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Economics and History BA(Hons)

2024-25 (also available for 2025-26)

It’s not too late to apply for September.
It’s not too late to apply for September.

Start date

16 September 2024

Duration

3 years full-time
4 years inc. placement year
5 years part-time

Entry requirements

A Level - BBB-BCC

BTEC - DMM-MMM

See full entry requirements

About the course

Reasons to study

  1. You’ll have the chance to undertake a work placement in the UK or overseas, enhancing your employability.
  2. You’ll benefit from excellent career prospects: past graduates have gone on to work for the British Red Cross, House of Commons, and Civil Service*.
  3. You can explore the award-winning archive at Heritage Quay, and the unique Holocaust Centre North, located on campus. 

Providing an equal split of both history and economics, this BA(Honours) degree will see you cover a diverse range of modules. On this course, you’ll learn how to combine historical context with current awareness of major global trends and challenges and evaluate a variety of evidence.

Your choices on the History side are historically and geographically diverse, and you can focus on what fascinates you the most. In your Economics studies, we’ll introduce you to the basics of economics, both macro and micro. You’ll then apply these to contemporary social, economic, and historical problems, such as poverty and inequality, high unemployment, and rising pollution. You should then be able to figure out some of the solutions.

Why study Economics and History BA(Hons)

History at Huddersfield is top in Yorkshire for Learning Opportunities, scoring 96 per cent, based on experimental statistics from the National Student Survey, 2023.

We have a friendly, hands-on approach to delivering our courses, involving you in independent and teamwork, problem solving and digital literacy.

In Year 2, you’ll undertake work experience, either alongside your studies or as a five-week block, designed to enhance your skills ready for employment.You can also choose option modules to get to grips with the topics that intrigue you.

Innovative assessments, such as pitching an idea for a historical video game or creating a visitor trail for a national museum, are also a key part of the course. You’ll be able to explore the award-winning archive at Heritage Quay, and the unique Holocaust Centre North, located on campus.

You’ll also gain skills including management, communication, analytical, research, problem solving, and planning.

If you’re keen to study economics and history, focusing on everything from economic policies to medieval history, modern history and British history, this course should pique your interest. It will also prepare you for a variety of roles post-University including auditing, commercial finance, and teaching; past graduates have gone on to work for the British Red Cross, House of Commons, and the Civil Service**.

  • Source: LinkedIn

Course detail

Core modules:

Critical Thinking

Critical thinking enables us to go beyond the surface of information, using analytical skills to dissect, question, and evaluate ideas with a detective's curiosity and a scientist's precision. The module will hone your intellectual skills in reasoning and close analysis, improve your ability to present arguments effectively, and equip you to plan and conduct an independent research project. This module will also provide support for planning your personal and career development.

The Modern World

This module looks at the political and social histories of a number of case studies focusing on the period from the end of the 19th Century to the eve of the Second World War. We cover countries from a range of European and World powers, including the USSR, the USA and France. In each case you’ll analyse the main political concerns of the day, such as immigration, democracy, fascism and communism, considering them in wider social contexts.

Statistics for Social Sciences

This module will introduce you to statistical methods necessary for the study of applied economics and social sciences. You’ll be introduced to modern economic theory and this will be linked to applied content. Statistical and quantitative techniques will be used to gain a greater understanding of economic data and applied economics and help you develop an understanding of how these might be applied to real world data, as well as giving you the skills and experience to carry out data analyses that are often required in the economics profession.

Introduction to Macroeconomics

This module helps to develop an understanding of the basic concepts in macroeconomics and provides you with the foundations to develop macroeconomic theory in year two. You’ll have the opportunity to develop and apply analytical skills to understand and explain various macroeconomic events such as such as unemployment, recessions and inflation.

Entry requirements

BBB-BCCat A Level .

120-104 UCAS tariff points from a combination of Level 3 qualifications.

Merit at T Level.

DMM-MMM in BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma.

  • Access to Higher Education Diploma with 45 Level 3 credits at Merit or above.
  • 120-104 UCAS tariff points from International Baccalaureate qualifications.

Mature applicants without formal qualifications will be considered on an individual basis.

Applicants with prior learning or prior experiential learning will be considered individually.

Applications from international students will be considered on an individual basis, and with advice from the University's International Office.

If your first language is not English, you will need to meet the minimum requirements of an English Language qualification. The minimum for IELTS is 6.5 overall with no element lower than 5.5, or equivalent. Read more about the University’s entry requirements for students outside of the UK on our Where are you from information pages.

Other suitable experience or qualifications will be considered. For further information please see the University's minimum entry requirements.

Placements


The course offers a compulsory five-week work placement in Year 2. If you’re studying full-time, this course also offers an optional one-year (48 weeks) work placement after the second year, in the UK or abroad. This will give you the opportunity to gain valuable hands-on experience, insight into your chosen career and open up your graduate employment prospects. Our Placement Unit and academic staff have excellent industry links and can support you in applying for and finding your placement(s), as well as during your placement year.

Previous placement students have worked at places like the Royal Armouries Museum, Kirklees TV, Barclays Archive Group, the Isle of Man Motor Museum, West Yorkshire Archives and a range of primary and secondary schools.

A placement is a great opportunity to explore your chosen industry, to understand the sector, network and make valuable contacts, whilst developing your skills, knowledge and experience. A placement is a chance to get involved, to put theory into practice and to work alongside professionals.

Photo of Steph Bower, Placements officer for SAH

Stephanie Bower, Placements Officer

Our Department

Hear more from our staff and students.

Your Career


As an Economics and History graduate, you are valued for the advanced skills you have developed in communication, self-motivation, teamwork, analysis, creative problem solving and persuasiveness.

A selection of organisations that have employed Huddersfield graduates in recent years include The Royal Armouries Museum, House of Commons, British Red Cross, Kirklees Museum and Galleries, York Army Museum, leading FTSE-100 companies, the Civil Service, the media, industry and manufacturing. Others have opted for PGCE study and have become teachers, or continued their studies at Master's level.*

*Percentage of our undergraduate students from these subject areas go on to work and/or further study within fifteen months of graduating (HESA Graduate Outcomes 2019/20, UK domiciled, other activities excluded).

**Source: LinkedIn

85-95 Graduates employed*

Student support

At the University of Huddersfield, you'll find support networks and services to help you get ahead in your studies and social life. Whether you study at undergraduate or postgraduate level, you'll soon discover that you're never far away from our dedicated staff and resources to help you to navigate through your personal student journey. Find out more about all our support services.

Research excellence

Research plays an important role in informing all our teaching and learning activities. Through research our staff remain up-to-date with the latest developments in their field, which means you develop knowledge and skills that are current and highly relevant to industry.

98% of research produced by History at Huddersfield is internationally recognised, and two thirds of this is internationally excellent or world-leading. Our impact studies scored particularly highly being rated 100% internationally excellent or world leading (REF2021).

We extend our knowledge and understanding of History through the production of high quality work, with funding coming from the AHRC, ESRC, the Wellcome Institute, the Leverhulme Trust and other significant grant providers. As part of this process we have also invested in early career members of staff with great success.

History hosts the Research Centre for History, Culture and Memory (CHiCaM), a cross-disciplinary research centre which runs seminars and projects. CHiCaM is comprised of four research groups: Health Histories, Medieval and Early Modern Material Culture, Global and Transnational Histories and Feelings, Affects and Emotions. Current staff research includes: Richard III and the Princes in the Tower; the Emily Hobhouse Letters Project; Royal Masculinities 1485-1714; Healthcare Before Welfare States; Children Deprived of their Liberty; and Histories of Mental Ill-Health.

For more information, see the Research section of our website.

Important information

We will always try to deliver your course as described on this web page. However, sometimes we may have to make changes as set out below.

Changes to a course you have applied for

If we propose to make a major change to a course that you are holding an offer for, then we will tell you as soon as possible so that you can decide whether to withdraw your application prior to enrolment.

Cancellation of a course you have applied for

Although we always try and run all of the course we offer, we may occasionally have to withdraw a course you have applied for or combine your programme with another programme if we consider this reasonably necessary to ensure a good student experience, for example if there are not enough applicants to ensure you have a good learning experience. Where this is the case we will notify you as soon as reasonably possible and we will contact you to discuss other suitable courses with us we can transfer your application to. If we notify you that the course you have applied to has been withdrawn or combined, and you do not wish to transfer to another course with us, you may cancel your application and we will refund you any deposits or fees you have paid to us.

Changes to your course after you enrol as a student

We will always try to deliver your course and other services as described. However, sometimes we may have to make changes as set out below:

Changes to option modules

Where your course allows you to choose modules from a range of options, we will review these each year and change them to reflect the expertise of our staff, current trends in research and as a result of student feedback or demand for certain modules. We will always ensure that you have a range of options to choose from and we will let you know in good time the options available for you to choose for the following year.

Major changes

We will only make major changes to the core curriculum of a course or to our services if it is necessary for us to do so and provided such changes are reasonable. A major change in this context is a change that materially changes the services available to you; or the outcomes, or a significant part, of your course, such as the nature of the award or a substantial change to module content, teaching days (part time provision), classes, type of delivery or assessment of the core curriculum.

For example, it may be necessary to make a major change to reflect changes in the law or the requirements of the University’s regulators; to meet the latest requirements of a commissioning or accrediting body; to improve the quality of educational provision; in response to student, examiners’ or other course evaluators’ feedback; and/or to reflect academic or professional changes within subject areas. Major changes may also be necessary because of circumstances outside our reasonable control, such as a key member of staff leaving the University or being unable to teach, where they have a particular specialism that can’t be adequately covered by other members of staff; or due to damage or interruption to buildings, facilities or equipment.

Major changes would usually be made with effect from the next academic year, but this may not always be the case. We will notify you as soon as possible should we need to make a major change and will carry out suitable consultation with affected students. If you reasonably believe that the proposed change will cause you detriment or hardship we will, if appropriate, work with you to try to reduce the adverse effect on you or find an appropriate solution. Where an appropriate solution cannot be found and you contact us in writing before the change takes effect you can cancel your registration and withdraw from the University without liability to the University for future tuition fees. We will provide reasonable support to assist you with transferring to another university if you wish to do so.

Termination of course

In exceptional circumstances, we may, for reasons outside of our control, be forced to discontinue or suspend your course. Where this is the case, a formal exit strategy will be followed and we will notify you as soon as possible about what your options are, which may include transferring to a suitable replacement course for which you are qualified, being provided with individual teaching to complete the award for which you were registered, or claiming an interim award and exiting the University. If you do not wish to take up any of the options that are made available to you, then you can cancel your registration and withdraw from the course without liability to the University for future tuition fees and you will be entitled to a refund of all course fees paid to date. We will provide reasonable support to assist you with transferring to another university if you wish to do so.

When you enrol as a student of the University, your study and time with us will be governed by a framework of regulations, policies and procedures, which form the basis of your agreement with us. These include regulations regarding the assessment of your course, academic integrity, your conduct (including attendance) and disciplinary procedure, fees and finance and compliance with visa requirements (where relevant). It is important that you familiarise yourself with these as you will be asked to agree to abide by them when you join us as a student. You will find a guide to the key terms here, along with the Student Protection Plan, where you will also find links to the full text of each of the regulations, policies and procedures referred to. You should read these carefully before you enrol. Please note that this information is subject to change and you are advised to check our website regularly for any changes before you enrol at the University. A person who is not party to this agreement shall not have any rights under or in connection with it. Only you and the University shall have any right to enforce or rely on the agreement.

The Office for Students (OfS) is the principal regulator for the University.

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