History

To study History is to study change, to understand who we are and why, by examining from different angles how the past has shaped local to global relationships between societies and people.

Overview

Ucas code

V100

Campus code

X

Typical offers made per year

8

Typical Undergraduate cohort

20

Minimum offer level

A Levels: A*AA, with A* in History

IB: 42 points, with 776 at Higher Level

Other qualifications: check what other international qualifications are accepted at Cambridge

STEP (SIXTH TERM EXAMINATION PAPER)

COURSE DURATION

BA (Hons) 3 years full-time

Essential subjects

A-level/IB Higher Level History

Desirable subjects

Common subjects taken by successful History applicants include: Economics, English, Languages, Mathematics, and Government and Politics.

ADMISSIONS ASSESSMENT

Applicants are required to submit two pieces of written work. This should be in essay format with a word limit of up to 1500 words. The work can be extracted from an EPQ.

Why Choose St John's for History?

An illustration from John Foxe's 'Book of Martyrs' (1563) in the College Library's Special Collections

St John’s has a distinguished scholarly pedigree as a ‘History College’, home to pioneering historians of Africa, the medieval world and international relations, making this a brilliant place for academically ambitious and intellectually curious historians to study today.

Current Fellows include leading historians of medieval Britain, early modern Europe, political thought, 20th-century Britain and the modern Middle East and Africa.

With a significant number of Fellows in History, we can provide expert teaching and guidance from within the College across a wide swathe of subjects in the Tripos. We can also more generally help our students to discover new areas of historical inquiry, develop their skills, and build up their historical understanding.

We typically have about 20 undergraduate historians. They form a close-knit bunch who quickly make firm friendships built on a shared love of the subject.

Undergraduates run our History Society with recent visitors speaking on: crowds in world history, what Chairman Mao’s love of mangoes says about 1960s China, and Renaissance fashions. The annual dinner is a highlight of the year.

Watch this video to hear more about studying History at St John's.

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Our academics

Director of Studies

Sub-Director of Studies

Professor Andrew Arsan

Fellow

Director of Studies

Sub-Director of Studies

Professor Deborah Howard

Fellow

Director of Studies

Sub-Director of Studies

Professor John Iliffe

Fellow

Director of Studies

Sub-Director of Studies

Professor Helen McCarthy

Fellow

Director of Studies

Sub-Director of Studies

Professor Máire Ní Mhaonaigh

Fellow

Director of Studies

Sub-Director of Studies

Dr Mark Nicholls

Fellow

Director of Studies

Sub-Director of Studies

Richard Partington

Fellow

Director of Studies

Sub-Director of Studies

Professor Josephine Crawley Quinn

Fellow

Director of Studies

Sub-Director of Studies

Professor Ulinka Rublack

Fellow

Director of Studies

Sub-Director of Studies

Dr Ella Sbaraini

Fellow

Director of Studies

Sub-Director of Studies

Dr Holly Smith

Fellow

Director of Studies

Sub-Director of Studies

Professor Simon Szreter

Fellow

Director of Studies

Sub-Director of Studies

Dr Sylvana Tomaselli

Fellow

Director of Studies

Sub-Director of Studies

Professor Robert Tombs

Fellow

Course structure and information

Students can explore the past from countless angles, from politics in the Roman Republic to material culture in the Ottoman Empire and neoliberalism in modern Britain and America.

Find out more about the course structure and what to expect when studying at St John's College.

Learn more

Supporting your studies

Academic skills support

All St John's students have access to academic skills support throughout their studies. Academic skills workshops are offered throughout the academic year, and focus on a variety of topics including general study tips, essay-writing skills and revision strategies.

Some subjects hold compulsory academic skills workshops during the Michaelmas term. If you require individual support you can contact one of our Academic Skills Advisers, who each have a range of specialities, including essay writing tips, numeracy, presentation skills, prioritisation and revision skills. We have specialists in Arts and Humanities and in STEM, and in particular in Engineering.

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Manuscript collections

Our Special Collections include various grammars, histories and texts published in later centuries that shed light on historical subjects. These unique resources provide fantastic source material for dissertations and research projects. Students can make an appointment to consult special collections material at any time of the year.

Every year, applications from students of St John's are invited to apply for Travel Exhibitions and Grants, for the promotion of travel.

Travel Grants

There are currently more than 20 travel grants available to students of St John's, made possible by generous donor funding. These funds are available to help students extend and develop their subject knowledge by, for example, travelling to archaeological sites abroad, further international understanding, undertake adventurous travel and much more.

Discover student life

meet our students

The range of fields of research, time periods and geographies the different History academics teach is what drew me to St John’s. The same applies to College life in general, it’s a place where there's something for everyone

Isabella, History, undergraduate

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The range of fields of research, time periods and geographies the different History academics teach is what drew me to St John’s. The same applies to College life in general, it’s a place where there's something for everyone

Isabella, History, undergraduate

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I was attracted to History at Cambridge because of its breadth, the fact I would use and develop my analytical skills, and I wanted to learn more about the world we live in today. The course is everything I hoped for and more. The history and architecture at St John’s make it the perfect place to study because it helps put things into perspective.

The atmosphere is friendly too, even though it’s so grand you might think it’s overwhelming, it still feels like home. Because St John’s is big, there are lots of communities within it, I’ve found my people here. You can really make this College your own, in a way – you choose how you experience it, and you choose to make the most of it. I’ve been involved in set design at the University’s ADC Theatre, which is very close to St John's, and in the poetry scene in College, with support from our Writer-in-Residence.

Applying

We are looking for students who are intellectually curious and academically ambitious.

We select the brightest and most committed students, so work hard to secure excellent examination results. Continue to perform very well in school/college in your penultimate and final years so that your teachers are able to confirm that you are one of their very best students when writing your UCAS reference.

Successful applicants not only excel in their school subjects, they can evidence their passion for history and discuss about it with enthusiasm, insight and critical analysis.

Candidates who stand out will have gone beyond their school curriculum, read more widely, listened to podcasts and radio programmes on history topics that attract them, explored the resources in museums and galleries or the British Library’s online collections, or attended online lectures and talks.

If you are invited for interview, you will typically have one interview of approximately 35-40 minutes with Teaching Fellows in History.

We look for evidence of strong potential to structure historical arguments, to use and discuss historical evidence effectively, to write fluently and precisely and to think in original and coherent ways about the past. The interviewers may use your submitted written work to facilitate discussion about your interests.

Learn more

Life after St John's

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Our societies

Palmerston Society

Our society is named after Lord Palmerston, one of the four British prime ministers who studied at St John’s.

It is the only active political association in the College, encompassing undergraduates in Human, Social and Political Sciences (HSPS) and History and Politics, as well as postgraduates studying and researching in these areas.

We organise talks and debates with influential politicians and academics, which students in other subjects are welcome to attend.

Our social events include an annual dinner and garden party, providing a supportive community for social scientists across St John’s.

Find out more Visit society's website

History Society

St John’s has one the most active history societies in Cambridge, bringing together College historians across the generations.

We hold events across Michaelmas and Lent Terms, an annual dinner and a garden party.

The society attracts a high calibre of speakers, from distinguished academics, to knights and peers of the realm, all offering a unique perspective from the top of their fields.

Our talks allow speakers the freedom to focus on their expertise in a less formal and more intimate setting than a lecture and gives students the chance to listen and challenge renowned historians.

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Find out more Visit society's website

Discover all societies

Notable alumni

Ben Macintyre

1982

Writer

Nobel Laureate

Royal Medal winner

Academy Award winner

Pulitzer Prize winner

Olympic Medal winner

Poet Laureate

Macintyre is a historian, author and journalist, focusing on espionage and war. His best-sellers include Operation Mincemeat (disguising the Allied invasion of Sicily in 1943), A Spy Among Friends (about Kim Philby) and Rogue Heroes (history of the SAS), all of which have been adapted for screen or film. Using exclusive interviews, classified documents and rigorous archival research, he presents information that enriches our understanding of pivotal events in modern history. He is an associate editor and weekly columnist for The Times.

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Lord Burghley (William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley)

1535

Politician

Nobel Laureate

Royal Medal winner

Academy Award winner

Pulitzer Prize winner

Olympic Medal winner

Poet Laureate

Burghley was the leading adviser to Elizabeth I for 40 years, successively her Principal Secretary and Lord Treasurer. It was unprecedented in English history, and has never been matched since. He had arrived at St John's at the age of 14, just as the College's patron John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, fell from royal favour. in 1559 he was elected Chancellor of the University. In later life he came to regard the time that he spent in Cambridge as a crucial, formative phase in his life. The committee room in College is named after him.