History and Modern Languages at Cambridge
The Cambridge course provides insight into the cultures of other countries, and understanding of the past and present in international contexts.
Our four-year degree encompasses intensive study in language, culture, film, the history of political thought and a wide variety of modern British, European, American and world history. Like other language students, you spend the third year abroad – studying or working in a foreign country and immersing yourself in the language, culture and history.
When you graduate, you’ll have near native-speaker skills in your language and a deep knowledge and understanding of the regions in which that language is used. You’ll also have acquired a wider knowledge of European and extra-European history.
Languages available
Languages options are German, Italian, Russian and Spanish from scratch or post-A Level/post-IB Higher Level; Portuguese from scratch; and French post-A Level/post-IB Higher Level.
You will be asked to indicate which language you’re interested in studying as part of the My Cambridge Application form. If you want to take up a new language from scratch, you should select the 'ab initio' option for the relevant language. If you want to take one of the post-A Level/post-IB Higher Level language options, you must have an A Level/IB Higher Level (or equivalent) in that language.
Facilities and resources
For both history and modern languages, our exceptional teaching and research are globally respected. In these subject areas, the University consistently features at the top of national and global league tables – for example, third in the country in the Guardian University Guide 2023 and in the top three in the QS World University Rankings 2023.
Students can benefit from access to the facilities and resources available across both Faculties (which are adjacent to each other on the Sidgwick Site), as well as those offered at the neighbouring University Library and the University’s Language Centre.
The Faculty of History's Seeley Library is one of the largest history libraries in the world; holding around 95,000 books and publications, and subscriptions to more than 100 journals. In addition, the collections in the University Library, College libraries and online are extensive and include a wealth of rare materials and manuscripts, as well as standard texts.
The Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages (MML) also has a well-stocked library of around 118,000 books and 3,500 videos, DVDs, CDs and audio recordings – boasting excellent coverage of the literature, film, history and thought of key language areas, from the middle ages to the present day – as well as the Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) Facility, the Media Centre, a phonetics lab and a dedicated Year Abroad Office.
Course costs
Tuition fees
Information on tuition fee rates for History and Modern Languages is available on the tuition fees page.
Additional course costs
Optional costs include the purchase of some books (for example, language text books or literary texts for close study, the cost of which will vary) and photocopying and printing. In the MMLL Faculty, use of the printers costs 5p per A4 sheet in black and white, and 20p per A4 sheet in colour. All required reading is held in libraries or available through them online. Some Colleges provide grants for the purchase of books. Further details can be found on the Faculty website.
Students may choose to write an optional dissertation in a historical field in the fourth year of their degree. These students may incur additional costs in researching their dissertations (for example, for travel to archives). Some departmental and college funding may be available to cover such costs.
Changing course
It’s possible to change from History and ML after Part IB (Year 2) to the History course or to the Modern and Medieval Languages course. In some cases, it may be possible to change to other courses (providing any subject pre-requisites and other conditions are met).
Students may change from History to History and ML after completion of their second year of study (Part I), provided they have the necessary language skills. Students will be able to change from History to History and ML after completion of either their first or second year of study, provide they have the necessary language skills.
Students on other courses may be able to change to History and ML after either Part IA or Part IB, providing they have the necessary language skills.
If you think you may wish to change course, it’s best to discuss this with the College you intend to apply to before submitting your application.
Careers
History and ML graduates will be well equipped to appeal to a wide range of potential employers – advanced language skills and experience of living abroad are transferable skills that are often in great demand.
Recent History graduates and Modern Languages graduates have progressed to careers in the media, PR, law, public administration, consultancy, teaching and the charity sector. See the History course and Modern and Medieval Languages course pages and the Careers website for more information about what our students go on to after Cambridge.
The course also provides good preparation for further study in either history or the language.
