Archaeology with a Placement Year

Archaeology is the study of the human past through its material remains, encompassing everything from prehistoric stone tools and Bronze Age burials to Roman cities and medieval landscapes. It combines humanistic inquiry with scientific methods, using techniques from geology, biology, chemistry, and physics alongside historical and anthropological thinking to recover and interpret evidence about how people lived, how they organised their societies, what they made and traded, and how they understood the world around them. It is a discipline that connects the very distant past to the present, showing how the choices and conditions of earlier societies have shaped the world we inhabit.

At University College London, this programme is offered as Archaeology with a Placement Year, extending the degree to four years of full-time study. The placement year provides hands-on professional experience in an archaeological or heritage context, whether through fieldwork with a commercial or research unit, a placement in a museum or heritage organisation, or work with a cultural heritage consultancy. UCL's Institute of Archaeology is one of the world's leading centres for archaeological research and education, with expertise spanning prehistoric, classical, medieval, and historical archaeology, as well as archaeological science and conservation.

You will develop both theoretical frameworks for understanding the past and practical skills in field methods, laboratory analysis, and material culture study.

Graduates in archaeology from UCL go on to careers in cultural heritage management, commercial archaeology, museum and gallery work, conservation, historic environment bodies, planning and development, academic research, and education. The placement year strengthens professional networks and gives graduates a meaningful head start in a field where practical experience is highly valued. Some continue to postgraduate study in archaeology, heritage management, conservation, or related disciplines, while others move directly into the professional heritage sector.