English and History

English and history is a combination that reads the human past through two complementary lenses: the literary and the historical. English literature examines how writers have used language, form and narrative to represent, interpret and challenge their worlds, developing the close reading and interpretive skills that allow you to understand how texts create meaning. History brings the tools of evidence evaluation, causal analysis and contextualisation, asking how and why events unfolded as they did and how we can know what we know about the past.

Together they produce a graduate who can read a text with precision and place it in its historical moment with rigour.

At the University of York you will study English and history over three years of full-time study, with access to expertise spanning literature from ancient classics to the present day and history from the Middle Ages to the contemporary moment. You will choose from modules that cross geographic, cultural, linguistic and thematic boundaries, tailoring your degree to reflect your specific academic interests. A sandwich year and the opportunity for a year abroad add professional and international experience, and work placement is integrated into the programme.

The typical tariff of 152 reflects the intellectual demands of two rigorous humanities disciplines at one of the UK's leading research universities.

Graduates work in education, journalism, publishing, the civil service, heritage, museums, archives, the creative industries, arts administration, law and a wide range of roles where close reading, research and clear writing are valued. The combination of literary and historical analysis is particularly well suited to careers in cultural institutions, editorial roles and any context where understanding text in its social and historical context matters. Many graduates go on to postgraduate study in English literature, history, education, creative writing or related humanities fields, using the analytical formation of the degree as the foundation for specialist or academic careers.