I’ve always been interested in history but decided to take two years out after sixth form before I started at Leeds Beckett. I was a little worried at first how easy I would find it getting back into education but luckily the course is set up to ease you in to university life and allows you to build up your skills over the first year. Plus, the lecturers are great at explaining things and have all the time in the world to help you.

The course focuses on Modern History and looks at the UK, Europe and the rest of the world. This gives a really interesting look into a lot of different subjects which you probably didn’t cover at school, like the American revolution and American civil rights. From second year you can pick your own modules which means the course is quite customisable to your own interests. One of my favourite modules was Community History Workshop, which gave us the chance to work with a live brief to create a piece of public history. This was an amazing chance to do something a bit different and gave me a great opportunity to write a post which went on Leeds Library’s blog.

We’re based in Broadcasting Place and the Rose Bowl, which is such a great location. They’re both really close to the city centre and just a short walk or bus ride from Hyde Park and Headingley, which is super convenient. Broadcasting Place provides a great atmosphere for studying – it has a social learning space available to everyone in the School of Cultural Studies which is perfect for studying on your own, or as a group, and has a great community vibe. There are even some whiteboards from each course where you can share your own ideas. Both buildings are close to loads of places to grab a bite to eat or a coffee, like Dry Dock which is just across the road.

I find I get asked a lot if I want to go into teaching with history – this is definitely an option for a lot of people and there are quite a few in my year who have applied and been accepted to opportunities like TeachFirst. Teaching isn’t for me though, when I started all I knew was I loved history and I enjoyed museums, and hopefully I would figure it out later! Luckily I did, and I’ve decided I want to go onto a masters with the hopes of getting a job in a museum as a curator or registrar. My course has really helped me decide what career path I wanted; we do modules in public history which is something I had never even heard of before starting at Beckett, and we’ve had the opportunity to do some object handling with a curator from Bradford museum. History can lead to so many opportunities though, there are even some graduates who have gone into law.

I would definitely recommend BA History to anyone who has an interest in the past. I couldn’t have imagined doing my bachelors anywhere else and studying at Leeds Beckett has provided so many opportunities. Thanks for reading!

View BA (Hons) History

Nina

Hi, I’m Nina, I’m a third-year history student and I love student life in Leeds! My hobbies include trying new food and cocktails, travelling and art. I’m really involved with the Students’ Union and I'm an active volunteer.

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