''From Shakespeare to Brit Art, the UK has always had a strong tradition of creative talent. Humanities play a huge part of everyday life and the UK spends millions of pounds spent each year on nurturing its cultural heritage''
Humanities covers a wide range of subjects including archaeology, literature, modern languages, history, classics, cultural studies, theology, anthropology, philosophy and linguistics. Studying Humanities in the UK will help you develop a knowledge of contemporary culture and will prepare you to enter many areas of employment, including the arts, media, education and politics.
The UK is a world expert in the field of humanities and has rich history of art and culture. There are more than 3,000 museums and heritage sites throughout the UK, from Stonehenge to the Tate and with one of the most culturally diverse populations in the world, the UK continues to celebrate and benefit from an exciting fusion of different ideas and cultures.
Discover Humanities
If you choose to study humanities in the UK, your studies will be enriched by access to the art galleries, libraries, museums and prestigious cultural institutes like the British Library in London which contains original work by William Blake and Leonardo da Vinci. Historians and archaeologists, meanwhile, benefit from the UK’s incredible Roman remains in Bath, the amphitheatre in Chester and Hadrian’s Wall in northern England.
Complementing these resources, you’ll find an array of online scholarly information sources, a number of which are supported by the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC), a world leader in the use of ICT to support education and research. One of these sources is Intute, a consortium of seven UK universities that brings together experts in the humanities to evaluate web resources and help students and teachers use them.
The UK Government funds and supports the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), which in turn funds training and research in arts and humanities subjects including archaeology, English literature, languages and philosophy.
What can I study?
Schools and further education
Many of the humanities are core GCSE, AS- and A-level (and Scottish equivalents) subjects, such as English language and literature, history and modern languages. However, it is also possible to study archaeology, classical civilisation, government and politics, Latin and philosophy at these levels.
The theoretical nature of the humanities means courses are usually very academic and there are no significant vocational courses. If you’d like to progress to a humanities undergraduate degree, you should aim to study a combination of related subjects at A-level.
If you don’t have the required qualifications to join an undergraduate degree course, you could take a one-year Access to Humanities course. Some universities and colleges offer an optional Humanities Foundation Year, providing an opportunity to sample humanities subjects at university level before making a final decision on your degree course.
Higher Education
As a humanities student you will have a lot of choice in which subject you wish to specialise in. If you what to explore several areas you can take a Diploma of Higher Education (Dip HE) in several subjects including archaeological practice, literature, theology and history. This course is full or part-time and help you progress to the third year of a degree.
History is a popular humanities subject and whether it is ancient or modern history that interests you, you’ll find a degree course to meet your needs. You can choose from 20th-century European, American, East Mediterranean, Ancient, Jewish, Medieval, Political or Classical History, to name just a few and there are also vocational BTEC courses in Heritage Conservation and Museum Management.
You may choose to study literature and where better than the birth place of the English language. Like history you can specialise, with subjects ranging from Medieval to Contemporary Literature. Philosophy, linguistics and politics are popular subjects to take alongside Literature. Another option, Cultural Studies, demonstrates just how diverse humanities is with African, Asian, Latin American and European options available.
Combined degrees
Humanities courses are almost always modular and you can tailor make your degree programme to suit you. Humanities subjects combine well with many social sciences, business and arts disciplines and can be a great starting point for a career in commerce, marketing, public administration, the arts or or media. A second or third language would equip you to translate, interpret or work in an international company. Whatever combination of degree you choose, a UK qualification in Humanities is a great starting point for your career.
