For further details about teaching from September 2020 please visit your course or department page in the Offer Holder hub.

KBS_Icon_questionmark link-ico
Study at King’s

Go to…

History and International Relations BA

Apply now

Overview

BA History and International Relations is an interdepartmental and interdisciplinary programme designed to develop your critical thinking and independence of thought about the past, and about the value of history for thinking about the key political and governmental challenges facing today’s world. The strength of the two world-leading King’s departments offering this course - History and War Studies - ensures that you have access to a wide range of modules.

Key benefits:

  • The degree is jointly offered by the History Department, ranked 5th in Europe in the QS World University Rankings by Subject (2019), and by the unique and world-leading Department of War Studies; a leading centre for the study of international relations, conflicts and conflict resolution.

  • This is a cutting-edge programme, drawing on the best of both departments, and also on specialist expertise in the Departments of European and International Studies, Political Economy, and the King’s Global Institutes.

  • Outstanding flexibility, enabling students to develop their specialist interests in a very wide range of areas, with support from experts on virtually all parts of the world.

  • Our location in the heart of London offers unrivalled access to the museums, libraries, historical sites, archives and cultural resources of the capital.

  • Excellent employment prospects. King’s is ranked 4th in the UK for graduate employability (Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2018). The combination of historical breadth with close engagement with contemporary world issues makes this degree an ideal preparation for careers in government, journalism, policy development, the NGO sector, and much more.

  • Students have the option to study abroad at one of our partner institutions for the second semester of the second year. Current options include University of Sydney, Hong Kong University, University of Auckland, Peking University and the University of Oslo

Key information

UCAS code VL12

Duration 3 Years

Study mode Full-time

Course type Joint honours

Further details

Awarding institution King's College London

Faculty Faculty of Arts & Humanities Faculty of Social Science & Public Policy

Department Department of History Department of War Studies

Locations

 

Explore campuses

History BA

In the heart of London

Discover the advantages of studying at one of the top 25 universities in the world and take a look at our central London campuses.

Watch more videos

Course detail

Description

Our History & International Relations degree combines teaching from our History and International Relations courses, to create an integrated multidisciplinary programme. The research and communication skills of historical study combined with the intellectual and analytical demands of International Relations, create a challenging education pathway to provide an ideal foundation for a wide range of careers.

The first year provides a grounding in historical methods and in the theoretical and historical foundations of international studies. The second year focusses on the use of history for international analysis, with a wide range of specialist options. In the final year, students take a special subject and write an associated dissertation in the Department of History, and choose from a wide range of option modules in International Relations.

You will have the opportunity to study abroad as part of your degree at King’s.

Because King’s is part of the University of London, second and final-year students also have the option of taking history courses at other institutions such as UCL and Royal Holloway.

Teaching

You will have regular and varied contact with staff and other students in lectures, seminars and supervisions. You will also spend an extensive amount on written work and independent study. Most teaching takes place in seminars, which usually have between 15 and 25 participants and are a forum for discussion in which students have the opportunity to refine their discussion and presentation skills.

From the beginning of the degree, you will analyse primary sources as well as the writings of historians and international relations experts. We ensure you are exposed to many different approaches to these subjects, and encourage a comparative approach, looking at the connections and contrasts between various times and places throughout the degree. In your final year, you will conduct supervised historical research resulting in a 10,000 word dissertation in History.

Typically, one credit equates to 10 hours of work.

Assessment

Your performance will be assessed through a combination of coursework and written/practical examinations.  Forms of assessment may typically include coursework, presentations and examinations. You may also benefit from some informal assessment during individual modules to help steer your studies and enhance your learning.

Location

This course is primarily taught at the King’s College London Strand Campus. Please note that locations are determined by where each module is taught and may vary depending on the optional modules you select.

Special notes

All students are offered the opportunity to study abroad as part of their History degree at King's and recent popular destinations include The University of North Carolina Chapel, The University of Auckland and The University of Hong Kong.

Structure

Year 1

Courses are divided into modules. Each year you will normally take modules totalling 120 credits.

In your first year you will take two required International Relations modules, equalling 60 credits; and one required History- based module, in addition to a further 30-credit module in Medieval, Early Modern, or Modern history of Britain, Europe or the World. We review required and optional modules on a regular basis. Please check for updates, or contact the Department of History and/or the Department of War Studies for further advice.

Required Modules

History:

  • Historical Sources, Skills and Approaches (30 credits)

International Relations:

Optional Modules

History 

You are also required to take one 30 credit module from a range of options which may typically include:

  • The Making of Britain 400-1400 (30 credits)
  • Medieval Europe 400-1500 (30 credits)
  • Early Modern Britain 1500-1750 (30 credits)
  • Power, Belief & Culture in Europe 1500-1800 (30 credits)
  • Europe from 1793 to 1991 (30 credits)
  • Politics & Society in Britain, 1780-1945 (30 credits)
  • The Worlds of the British Empire, c1730- 1960 (30 credits)
  • World History, 1870s-2000s (30 credits)

International relations

There are no optional modules for International Relations in Year 1.

Year 2

In your second year of study, you are required to take a 30-credit module on International History, taught by the International Relations staff. You are then required to choose a further 30-credit optional module from the International Relations area of the course as well as modules totalling 60 credits from the History section.

Required Modules

History

There are no required modules for History in Year 2.

International Relations

  • The Long View: Understanding International Relations through History (30 credits)
Optional Modules

History

You are also required to take one 30-credit module from a wide range of optional modules, which may typically include:

  • The Northern Ireland Troubles (30 credits)

  • History of Feminism ( 30 credits)

  • The Black Death in England (30 credits)

  • Faraway so Close: The Middle East since 1800 (30 credits)

  • China: From Imperial State to People’s Republic (30 credits)

  • The Civilising Mission: French Imperialism since 1750 (30 credits)

  • War in the Pacific, 1898 to 1975 & beyond: Strategy & Diplomacy (30 credits)

  • An additional range of intercollegiate ‘Group II’ 30 credit modules offered by our partner colleges in the University of London

In addition, you are required to take 30 credits (2 modules) from a range of optional 15-credit modules, which may typically include:

  • Atlantic Slavery: West Africa & the Caribbean, 1492-1807 (15 credits)
  • Europe in the Second World War (15 credits)
  • The Hundred Years War (15 credits)
  • Electric Cities : The Experience of Modernity in London, Melbourne, New York & Paris, 1870 – 1929 (15 credits)

Orientalism, Race, Islam (15 credits)

Students may also take one optional 15 credit module offered elsewhere in the Faculty, including the Modern Language Centre.

International Relations

You are required to take 30 credits from a range of optional modules, which may typically include:

  • History of The European Cold War (30 Credits)
  • Grand Strategy & The Foundations Of Anglo- American Statecraft (30 Credits)
  • History of Political Thought (30 Credits)
  • Empires and Imperialism (30 Credits)
  • War in International Order (30 Credits)
  • Intelligence in War Studies (30 Credits)
  • War in the 20th Century (30 credits)
  • World War Il in Europe (30 Credits)
  • Military Strategy (30 Credits)
  • Global Politics (30 Credits)
  • Contemporary International Relations Theory (30 credits)
  • Statecraft and Diplomacy (30 credits)
  • International Law, Human Rights and Intervention (30 credits)

Second year students also have the opportunity to study abroad for the second semester of the second year. Current partner institutions are:

  • Ashoka University, India
  • University of Auckland, New Zealand
  • Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany (German language required)
  • University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
  • University of Melbourne, Australia
  • Monash University, Australia
  • National University of Singapore, Singapore
  • University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, USA
  • University of Sydney, Australia
  • University of Oslo, Norway
  • University of British Columbia, Canada
  • University of Washington (Seattle), USA
  • George Washington University, USA
  • University of Salamanca, Spain (Spanish language required)
  • University of Bologna, Italy (Italian language required)
  • Universidad del Pacifico, Peru (Spanish language required)
  • Universiteit Leiden Netherlands
  • Western University, Canada
  • Universite Sorbonne IV Paris (Teaching in French)
  • University of São Paulo (USP), Brazil
  • Peking University, China

Year 3

Required Modules

History

Final year students are required to take a 30-credit ‘special subject’ module from a wide range of options, which may typically include:

  • The Global Cold War (30 Credits)
  • Romans and Barbarians: The Transformation of the Roman West 350-700 (30 credits)
  • The Enlightenment (30 credits)
  • The Experience of Power in Nigeria since 1900 (30 credits)
  • Red, White and Blues: Jazz and the United States in the 20th Century (30 credits)
  • Women & Gender in Early Modern England (30 credits)
  • Additional University of London Intercollegiate ‘special subject’ 30 credit modules

In addition, you are required to take either a dissertation associated with the history special subject (30 credits) or (subject to meeting set criteria) a Free Long Standing Essay (30 credits), which is a dissertation on a historical topic of your choice.

International Relations

There are no required modules in Year 3.

Optional Modules
History

There are no optional modules in Year 3. 

International Relations

You are required to take 60 credits from a range of optional modules, which may typically include:

  • Diplomacy (30 credits)
  • Power, Politics and Ethics in International Relations (30 credits)
  • The UN and Global Governance (30 credits)
  • The 9/11 Era Anglo American Foreign Policy since the end of the Cold War (30 credits)
  • A History of Nations, Nationalism & Theories of the State (30 credits)
  • Worlds of Security (30 credits)
  • Contemporary Debates in The English School of International Relations (30 credits)
  • Leadership in a Time of War & Revolution (1960-69) (30 credits)
  • War & International Politics in Africa (30 credits)
  • Nature of Riots (30 credits)
  • Contemporary Military Strategy (30 credits)
  • War & Strategy in East Asia (30 credits)
  • Critical Security Studies (30 credits)
  • Cyber Security: Politics, Policy and Practice (30 credits)
  • The UN & Global Governance (30 credits)
  • Gendering Global Politics (30 credits)
  • Weapons of Mass Destruction in International Politics (30 credits)
  • Religion & Politics of the Middle East (30 credits)
  • Political Economy of the Middle East (30 credits)
King’s College London reviews the modules offered on a regular basis to provide up-to- date, innovative and relevant programmes of study. Therefore, modules offered may change.

Entry requirements

 

Required grades

A*AA

Please note that A-level General Studies, Critical Thinking, Thinking Skills and Global Perspectives are not accepted by King's as one of your A-levels. However, if offered the grade achieved may be taken into account when considering whether or not to accept a candidate who has just fallen short of the conditions of their offer.

Required grades

35 points overall (including TOK/EE) and three Higher Level subjects at 766

Required grades

45 Level 3 credits: 39 must be from units awarded at Distinction, with the remaining Level 3 credits at Merit

Required grades

D2 D3 D3

Combinations of Pre-U principal subjects and other qualifications (such as A-levels) considered

Required grades

Further information below

If you are taking the new RQF BTEC Nationals (2016), you will not be required to fulfil the module requirement stipulated above - you will only need to get the right overall grade. If you are taking the QCF BTEC Nationals (2010), you must achieve both the required overall grade and the specified module grades. If you are unsure which BTEC you are studying, your teacher or school/college counsellor should be able to tell you.

Required grades

Further information below

If you are taking the new RQF BTEC Nationals (2016), you will not be required to fulfil the module requirement stipulated above - you will only need to get the right overall grade. If you are taking the QCF BTEC Nationals (2010), you must achieve both the required overall grade and the specified module grades. If you are unsure which BTEC you are studying, your teacher or school/college counsellor should be able to tell you.

Required grades

Further information below

If you are taking the new RQF BTEC Nationals (2016), you will not be required to fulfil the module requirement stipulated above - you will only need to get the right overall grade. If you are taking the QCF BTEC Nationals (2010), you must achieve both the required overall grade and the specified module grades. If you are unsure which BTEC you are studying, your teacher or school/college counsellor should be able to tell you.

Required grades

88% overall

 

Visit our admissions webpages to view our international entry requirements and English language entry requirements.

Required subjects

None

Preferred subjects

History A-Level (or equivalent) is generally expected, however applications without can be considered where the application clearly demonstrates interest in and engagement with History as an academic subject.

Further information and other requirements

Entry requirements
A-Level  A*AA 

Please note that A-level General Studies, Critical Thinking, Thinking Skills and Global Perspectives are not accepted by King's as one of your A levels. However, if offered the grade achieved may be taken into account when considering whether or not to accept a candidate who has just fallen short of the conditions of their offer.
Access to HE Diploma 

D: 39 credits

M: 6 credits

P: 0 credits

Access to Humanities (or similar) Diploma with 45 Level 3 credits: 39 must be from units awarded at Distinction, with the remaining Level 3 credits at Merit.
Cambridge Pre-U D2 D3 D3

Combinations of Pre-U principal subjects and other qualifications (such as A-levels) considered.
BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma (QCF from 2010)  

DDM with eleven Distinctions and two A levels at grades A*A

or

D*DD with fourteen Distinctions and two A levels at grades AA 
BTEC Level 3 Diploma (QCF from 2010)  

DM with six Distinctions and two A levels at grades A*A 

or

D*D with ten Distinctions and two A levels at grades AA
BTEC Level 3 Subsidiary Diploma (QCF from 2010)  

D with four modules at Distinction and two A levels at grades A*A 

or

D* with five modules at Distinction and two A levels at grades AA
Scottish Highers & Advanced Highers

AAA at Highers

and

AA at Advanced Highers

Must be a combination of three Scottish Highers and two Scottish Advanced Highers. We do not count the Higher and Advanced Higher in the same subject.
International Baccalaureate 35 points

Including 7,6,6 at Higher Level, and including grade 6 at Higher Level in History. Note the total point score of 35 includes TOK/EE. 
Other International Qualifications   Visit our admissions webpages to view our international entry requirements.
English Language requirements Band B Visit our admissions webpages to view our English language entry requirements.

 

Selection procedure

Application deadline: January 15th 2020.

Help and support

If you don't have a suitable qualification for direct entry to a UK university, or if English isn't your first language, our academic preparation courses can help you get ready for study in the UK.

Preparation courses

Fees and funding

Full time tuition fees UK:

The UK tuition fee for the 2020-2021 academic year is currently £9,250 per year. This is based on the UK Government’s cap.

Full time tuition fees EU:

Students starting their programme in 2020/21 (September 2020) who are eligible to pay EU fees will pay the same rate of tuition fees as UK students. This will apply for the duration of their programme, but may be subject to change by the UK Government for subsequent cohorts from 2021/22.

The UK tuition fee for the 2020-2021 academic year is currently £9,250 per year. This is based on the UK Government’s cap.

Full time tuition fees International:

The International tuition fee for the 2020-2021 academic year is £19,800 per year.

Please note that the International tuition fee is subject to annual increases in subsequent years of study, in line with King’s terms and conditions.

All International applicants to Undergraduate programmes are required to pay a deposit of £2,000 against their first year’s tuition fee. This deposit is payable when you firmly accept an unconditional offer to study with us, and will be offset against your tuition fees when you join King’s.

 

Additional costs/expenses

If you study abroad as part of your course, you will not be charged tuition fees by the host university (although some partners do charge a small administration fee for applying). Please see the Study Abroad webpages for details of the relevant partner universities.

King’s will continue to invoice for a proportion of King's tuition fees  At present these are as follows: 

  • Home students studying for a semester abroad will receive an invoice for £6,000 for King’s tuition fees for the year.
  • Overseas students studying for a semester abroad will receive an invoice for two thirds of the King's tuition fees for the year.

You should also budget to pay for the associated subsistence costs, such as travel, visas, accommodation and food as well as any vaccination/immunisations required by the country to which you are travelling. 

In addition to the costs above, you can also expect to pay for: 

  • Books if you choose to buy your own copies 
  • Clothing for optional course related events and competitions 
  • Library fees and fines 
  • Personal photocopies 
  • Printing course handouts 
  • Society membership fees 
  • Stationery 
  • Travel costs for travel around London and between campuses 
  • Printing and binding of two hard copies of the dissertation
  • Graduation costs

For further information, please visit our fees and funding pages.

Financial help and support

Visit the fees and funding webpages to find out more about bursaries, scholarships, grants, tuition fees, living expenses, student loans and other financial help available at King's.

Testimonials

Rodolphe

Rodolphe

I chose King's College London because I wanted to study at a top university. It offers a world-class education as you are taught by renowned teachers in fantastic facilities and this explains its international reputation.

Next steps

Upcoming events

Full list of student events

View our undergraduate prospectus

Learn more about undergraduate degree programmes at King's. Download or view our prospectus in PDF format.

Download prospectus

View online

Sound like the course for you?

Apply now

Explore King’s

Accommodation Take a look at our comfortable, safe residences to suit your budget, located close to King's teaching campuses.
Student life Art, food, music, shopping – you'll never find yourself with nothing to do in the world's most vibrant city.
Extra-curricular Discover the huge variety of extra-curricular opportunities at King’s, from MOOCs to language courses.
London living With four campuses by the River Thames and one in south London, King's is right in the heart of the capital.