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History

UCAS Code
V100
Typical Offers Require

A Level: A*AA IB: 40-42 points, with 776 at Higher Level

Robinson has around 20 undergraduate and 10 postgraduate historians at any time, with an active History Society.

The undergraduate course covers almost every period of history and nearly all continents. Students enjoy wide latitude in choosing papers based on their interests in particular time periods and regions. Far from memorizing names and dates, students learn to engage with scholarly debate, critically read primary sources, and develop independent research projects. The Cambridge History Faculty has 120 members, and Robinson has three teaching fellows, in medieval and early modern British history and early modern and modern Asian history. We have strengths in gender, labour, intellectual, economic, social and political history.

There are two joint degrees: History and Modern Languages and History and Politics.

Starting from 2022-23, the History Tripos is divided into Part IA, Part IB and Part II. 

In the first year (Part IA), students take two Outline papers that broadly introduce the history of a particular region and time period. Paper offerings range from ancient times to the present day and from Britain to the global south. Additionally, students have the opportunity to develop their skills as practicing historians through a short Sources paper that introduces the history of a topic through primary sources as well as through a Skills paper that introduces various methods of conducting historical research. Students also take a Historical Thinking paper, which is taught entirely in college and offers a chance for them to engage intensively with two historical books chosen by our fellows in a small seminar setting. 

Students build on their studies in the second year (Part IB) in multiple ways. Two Topics papers offer the chance to study themes in which our faculty members have particular expertise in even greater depth. In the second-year Research Project students further develop the skills they began building in the first year in a seminar setting while conducting an independent research project under the supervision of a member of the faculty. A mix of lectures in the faculty and seminars in college will constitute this year's education in Historical Thinking and it will expand students' exposure to the wide range of ways in which historians approach their craft. 

Part II contains five papers in total. The Special Subject, which counts as two papers is taught by those engaged in research on the topic, and is based on a detailed study of relevant primary sources and is partly examined by a long essay. Two other papers are drawn from a wide range of options, from Spanish America through Britain and Europe to South East Asia, and from the sixth century to the most recent past. You may also offer a dissertation of c.10,000 words instead of one of these papers, and for some this can be the most rewarding part of the whole course. Then there is a general paper called Historical Argument and Practice, that builds on the Historical Thinking papers and entails drawing on your individual path through the course to address a broad question related to historical methodology.

Students receive feedback on their progress at the end of the year. Some papers are assessed through traditional examinations. Other papers utilize different forms of assessment, like a book review for Historical Thinking in the first year or a long essay (5000 words) for the Research Project in the second year.  

Weekly individual or very small group supervisions are the central feature of the History course. Lectures and classes in the faculty, which average 8 hours a week, provide opportunities to engage with and learn from instructors and fellow students from across the university, while college classes and cohort meetings throughout the course will anchor your learning in the Robinson community. 

History involves large amounts of reading. Robinson has a good library for History, and is also right next to the University Library, which is a copyright library containing all books published in the UK, and five minutes’ walk from the History Faculty building on the Sidgwick site, where the library contains books for all history courses, and where most lectures take place.

Subject Requirements

Essential: We would usually expect you to do History and you must have at least one essay based subject.

Highly Desirable:  English Literature, Languages, Politics, Philosophy, Religious Studies, Classical studies. If particularly interested in Economic and Social history then Economics, Geography, Maths and Sociology may be useful but are not necessary.

Written Work

One piece of recent marked school work, preferably from History and in essay format, which should not be rewritten or especially produced.

Admission Assessment

History Admissions Assessment (HAA): Cambridge College registered

An unseen passage/image from a primary source will be discussed at interview. 

For further information, please view the entry requirements tab on: https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/courses/history

Directors of Studies

Professor Amy Erickson (Part 1A and 1B)

Dr D Knorr (Part II)

History  (Information from Cambridge Admissions website)

History Faculty website

For incoming 1st year students, the following reading list will be helpful: History Reading List

Updated July 2023