History and Philosophy (BA) (UCAS V1V5)
Learn more about our History and Philosophy degree at Warwick
What sort of knowledge is historical knowledge? How much of what we understand and feel about the world around us is the direct result of the particular history of our own culture? Should we understand philosophical ideas as merely reflecting the world in which they are developed, or do they play a leading role in changing it?
General entry requirements
A level typical offer
AAA to include History.
A level contextual offer
We welcome applications from candidates who meet the contextual eligibility criteria and whose predicted grades are close to, or slightly below, the contextual offer level. The typical contextual offer is ABB including grade B in History. See if you're eligible.
General GCSE requirements
Unless specified differently above, you will also need a minimum of GCSE grade 4 or C (or an equivalent qualification) in English Language and either Mathematics or a Science subject. Find out more about our entry requirements and the qualifications we accept.
We advise that you also check the English Language requirements for your course which may specify a higher GCSE English requirement. Please find the information about this below.
IB typical offer
36 with at least a 6 in Higher Level History.
IB contextual offer
We welcome applications from candidates who meet the contextual eligibility criteria and whose predicted grades are close to, or slightly below, the contextual offer level. The typical contextual offer is 32 including 5 in Higher Level History. See if you're eligible.
General GCSE requirements
Unless specified differently above, you will also need a minimum of GCSE grade 4 or C (or an equivalent qualification) in English Language and either Mathematics or a Science subject. Find out more about our entry requirements and the qualifications we accept.
We advise that you also check the English Language requirements for your course which may specify a higher GCSE English requirement. Please find the information about this below.
We welcome applications from students taking BTECs alongside one or two A levels, including A level History. Our typical BTEC offers are as follows:
- BTEC Level 3 Extended Certificate plus 2 A levels: D* plus AA including History
- BTEC Level 3 National Diploma plus 1 A level: D*D* plus A in History
General GCSE requirements
Unless specified differently above, you will also need a minimum of GCSE grade 4 or C (or an equivalent qualification) in English Language and either Mathematics or a Science subject. Find out more about our entry requirements and the qualifications we accept.
We advise that you also check the English Language requirements for your course which may specify a higher GCSE English requirement. Please find the information about this below.
International qualifications
English Language requirements
All applicants have to meet our English Language requirements. If you cannot demonstrate that you meet these, you may be invited to take part in our Pre-sessional English course at WarwickLink opens in a new window.
This course requires: Band B
Learn more about our English Language requirementsLink opens in a new window
Frequently asked questions
Warwick may make differential offers to students in a number of circumstances. These include students participating in a Widening Participation programme or who meet the contextual data criteria.
Differential offers will usually be one or two grades below Warwick’s standard offer.
All students who successfully complete the Warwick IFP and apply to Warwick through UCAS will receive a guaranteed conditional offer for a related undergraduate programme (selected courses only).
Find out more about standard offers and conditions for the IFP.
We welcome applications for deferred entry.
We do not typically interview applicants. Offers are made based on your UCAS form which includes predicted and actual grades, your personal statement and school reference.
Course overview
This course will help you understand the importance of thinking critically about how we know and experience the world, and recognise the importance of linking precision in thought and analysis to a grounded understanding of different historical periods.
You'll learn to consider ideas for their own sake, while recognising that they are developed in particular contexts, for particular purposes, and reflect the conditions under which they are produced.
Students will be offered the opportunity at the start of their second year to apply for an optional Year Abroad. Following the application process, those students who are offered and take up a Year Abroad place transfer to the four-year History and Philosophy (with a Year Abroad) course, with the Year Abroad as the third of the four years.
Study abroad
History and Philosophy students have the opportunity to join history students for a term in Venice at the start of the final year and also to apply for an intercalated year abroad at one of our partner universities. The Student Mobility TeamLink opens in a new window based in the Office for Student Opportunity offers support for these activities, and both Department's dedicated Study Abroad Co-ordinators can provide more specific information and assistance.
Core modules
Core first-year History modules will introduce you to the study of modern history in a global context and help you develop research skills, while Philosophy modules examine Plato and Descartes and introduce you to symbolic logic. In subsequent years, you will have a wide range of choice from across the curriculum of both Departments, as well as taking the core module in your second year on the History of Modern Philosophy.
Current History options examine topics such as American historical cinema, or gender, madness and conflict. Philosophy options available to current students include History of Scepticism, The Philosophy of Terrorism and Counterterrorism, and Post-Kantian Social and Political Philosophy: Hegel and Marx.
You may complete an optional dissertation in your third year in a topic of your choice related to either subject.
Year One
Making of the Modern World
We live in the here and now. But what got us here? This module studies the string of major social, political, and cultural developments that established our modern world. Radical (and not so radical) ideas from the Enlightenment, the industrial revolution’s structural transformations of how we work, build and buy things, and the struggles and stumbles of imperialism, capitalism and globalisation have gone far to set terms of life in the twenty-first century. The module will also help you develop your critical voice as a historian while asking comparative questions about historical difference across the world.
Read more about the Making of the Modern World moduleLink opens in a new window, including the methods of teaching and assessment (content applies to 2021/22 year of study).
Logic 1: Introduction to Symbolic Logic
This module teaches you formal logic, covering both propositional and first-order logic. You will learn about a system of natural deduction and understand how to demonstrate that it is both sound and complete. You will learn how to express and understand claims using formal techniques, including multiple quantifiers. Key concepts you will consider are logical validity, truth functionality and formal proof quantification.
Read more about the Logic 1: Introduction to Symbolic Logic moduleLink opens in a new window, including the methods of teaching and assessment (content applies to 2022/23 year of study).
Plato and Descartes
What would you do if you had a magic ring that made you invisible? Be an invisible superhero or use your power for ill? Why exactly should we be just and good? In the first half of this module you will study Plato's Republic, a classic work examining questions like these. You will learn about the answers Plato proposed and, by evaluating Plato’s answers, deepen your understanding of the questions and the problems they raise.
Suppose an evil demon causes your experiences now to be radically misleading about the real world. There is no computer, no cup of coffee on the desk, even though it appears there are. In his Meditations on First Philosophy, which you will study in the second half of the module, Descartes uses such exercises to argue that we can find truths about the world independently of the senses, simply through reasoning and reflection.
Read more about the Plato and Descartes moduleLink opens in a new window, including the methods of teaching and assessment (content applies to 2022/23 year of study).
Year Two
History of Modern Philosophy
You will discover the metaphysical and epistemological ideas of great Empiricist philosophers Locke, Berkeley and Hume on substance, qualities, ideas, causation and perception. You will then explore Kant's ideas, including metaphysics, space, self-awareness, causation, scepticism and freedom. You will develop skills in critical engagement, articulating your own views of the relative strengths and weaknesses of these arguments and interpreting key philosophical ideas.
Read more about the History of Modern Philosophy moduleLink opens in a new window, including the methods of teaching and assessment (content applies to 2022/23 year of study).
Year Three
- Pathway 1 (25% History, 75% Philosophy)
- Pathway 2 (75% History, 25% Philosophy)
- Pathway 3 (50% History, 50% Philosophy)
Optional modules
Optional modules can vary from year to year. Example optional modules may include:
- Being Human: Human Nature from the Renaissance to Freud
- Dissertation (History or Philosophy)
- Philosophy for the Real World: Knowledge, Ignorance and Bullshit
- Post-Kantian Social and Political Philosophy: Hegel and Marx
- Race and Science: Histories and Legacies
- Surveillance States: Biometrics from the Border to the Bathroom
- The Philosophy of Terrorism and Counterterrorism
- Value in the Age of Reason
Explore a full list of Philosophy modules.Link opens in a new window
Assessment
You will receive regular feedback throughout your course on developmental assignments and assessed essays, and will sit end-of-year exams. During your third year study is heavily weighted towards seminar teaching and includes an individually supervised 9,000-word dissertation. We consider feedback on written work to be an essential part of our teaching. Throughout the year you will have the opportunity to attend feedback tutorials following the submission of your essays.
Teaching
Teaching is delivered through lectures, seminars and tutorials, web forums, podcasts, workshops, presentations, film analysis, group work and field trips.
Our use of surprising and inspiring sources is a feature of all our teaching.
Modules focus on important themes in political, religious, cultural or social history and most explore topics far removed from the usual A level syllabus.
Class sizes
Seminar groups are small (normally under 17), providing a valuable opportunity for you to work closely with your lecturers and to learn from other students.
Typical contact hours
For each Philosophy module students typically have three hours of contact time per week, divided into two hours of lecture and one hour of seminar. First year History modules usually have one or two lectures and an hour-long seminar either weekly or fortnightly. Second year modules have one lecture per week plus weekly seminars or two hour workshop sessions. Final year History modules are taught largely through intensive two-hour weekly seminars.
Tuition fees
Scholarships and bursaries
Your career
Graduates from these courses have gone on to work for employers including:
- Admiral Group
- Advent
- Amnesty International
- BBC
- Bloomsbury Publishing
- Civil Service
- Deloitte
- ESI Media
- Ipsos Mori
- KPMG
- Lloyds Banking Group
- M&S
- Ministry of Defence
- Penguin Random House
- Sky
- Teach First
- UBS
They have pursued roles such as:
- Archivists and curators
- Arts officers
- Producers and directors
- Actuaries, economists and statisticians
- Barristers and judges
- Business sales executives
- Chartered and certified accountants
- Conservation professionals
- Financial account managers
- Historians
- Journalists, newspaper and periodical editors
- Public relations professionals
- Researchers
- Solicitors
Helping you find the right career
The University offers extensive guidance on career opportunities via our dedicated Careers and Skills service. They offer impartial advice and guidance, together with workshops and events throughout the year. Previous examples of workshops and events include:
- What can I do with a degree in History?
- How can the careers team help me?
- How to gain work experience
- Careers in the Creative Sector
- Warwick careers fairs throughout the year
History at Warwick
Each year, we attract excellent students like you to Warwick.
We will help you develop the skills needed to conduct research, including in the archives, engage critically with your sources, and support you in developing critical thinking skills.
Whether you’re working with classmates in seminars and workshops, or getting involved with the History Society, at every turn you’ll find like-minded people who share your fascination with the past and its significance in the present.
Get to know us better by exploring our departmental websiteLink opens in a new window
Explore our new Faculty of Arts building
The department recently moved into the brand new £57.5 million Faculty of Arts building.
This means, as an Arts student at Warwick, you’ll find your home amongst brand new teaching, learning and social spaces, including specialist facilities, all designed to support collaborative working and to enable your creativity and innovation to flourish.
The sustainably built, eight-storey building is located next to the newly refurbished Warwick Arts Centre in the heart of the University’s creative and cultural arts quarter.
Explore our new Faculty of Arts building further.
Our courses
Related degrees
Life at Warwick
Within a close-knit community of staff and students from all over the world, discover a campus alive with possibilities. A place where all the elements of your student experience come together in one place. Our supportive, energising, welcoming space creates the ideal environment for forging new connections, having fun and finding inspiration.
Find out how to apply to us, ask your questions, and find out more.
Warwick Accommodation
Finding the right accommodation is key to helping you settle in quickly.
We have 12 self-catering undergraduate halls of residence on campus.
Our student property management and lettings agency manages more than 8,000 rooms both on and off campus, and provides advice to all full-time undergraduates.
Our campus
You won't be short of ways to spend your time on campus - whether it's visiting Warwick Arts Centre, using our incredible new sports facilities, socialising in our bars, nightclub and cafés, or enjoying an open-air event. Or if you need some peace and quiet, you can explore lakes, woodland and green spaces just a few minutes’ walk from central campus.
Food and drink
We have lots of cafés, restaurants and shops on campus. You can enjoy great quality food and drink, with plenty of choice for all tastes and budgets. There is a convenience store on central campus, as well as two supermarkets and a small shopping centre in the nearby Cannon Park Retail Park. Several of them offer delivery services to help you stay stocked up.
And don't miss our regular food market day on the Piazza with tempting, fresh and delicious street food. Soak up the atmosphere and try something new, with mouth-watering food for all tastes.
Clubs and societies
We currently have more than 300 student-run societies.
So whether you’re into films, martial arts, astronomy, gaming or musical theatre, you can instantly connect with people with similar interests.
Or you could try something new, or even form your own society.
Sports and fitness
Staying active at Warwick is no sweat, thanks to our amazing new Sports and Wellness Hub, indoor and outdoor tennis centre, 60 acres of sports pitches, and more than 60 sports clubs.
Whether you want to compete, relax or just have fun, you can achieve your fitness goals.
Studying on campus
Our campus is designed to cater for all of your learning needs.
You will benefit from a variety of flexible, well-equipped study spaces and teaching facilities across the University.
- The Oculus, our outstanding learning hub, houses state-of-the-art lecture theatres and innovative social learning and network areas.
- The University Library provides access to over one million printed works and tens of thousands of electronic journals
- Three Learning Grids offering you flexible individual and group study spaces.
Travel and local area
Our campus is in Coventry, a modern city with high street shops, restaurants, nightclubs and bars sitting alongside medieval monuments. The Warwickshire towns of Leamington Spa and Kenilworth are also nearby.
The University is close to major road, rail and air links. London is just an hour by direct train from Coventry, with Birmingham a 20-minute trip. Birmingham International Airport is nearby (a 20-minute drive).
Wellbeing support and faith provision
Our continuous support network is here to help you adjust to student life and to ensure you can easily access advice on many different issues. These may include managing your finances and workload, and settling into shared accommodation. We also have specialist disability and mental health support teams.
Our Chaplaincy is home to Chaplains from the Christian, Jewish and Muslim faiths. We provide regular services for all Christian denominations and a Shabbat meal every Friday for our Jewish students. There is also an Islamic prayer hall, halal kitchen and ablution facilities.
How to apply
Learn more about our application process.
Key dates
Key dates for your application to Warwick.
Writing your personal statement
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After you've applied
Find out how we process your application.
Our Admission Statement
Read Warwick's Admission Statement
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