Undergraduate

BA (Honours) History

On this page

• Description
• Planning your studies
• Career relevance
• Suggested routes to the degree
• Courses
• Learning outcomes
• Credit for previous study elsewhere
• Classification of your degree
• Regulations
• How to register

Description

If you’re awarded this degree you will have developed and deepened your knowledge of particular subject areas within a broad framework designed to meet high national standards for single-subject history degrees.

By studying for this degree you will be conversant with various historical methodologies and you will have:

• knowledge and understanding of the discipline of history and some of its sub-disciplines
• learned to recognise and use primary and secondary historical sources
• learned to write history essays of an acceptable standard and, in so doing, to present coherent, rational and logical argument
• been introduced to the approaches and methodologies of other arts disciplines, such as literature, art history and philosophy
• had practical experience of writing an extended piece of work demanding independent learning
• worked with information and communications technology (ICT) in a context of historical study, and have had opportunities to develop this work at a more advanced level.

Planning your studies

If you’re new to study or to the OU, we recommend that you start with a course at Level 1. For this degree that would mean starting with The arts past and present (AA100). If you complete that course successfully you’ll have a firm foundation for future studies as well as 60 credit points to count towards this degree.

Students intending to gain this degree are strongly advised to complete Level 2 history courses before progressing to Level 3 history courses, e.g. we advise that you take A200 before AA312 or A326.

You can register your intention to study for this degree when you reserve your place on individual courses (and we encourage you to do this), or you can ask us at any time to link courses that you have already studied towards the degree. This gives you the flexibility to delay your decision or to change your mind as your studies progress. There is no time limit for obtaining the required credit points for this qualification. You must include at least 120 points from OU courses that have not been counted in an OU diploma or other first degree you have been awarded. If you have graduated with an OU BA degree without honours this requirement is reduced to 60 credit points.

Please note that the requirements for this degree changed on 1 January 2006. The changes give you more flexibility in putting together a programme of study leading to this degree. If you have already started studying towards it, please check the new requirements below to make sure your planned programme of study is still suitable. For more detail, you can consult the History Programme Guide.

Career relevance and employability

Many of these skills translate very smoothly into the modern workplace, which is increasingly concerned with effective knowledge management and communication technology. Employers in all fields put a very high value on anyone who can deal competently with a large amount of complex information and turn it to good use, so history graduates are sought after. The ability to select and analyse relevant data and to present conclusions concisely and logically is essential in most lines of work, as is the ability to communicate clearly both orally and in writing. Critical and creative thinking and the capacity for independent research develop initiative, another valuable asset in today’s competitive environment. Ask our Student Registration & Enquiry Service for the careers publication OU study and your career if you want to find out more about the process of career development and about sources of careers information and guidance. For planning your next career steps, visit the OU Careers Advisory Service website.

There’s more information about the career relevance of degrees on the national HE Prospects website.

Suggested routes to the degree

You might want to study your qualification with a particular focus. The two diagrams below show routes that focus on British and European history from the 15th to 20th century; and a focus with options in global heritage and the history of religion. 

Please bear in mind that other routes are available – see the full course list below for all options.

• Focus on British and European history from 15th to 20th century
• Focus on global heritage and the history of religion

Courses

For this 360-point honours degree you require:

At least 60 points from the following optional interdisciplinary courses:

Or, subject to the rules about excluded combinations, at Level 1 the discontinued courses A102, A103, AZX103, at Level 2 the discontinued courses A205, A206, and at Level 3 the discontinued courses A324, AA304, AA305

And 60 points from the following compulsory course:

Or the two 30-point discontinued courses A220 and A221

And 60 points from the following optional history courses:

Or, subject to the rules about excluded combinations, the discontinued courses A318, AA319

And 120 points, including at least 60 points at Level 3, from the following optional courses:

Or, subject to the rules about excluded combinations, at Level 2 the discontinued courses A209, A220, A221, A231, AS208, AS283, AT272, and at Level 3 the discontinued courses A353, A354, AA303, AA311, AA313, AA319, AAXR312, A420, A422, A424, A425, A426, A427, A428, A433, AT308, CDDR310, CDDR311

* For further information about these courses, please visit the collaborative schemes website. You may count up to 120 points of transferred credit towards this degree and collaborative courses count as part of this 120 point maximum. If you include any collaborative courses, you will need to deduct the value of the collaborative courses you have completed from the 120 point maximum in order to calculate the amount of other transferred credit you can still count.

** only if not studied as the optional history course above.

It is recommended that you should attend the residential school AXR312 if possible, as it provides a unique opportunity to work with other history students in a university setting. 

To complete the 360 points needed for an honours degree, the remaining points up to a maximum of 60 points can be from any OU undergraduate courses. You must ensure that you have the required number of points at each level. (However, you may not count more than 30 points of short courses (10 or 15-point courses) towards this award.)

Learning outcomes

The learning outcomes of this qualification are described in four areas:

• Knowledge and understanding
• Cognitive skills
• Practical and professional skills
• Key skills

Read more detailed information about the learning outcomes, and how they are acquired through teaching, learning and assessment methods.

Credit for previous study elsewhere

If you have already completed some successful study at higher education level at another institution we may be able to give you credit that you can count towards this Open University qualification. You can find out more on our Credit Transfer site. If you make a successful claim for transferred credit it may affect your choice of courses so you are advised to investigate this option as soon as possible.

Credit transfer details for this qualification:

• Essential Information Sheets - BA (Honours) History

Classification of your degree

On successful completion of the required courses you will be awarded a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) History degree. Your honours degree will be classified either as first-class honours, upper second-class honours, lower second-class honours or third-class honours. The class of degree is determined by your performance in a minimum of 120 and up to 240 credit points from your best grades on specified OU (or specified collaborative scheme) history courses and interdisciplinary humanities courses at Level 2 or higher. At least 120 of those points must come from courses at Level 3 and your best 120 points at Level 3 will be given twice the weight of other courses used in the calculation of your classification. You will have the opportunity to attend a degree ceremony.

Regulations

As a student of The Open University, you should be aware of the content of the Award Regulations and the Student Regulations.

Award Regulations

• Introduction to the Award Regulations
• General Award Regulations
• BA (Honours) History
• Schedule A to the Award Regulations

Student Regulations

The Student Regulations (including the Code of Practice for Student Assessment and the Code of Practice for Student Discipline) are available on our Policy Documents for Students website.

How to register

To register for this qualification, read the description and check you meet any specific requirements (for example, some of our qualifications, require you to be working in a particular environment, or be sponsored by your employer). Then select the course you wish to study first and ensure it is suitable for you before following the registration procedure for that course.

About this page

An undergraduate qualification in Arts and Humanities.

Study explained

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