This month the Royal Historical Society publishes ‘The Value of History in Higher Education and Society’.
This briefing offers views on the state, and value, of history in the UK university sector. A vibrant discipline has traditionally indicated a flourishing profession.
However, in recent years the Society has witnessed a divergence between the popularity of history—as a subject of study and public interest—and the security of historians within UK higher education. ‘The Value of History’ explores this divergence.
The briefing highlights the extent of cuts and closures facing departments, as well as history’s many strengths, in terms of student enrolments, satisfaction, and graduate outcomes. It also considers what we risk losing if cuts continue. The Value of History is introduced here by the Society’s President, Emma Griffin.
As President of the Royal Historical Society (RHS), I have the privilege of meeting with many historians and learning about different kinds of historical practice. The RHS is the UK’s foremost learned society for history, and in my role I work with historians within higher education and beyond. A vibrant discipline has traditionally indicated a flourishing profession. However, in recent years the Society has witnessed a growing gap between the popularity of history—as a subject of study and public interest—and the security of historians within UK higher education.
From one perspective, history is in good health. It remains a major degree subject with strong student enrolment. History is likewise prominent in public life. We read history, watch programmes about the past, and visit sites of historical interest in greater numbers than ever. A second far less welcome picture is of history departments hit by cuts and closures. The RHS is the organisation to which historians turn when their capacity to teach, research and communicate is at risk. Since the early 2020s, we’ve seen an alarming increase in the number of departments facing cuts to staffing and degree options.
Concerns over cuts and closures
This summer the Society surveyed its members to get a better sense of the scale and consequences of this disruption. The findings form part of our new briefing—‘The Value of History in UK Higher Education and Society’—published earlier this week. We received responses from two-thirds of UK history departments, and the results are deeply troubling. Thirty-nine of the 66 departments taking part report cuts to staffing levels since 2020. This equates to decreases in at least 2 in 5 of all UK history departments. Cuts are hitting hardest in departments at post-92 universities. Here, nearly 90% of history departments in our survey report a decrease in staffing since 2020; nearly 60% have seen cuts to degree programmes.
This has significant implications for history’s provision as a degree subject. As the briefing shows, post-92 departments provide opportunities for the greatest number of first-generation students, as well as a growing body of commuting students for whom relocation is simply not an option. As departmental opportunities shrink, we risk history becoming more concentrated in selected universities, and increasingly the preserve of students with greater mobility, wealth and family experience of higher education.
Historians—along with others in the humanities—are battling a culture of belittlement … We sincerely hope this ‘talking down’ of history ends with the new Labour government—not least because this message is based on a false premise.
How do we explain these troubling developments? The Royal Historical Society identifies political decisions as a key factor in the current challenges facing history lecturers and students. The lifting of departmental caps on student intake in the mid-2010s, and the lack of competition between institutions over fee levels, has led to a dramatic shake up in the allocation of history students. A small number of departments are growing rapidly, while others are deprived of a previously healthy student population.
At the same time, historians—along with others in the humanities—are battling a culture of belittlement. Government engagement has, until recently, focused more on questioning the expected graduate outcomes for history. Unwelcome attacks on the merits of studying history undoubtedly deter some from taking the subject at university. We sincerely hope this ‘talking down’ of history ends with the new Labour government—not least because this message is based on a false premise. Here, the Royal Historical Society has a role to play in challenging spurious claims. Setting out and amplifying history’s many strengths within higher education is the second purpose of our latest briefing.
Appreciating the value of history
Despite fluctuations in student numbers, history has long been, and remains, a major subject in UK higher education. For over a decade, more than 40,000 students have annually enrolled on history undergraduate or postgraduate degree courses. History repeatedly appears in or around the top 10 of ‘non-STEM’ subjects chosen by undergraduates, with enrolment figures similar to those for degrees in accounting, economics, finance and politics. History is similarly a major, and growing, subject in schools and colleges. In 2024, it was the fifth most studied A-Level. Enrolments at A-Level are up more than 5% since 2020 while those for GCSE are 25% higher than in the late 2010s—far exceeding the increase in GCSE students in the round.
In 2024, eight out of ten history graduates are confident these skills will serve them well in the workforce—a level higher than many more overtly vocational programmes. And they’re right.
For those studying history at university, the experience is positive. Responses to the UK’s National Student Survey consistently score history very highly in terms of intellectual challenge and the quality of teaching. Today’s history students work not just with texts and archives but also data sets and digital. In 2024, eight out of ten history graduates are confident these skills will serve them well in the workforce—a level higher than many more overtly vocational programmes. And they’re right. Employers tell us that historians are prized for their literacy, facility to review information with a critical eye, and talent for absorbing and synthesising complex ideas. Rather than close down options, a history degree is a gateway to a wide range of professional outcomes.
Having entered the labour market, and contrary to popular rhetoric, history graduates perform strongly in terms of employability and earnings. Government data (June 2024) shows over 87% of history graduates ‘in sustained employment, further study or both’ five years after completing an undergraduate degree. This puts them ahead of graduates in subjects including politics, computing and economics, and just behind those in business, management and bioscience. The same data shows median earnings for history graduates are also strong: above those for students in psychology, social policy and education and close to those for law and politics.
Communicating history’s value to graduates
It’s important to set out the strengths of a history degree, especially at a time of negative rhetoric. But we must also speak meaningfully to different constituencies. In particular, history’s many positives need to be better communicated to those presently wary of going on to undergraduate study. History’s growing popularity at GCSE and A-Level is very welcome. However, it’s not yet translating to an equivalent lift in undergraduate enrolments. This is clearly a vulnerable transition point, and one that can benefit from positive messaging. We need to show future undergraduates the benefits, and pleasures, of continuing with history.
‘The Value of History’ also begins the work of evaluating the intersections between academic and public historians, the public appetite for the past, and history’s contribution to civic and national life.
By demonstrating the positives, we’ll encourage more students to pursue the subject they enjoy, confident theirs is an informed choice, with clear rewards and opportunities for professional and personal development. Alongside students, these are arguments to hone and put to parents, teachers, politicians and policy makers, as well as the sizeable audiences for ‘popular’ and ‘public history’—so much of which starts with academic research in our universities. Such audiences remind us of history’s importance well beyond formal education.
Our briefing, ‘The Value of History’, also begins the work of evaluating the intersections between academic and public historians, the public appetite for the past, and history’s contribution to civic and national life. In doing so, we look to close the gap between a historical profession fighting cuts and closures, and history’s strengths and value to education and society.
About the author
Emma Griffin is President of the Royal Historical Society and Professor of Modern British History at Queen Mary University of London.
Emma’s article was originally published in Wonkhe (29 October 2024).
Accessing ‘The Value of History’ briefing
The Royal Historical Society’s briefing, ‘The Value of History in UK Higher Education and Society’ (October 2024), includes tables and charts that readers may download for their own use.
Each of the following assets is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0). This means you are welcome to use and share all or parts of this work with the appropriate attribution.
- ‘The Value of History in UK Higher Education and Society: a briefing from the Royal Historical Society’: full report as a pdf download
- Tables and charts from the Briefing
- Powerpoint summary of the key findings of the briefing
- Full Briefing in a browsable display