History

History is the discipline concerned with understanding the past: not merely what happened, but why it happened, what it meant to those who lived through it, and how it continues to shape the present. It demands critical engagement with evidence, careful construction of arguments from incomplete and partial sources, and a willingness to examine how diverse groups of people experienced and were shaped by the worlds they inhabited. At its best, it teaches you to see the present as contingent, the result of choices and forces that could have gone differently, and to bring that perspective to questions about the future.

At the University of Portsmouth, this three-year, full-time programme invites you to uncover the ways in which people across different periods and places both shaped their worlds and were shaped by them. You will study history across a range of periods and themes, developing the research skills, analytical thinking, and precise written communication that are central to the discipline. A sandwich year is built into the programme, allowing you to spend a full year in a professional context, and a year abroad option and work placements are also available, broadening your experience and professional connections.

History develops skills that are valued across many careers: the ability to research from primary sources, evaluate complex evidence, construct sustained arguments, and communicate clearly under conditions of uncertainty. Graduates go on to careers in education, journalism, the civil service, archiving, heritage, museums, publishing, law, public administration, and the charity sector. Many also continue to postgraduate study in history, heritage management, or archival studies, and some pursue academic careers in the discipline.

The capacity for critical thinking and historical perspective that history develops is a lifelong professional asset.