History and Politics

• Introduction
• Why study History and Politics at Christ's?
• Course content and structure
• Teaching
• Career prospects
• What do our students think?
• How to apply
  • Subject requirements - what do I need?
  • Written work
  • Interviews
  • Offers
• Helpful resources
• Open Days and Online Events
• Want to know more?

Introduction

History and Politics at Cambridge is an exciting Honours degree which offers options from our highly-regarded History and Politics and International Relations courses, together with bespoke papers that allow you to explore the space between the two disciplines. Students on this course develop skills in analysing the operation of power across institutions and societies around the world, and explore how different forms of evidence can be used to understand the past and the present. You can choose from a wide range of topics in British, European, US and World history, the history of political thought, international relations, and comparative politics, and many of these subjects are taught within the College by Christ’s fellows.

Cambridge is uniquely placed to teach History and Politics and International Relations together. Both Faculties are widely regarded as world-leading and are consistently top-ranked in research and teaching assessments. The History Faculty is one of the largest in the United Kingdom and has internationally recognised experts in all relevant fields of study. The Department of Politics and International Studies (POLIS) is a rapidly growing department with particular research strengths in political thought, comparative politics, and international relations, and close links with the other social sciences.

Staff in the Faculty of History and the Department of Politics and International Studies have a wide range of shared interests in political history, the origins of contemporary politics and international relations, and the history of political ideas. This degree balances a strong grounding in the two component subjects with the opportunity to explore the ways in which historical and political understanding together illuminate the modern world.

The course content, lectures and examinations are the responsibility of the University Faculty, and are the same for every student reading History and Politics at Cambridge. In College, your Director of Studies oversees your progress and organises teaching for you in small groups called supervisions. Much of your work will be reading and preparing essays which you then discuss with your supervisor.
 

Why study History and Politics at Christ’s?

Christ’s is one of Cambridge’s leading ‘History’ colleges, owing to the size and strength of its community of historians, and it also has a strong presence in Politics and International Studies. Much of the College’s reputation for History has been based upon work in either political history or the history of political thought — Linda Colley, Sir John Plumb, and Quentin Skinner are among the distinguished historians of politics who have been either students or fellows of Christ’s — and Christ’s today remains an ideal college in which to study for the new joint Tripos.

The current fellowship in both History and Politics includes a number of scholars with interests in both subjects: Professor David Reynolds is a leading historian of both British and American politics and international relations; Professor Duncan Bell is a historian of Empire as well as a student of contemporary political theory.. The College is therefore well-placed to cater to a broad range of interests within the remit of the History and Politics course.

The College also boasts a particularly active student-run History Society which provides an opportunity for all members of the Christ’s historical community to socialise at talks and debates, as well as the annual History dinner. Christ’s academic staff are particularly actively engaged in the intellectual community in both History and Politics, in College and across the university

Christ’s has generous educational and travel funds, to which students can apply for support for independent study. This has enabled History students in the past to pursue research for a wide range of Part II dissertations: recent examples include studies of the US invasion of Grenada, women in Classical Athens, and President Nixon’s strategy for attracting young voters. Students have received financial support for research trips to the presidential libraries of Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, and Ronald Reagan, as well as other European and British archives and libraries.

Christ’s also has a specific Humanities fund entitled The Levy-Plumb Fund. This awards book grants to first-year undergraduate students and study grants for second- and third-year undergraduates, which allow them to reside in College for limited periods during the vacations to undertake reading and dissertation research. Also available are Levy-Plumb Creative Arts Awards (e.g. for costs of materials, lessons, courses, other projects in visual arts, writing, composition or performing arts); awards for Humanities Research (including travel where necessary); and Humanities Study Awards (for example for language and culture courses). Students undertaking short language courses in the University Language Centre can apply to have up to 50% of the course fee refunded by the Levy-Plumb Fund.
 

Course content and structure

First-year History and Politics students take four papers:

Course descriptions for these papers and details of the second and third years can be found on the History and Politics course page. Please visit the University website for full details of the History and Politics course content and structure, including the course film. If you have further questions about the course content, please contact schoolsliaisonoffice@hist.cam.ac.uk.
 

Career prospects

As well as providing students with a broad and detailed understanding of the past, a History and Politics degree from Cambridge also equips graduates with a number of important transferable skills. In particular, leading graduate employers value History and Politics graduates’ capacity to:

• research, organise and synthesise complex material quickly

• think critically about existing analyses

• communicate clearly, both orally and in writing

• meet challenging deadlines week in, week out.

Recent Christ’s graduates in either History or Politics and International Relations have entered a wide range of professions, including law, public policy (civil service), banking, management consultancy, media, higher education, teaching, administration and public relations.
 

Teaching

Director of Studies: Professor David Reynolds

Other Fellows in History:

• Professor Susan Bayly
• Dr Harriet Lyon
• Dr Helen Pfeifer
• Professor Jim Secord
• Dr Arianne Urus

In Politics and International Studies:

• Professor Duncan Bell
• Dr Giovanni Mantilla
• Mr Benjamin Tan
   

What do our students think? 

You can read about the experiences of Victoria and Sam, History and Politics students at Christ's, in their student profiles: 

• Sam's profile
• Victoria's profile 

You may also find it helpful to read profiles by students studying History (Alice, Max, Isobel, James and Sathya) and students studying Politics via the HSPS course (Roslynn, Jack, Fred, Rufus, and Diana). If you would like to hear more from Christ's students, please watch the Christ's student Q&A film, and visit our Student Profiles page.
 

How to apply

Visit How to Apply for full details and a timeline of the application process. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and school types, all over the world. If you're applying from outside the UK, please read our international students section.

Subject requirements

We expect students to have studied History as one of their post-16 subjects, but otherwise there is no ‘ideal’ combination of subjects.  Successful applicants have taken a range of subjects from Mathematics and sciences, to arts and social sciences. All of these teach skills that can be useful to students studying History and Politics as an undergraduate. 

We encourage students to attend one of our regular Subject Matters webinars for help with choosing Post-16 subjects for competitive university applications. This webinar is pitched for students aged 14-16 though it is also possible to attend when you have started sixth form. 

What are we looking for?

We aim to admit students who enjoy reading, writing and thinking about the historical and political world in all its forms; who are willing and able to undertake independent study; who enjoy working alone and with their peers; and who relish the opportunity to engage in discussion and debate.

Written work

After your application is received, you will be asked to upload two essays that you feel accurately reflect your abilities and interests. This should be work which has been prepared during the normal course of your studies and has already been marked by a teacher. We request that the essays should not exceed 2,500 words each, and we recommend that you keep copies of the work you upload for your own reference as it may be discussed at interview. Full written work guidelines will be provided as part of the current applicants section on this website (published on 20 September each year).

Interviews

If we select you for interview, these usually take place in early December. At Christ's we do all of our interviews online. You can have your interviews either at home (most applicants do this) or at school (if easier). Those selected for interview are interviewed for 35-50 minutes in total. At Christ’s, we usually split the time into two interviews with academics in History and Politics; normally you will have one interview in History and another in Politics, with different Christ’s academics. Applicants should be prepared to discuss their relevant interests and potential directions they may wish to follow on the course. 

Further, more general information about interviews (including two useful films) is available in the Cambridge interviews section, and it's worth also having a look at supervisions (short film here), as interviews are similar to what you do every week as a Cambridge student. We also recommend this film in which current Cambridge History students discuss their interview experiences. Remember that your interviews may cover different things to the students speaking.

There is no written assessment for students who are interviewed for History and Politics. 

Offers

For those selected for a conditional offer at Christ’s, the precise conditions will be assessed individually. The typical offer is A*AA at A-level including History, 42 points overall in the IB with 7,7,6 in Higher Level subjects including History, or the equivalent for other examination systems.

You can look up other qualifications in the offer levels for other exam systems and international entry requirements, and if you are applying from outside the UK please read the Christ's international students section for further information and check the country pages.

If you will have finished school when you apply, please also read about post-qualification applications, taking a gap year, and, if relevant, applying from a university.

Helpful resources

Open Days and Online Events

Our open days and events page advertises regular online opportunities as well as events you can attend in Cambridge. If you can, sign up for a College Open Day (our October, February and September events normally include a meeting with a subject specialist). As part of our outreach programme, we run an annual taster series for students from UK state schools who are interested in History - see Lady Margaret Beaufort - the mother of all Tudors for details and the eligibility criteria. Between February and August we also run regular webinars:

• Subject Matters: The importance of post-16 subject choices (this one is also run Sept - Nov)
• Cambridge for Beginners
• Christ's College: A look at the Grounds and Facilities
• Personal Statements and preparing for an application

Further subject-specific opportunities you might wish to consider include Subject Masterclasses organised by Cambridge Admissions Office, and subject-specific talks in the July Cambridge Open Days. If you are a UK student from a background where there is little tradition of entry to Higher Education, you can apply to attend a Sutton Trust Summer School or to shadow a current undergraduate studying History and Politics via the Cambridge SU Shadowing Scheme (do be aware that there's a high proportion of applicants to places for both of these last two opportunities so please don't be discouraged if you don't get a place).
 

Want to know more?

We recommend that you also read:

• University Website
• University Admissions Website

Please feel free to email any queries you have to the Christ's admissions team: admissions@christs.cam.ac.uk.
 

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