Which uni for History?

[Unformidable]

Ds is predicted AAB and considering Bristol and Exeter. He may be eligible for a contextual offer. I guess my questions are 1) What are his chances of an offer, and 2) which one is better 😀

History is big topic, is there an area he particularly likes. Might be worth looking at the academic staff to see what their specialisms are.

Thanks. He's studying A level Early History and likes the Crusades. I'll look at the academic staff.

Has he considered York at all : big tradition in Anglo Saxon and medieval stuff there. Lots of the popular unis (eg Bristol, Exeter, Leeds etc.) seem to be very modern : fabulous if that's what you love.

I was looking into this the other day and thought the Exeter and Bristol degrees looked really flexible and interesting.

isitspringyet Will he apply, and is Penryn not comparable to Streatham?

Piggywaspushed York sounds fab, but it's a very long way away - we're down South

Fast train lines mind, depending on where you are!

I won't mention Lancaster ,then

There is always St Andrews in Scotland for Ancient History. I read that they are ranked #1 in U.K. for Ancient History (ahead of Oxbridge). They say on their webpage that contextual offers require AAB. I think too Nottingham is well regarded for history.

He was concerned if he didn’t get his predicted he’d be sent Penryn campus in Falmouth.

He wouldn't be 'sent' anywhere. Possibly made the alternative offer of a place at Penryn instead of outright rejection, but this would be notified through Track and subject to the applicant's acceptance of the change of campus. Assuming that Exeter was the firm and somewhere else, whose conditions he did meet, the insurance, he would then have a firm place at the insurance university, just as if Exeter hadn't made the alternative offer. As far as I am aware, the degree certificate just says 'University of Exeter', as the UCAS institution code is the same.

St Andrews looks amazing, but I fear the distance may be insurmountable. I could just about bear the flight to Edinburgh, but then it's another 50 mins on the road.

Southampton is very good for history and there is a very wide range of courses.

My ds also wants to do some combination of history/ancient history and/or politics and has been looking at Exeter (would have to be ancient for Exeter itself), Warwick, Glasgow and York.

DD has gone to York to study History. She didn't want to apply to Durham as they were very prescriptive in what she had to study and liked York for the option to choose the units of study from a very wide range of time periods - she prefers the earlier the better. She's just going into year 2 and is enjoying it

DD has gone to York to study History. She didn't want to apply to Durham as they were very prescriptive in what she had to study and liked York for the option to choose the units of study from a very wide range of time periods - she prefers the earlier the better. She's just going into year 2 and is enjoying it.

@Unformidable

St Andrews looks amazing, but I fear the distance may be insurmountable. I could just about bear the flight to Edinburgh, but then it's another 50 mins on the road.

But there are fast trains from London to Edinburgh. Only 5 hours I think? No need to fly. To me that’s not bad but then France is much bigger and so used to longer distances. :)

Offers for studying ancient history are generally a grade or 2 lower than history so your dc could hedge their bets and go for a history course as a firm and ancient history as a back up.

Definitely worth finding out what course units are like and also beware that keen historians may find their interests suddenly change. DD doing first year with lots of introductory courses across all time periods and suddenly going in all sorts of unexpected directions time wise and her interests changed a lot in year 13 and as she read beyond her a level courses so opportunity to explore beyond initial enthusiasms is good

Royal Holloway for crusades and medieval, plus ancient.

You don't want just ancient history though, that's generally pre-350AD. There are ancient and modern courses, which cover everything. Or straight history, but a course that offers medieval and modern, and gives you a really good loose selection of modules throughout your three years.

DD originally was going for Ancient and Modern, as she is also studying Classics, but has plumped for straight history, as it gives more options across wider time spans. We are South too, so not keen on the "cold, dark, North" sorry Northerners . DD's final 5 are Oxford (long shot), Warwick, Exeter, Southampton and Sussex (in that order).

Thank you. Ds is still undecided.... Southampton looks interesting as it offers a wide range of optional modules, inc mandarin up to near native ability. I'm inclined towards Exeter.

Baaaahhhhh What tipped you towards Warwick?

Sorry to derail your thread OP but I wondered if anyone else was looking at history courses with lower predicted grades - ABB-ABC (one of ds' subject tutors seems to change his predicted grade day to day depending on what mood she is in).

If so, what universities come into the frame with say BBB? I've found places like Stirling, Essex, Reading and Hull - but wondered if I had missed any. DS has said he doesn't want to go to Sussex. I did wonder about Chester as a back-up, although I am a bit of a snob about "new" universities. He doesn't have a preference between campus and city centre universities.

His aspirational choices are Glasgow, York and Southampton.

(I should say ds is looking for joint history and politics but would also consider ancient history on its own or with politics and is applying for that at Glasgow as the grade requirements are one grade lower).

unformidable Catching up.....sorry for tardy reply.

DD was very detailed in her search of the course content of each uni. Lots of uni's discounted on grounds of structure of course. She liked Warwick because of the course structure, the modules on offer, and the potential for the term abroad in Venice. They seemed pretty flexible on the virtual tour day.

Baaaahhhhh Thanks. I watched some YouTube videos and was very impressed by the slick production. I've signed up for some virtual open days and will watch.