2.5-Term Pathway - Foundation Certificate in Humanities - Continue to Bachelor of Arts (Honours) - Modern History and International Relations (Year Abroad)

For students who've finished high school but don’t meet the entry requirements for university, a Foundation Certificate can help them gain entry to an undergraduate degree. After completing this pathway option students qualify for progression to the 1st year of an undergraduate degree at the University of Essex.

A student’s course length is determined mainly by their English language level (UKVI IELTS score). Students on all course lengths take a set of common or similar modules to gain a solid base of skills for university. Students taking a course longer than 2 terms, will take additional modules designed to improve one or more of their English language level, academic skills, and basic knowledge of particular subjects.

Bachelor of Arts (Honours) - Modern History and International Relations

Students obtain a thorough grounding in the fields of modern history and international relations, and will explore how these disciplines influence one another.

Students take introductory modules in international relations and politics alongside their history modules in the first year, and continue to combine modules in modern history and international relations in the second and third years. There is a range of options to choose from in both departments and students choose to write their final-year dissertation in either politics or history.

In their history modules students investigate the intersection of the ideas, cultures and economics of different people over the last 200 years of western history. They are introduced to the relationship between today’s ‘modern’ world, which assumes the significance of political liberty, global interdependence and sexuality, and events and ideas which originated in the 18th and 19th centuries.

This course should also interest students if they want to understand how the international system works, how decisions are made and how lines are drawn. They’ll gain a foundation in politics, while the study of international relations develops their research and critical analysis skills, while teaching them methods of analysis and giving them awareness of the world system.