History with Foundation Year

Our foundation year offers the chance to strengthen your skills, knowledge and confidence – with extensive support from our expert staff – before you advance to stage one of your honours degree. It could also be beneficial if you are planning a career change and want to get to grips with aspects of subjects which are new to you.

History at Derby has been ranked 1st for teaching (National Student Survey 2025), 1st for student satisfaction (Complete University Guide 2026) and 1st for teaching quality (Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2025).

History has the power to make us question who we are and how we have come to act the way we do. This History BA will turn you into a critical thinker, ready to challenge traditional beliefs or viewpoints.

WHY CHOOSE THIS COURSE?
We are one of the top history departments in the country for student satisfaction. Our degree teaches you to apply your historical knowledge to the workplace and focuses on modern and contemporary history – from the First World War to the history of medicine and nineteenth-century slums. There are no exams (you are assessed in other ways) and you can choose to study for a semester in America.

IS THIS COURSE FOR YOU?
You will enjoy this course if you have a sense of curiosity and a desire for a deeper understanding of the world around you.

HOW YOU WILL LEARN
Through lectures, seminars, self-directed study, tutorials, film screenings and work-based learning. You will also go on study visits to places such as the Imperial War Museum and the cities of Chester and Manchester.

OPPORTUNITIES AND EXPERIENCES
You will interpret the past for the wider community, through projects and placements for arts and heritage organisations. You will also organise and promote a public history conference and present your research at it.

CAREERS AND EMPLOYABILITY
History graduates have great research and presentation skills, as well as a better understanding of the world around them. It can lead on to a variety of careers – in education, libraries, museums, archives, law, the civil service, marketing – or further study in history, museum studies, archive management or international relations.

Based solely on more than 24,000 student reviews, we were named Uni Compare's University of the Year 2027, and voted 1st in the UK for employability and 2nd in the UK for course quality. Not only that, but 97% of students would recommend the University of Derby*, which we can offer you industry-relevant teaching, state-of-the-art study spaces, multi-award-winning accommodation, and a welcoming, inclusive community.

*Uni Compare 2027