History and Education

History and education might seem like distinct subjects, but they share a common concern: understanding how human experience is transmitted, interpreted, and contested across generations. The past is not fixed; it is continuously reread, and teaching is the process through which we decide what knowledge matters and how it should be passed on. Studying both together at the University of Derby gives you a rigorous and genuinely rewarding double perspective.

Derbyshire itself provides an unusually rich backdrop for historical enquiry. The county was a centre of the British Enlightenment and has inspired writers and thinkers for centuries, making it a place where the relationship between landscape, community, and learning feels tangible rather than abstract. On this three-year full-time programme, you will investigate periods and themes across British and world history, learning to read primary sources critically, construct arguments from evidence, and engage with the debates that shape historical understanding.

The education strand explores how learning works, how institutions develop, and how ideas about childhood, schooling, and society have changed over time. You will examine both the theory and the practice of education, considering questions of access, equity, curriculum design, and the role of the teacher. A sandwich year in industry and a work placement are built into the programme, giving you direct experience in educational, heritage, or public sector settings that will strengthen your professional profile.

With a typical entry tariff of 104 UCAS points, this degree welcomes students who bring curiosity and a commitment to developing their thinking. Graduates pursue careers in teaching, museum and heritage work, community education, archive management, policy, and the civil service. Many go on to postgraduate study, including teacher training qualifications such as a PGCE, or research degrees in history, education studies, or related fields.

Both disciplines produce graduates who can think carefully, communicate clearly, and engage seriously with complex questions, skills that are valued far beyond the classroom or the archive.