your choice. You can choose to specialise more closely in archaeology or history, or can combine the two.

You'll make use of the skills you've gained throughout your degree, and conduct your own research project in your final year. This gives you the chance to dig deeper into a subject you're interested in.

You'll also have the opportunity to apply for summer vacation scholarships in your second year, and receive funding to conduct a research project.

Opportunities

Study abroad

Experience life in another country by choosing to study abroad as part of your degree. You’ll be encouraged to embrace fun and challenging experiences, make connections with new communities and graduate as a globally aware professional, ready for your future.

You can choose to spend up to a year studying at a partner institution overseas.

If you choose to study abroad, it will extend your degree by a year. 

Find out more about study abroad

Work placement

Get career ready with a work placement and leave as a confident professional in your field. You can apply to spend 9 to 12 months working in any organisation in the world, and receive University support from our dedicated team to secure your dream placement. Work placements take place between stages 2 and 3.

You'll gain first-hand experience of working in the sector, putting your learning into practice and developing your professional expertise.

If you choose to take a work placement, it will extend your degree by a year. A work placement is not available if you're spending a year studying abroad. Placements are subject to availability.

Find out more about work placements

Facilities and environment

Facilities

You'll be based in the School of History, Classics and Archaeology, in the historic Armstrong Building at our city-centre campus. 

You'll have access to a range of on-campus facilities, including:

• the Great North Museum: Hancock, with its Antiquarian Library and range of artefacts
• the Special Collections in the Robinson Library 

Find out more about the Special Collections

Support

You'll have the support of an academic member of staff as a personal tutor throughout your degree to help with academic and personal issues.

Peer mentors will help you in your first year. They are fellow students who can help you settle in and answer any questions you have when starting university.

Your future

Our History and Archaeology degree will set you up to pursue a future in the museums, archives and heritage sector or to start a career as a professional archaeologist.

93% of graduates from our History and Archaeology BA Honours degree were in work or further study within six months of completing their degree*.

Many of our graduates choose to pursue a career in the heritage sector or become professional archaeologists.

*Take a look at the most recent data available for our graduates. See what they have gone on to achieve and be inspired to follow in their footsteps.

Statistics are based on what graduates were doing on a specific date, approximately six months after graduation (Destinations of (undergraduate and postgraduate UK domiciled) Leavers from Higher Education Survey 2016/17).

Make a difference

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Careers support

Our award-winning Careers Service is one of the largest and best in the country, and we have strong links with employers. We provide an extensive range of opportunities to all students through our ncl+ initiative.

Visit our Careers Service website

Recognition of professional qualifications outside of the UK

From 1 January 2021 there is an update to the way professional qualifications are recognised by countries outside of the UK.

Read our detailed explanation

Tuition fees and scholarships

Tuition fees for 2021 entry (per year)

Home Fee Students

£9250

International Fee Students

£19800

The maximum fee that we are permitted to charge for home fee-paying students is set by the UK government.

As a general principle, you should expect the tuition fee to increase in each subsequent academic year of your course, subject to government regulations on fee increases and in line with inflation.

Read more about fees and funding

You will be charged tuition fees for each year of your degree programme (unless you are on a shorter exchange programme). 

The tuition fee amount you will pay may increase slightly year on year as a result of inflation.

For courses commencing from September 2021 and beyond, EU, other EEA and Swiss nationals will no longer be eligible for home fees or Student Finance England support.

If you are from the EU you will pay international tuition fees.

Read more about fees and funding

Year abroad and additional costs

For programmes where you can spend a year on a work placement or studying abroad, you will receive a significant fee reduction for that year. 

Some of our degrees involve additional costs which are not covered by your tuition fees.

Find out more about:

• different tuition fees
• additional costs

Scholarships

Find out more about:

• scholarships for UK, EU and international students
• Student Loans and Government financial support for UK and EU students

How to apply

Apply through UCAS

To apply for undergraduate study at Newcastle University, you must use the online application system managed by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS). All UK schools and colleges, and a small number of EU and international establishments, are registered with UCAS. You will need:

• the UCAS name and institution codes for Newcastle University (NEWC/N21)
• the UCAS code for the course you want to apply for
• the UCAS 'buzzword' for your school or college

If you are applying independently, or are applying from a school or college which is not registered to manage applications, you will still use the Apply system. You will not need a buzzword.

Apply through UCAS

Apply through an agent

International students often apply to us through an agent. Have a look at our recommended agents and get in touch with them.

Visit our International pages