The Higher Education sector has expanded rapidly during the 1980s and 1990s with the creation of a number of new universities, and student numbers within humanities programs have doubled with new areas of study being opened up. This has been achieved without compromising the high standards that have traditionally prevailed. Strict quality control procedures adopted by each university and an independent external audit ensure the maintenance of standards and comparable levels of provision across the system.
Humanities courses have always played a significant role in British higher education during the twentieth century. Demand for places has been, and continues to be, high. Few universities concentrate solely on technology and even the new universities, which had originally been envisaged as providers of vocationally orientated courses in areas such as management, engineering, science and business studies, have, in many cases, acquired strong humanities faculties. These draw upon a continually rising demand from school leavers and the growing body of mature students, many in their 30s and 40s. In some universities mature entrants comprise over one third of the entrants into humanities courses and, although requirements are likely to vary according to demand for places, at the present time the overall demand for these places is in balance so that applicants who meet the matriculation qualifications will usually find a place.
Bachelor of Arts courses are of three years duration (though where the study of a foreign language is involved an additional year spent abroad may be required). Each academic year, which lasts from September to early July, consists either of three terms or two semesters, though whatever the structure there will be breaks of three or four weeks around Christmas and Easter. In the case of the semesterised course, examinations take place at the end of each semester after which students move on to a new range of studies. All non-mature entrants to a humanities degree will need to have least passes at Advanced Level of the English General Certificate of Education or their equivalent in terms of other national qualifications. Different considerations are often applied to mature students for whom, for example, work experience may be considered as a relevant alternative. The choice of location for humanities is extensive, ranging from the London-based and other large city centre universities, to those in smaller or more historic towns, and those on a self-contained campus in semi-rural surroundings. All these have benefits, though clearly the larger the university and the city in which it is located, the better the cultural and other amenities.
Humanities BAs normally take three main forms. The single subject, the joint subject and the interdisciplinary. Traditionally the single subject degree in the established disciplines such as English, history, modern foreign languages, classical studies, philosophy, theology, political science and sociology was the main staple of humanities courses in the older universities. More recently the combined or joint degree has gained ground, with many universities now offering the opportunity to combine any two from the range of subjects either in equal proportions or as a major/minor program. The latest development is the interdisciplinary or cross-disciplinary degree which, for example, focuses on a theme by combining the subjects and exploiting the methods of approach from a number of disciplines. Degrees such as the American Studies, Women's Studies, Media Studies, Cultural Studies and European Studies would all fall into this category.
Despite growing numbers entering humanities education, the traditionally strong commitment to personal contact between teachers and students has been retained as the characteristic feature of the British degree course. Overall tuition hours will range from eight to twelve hours each week. Of these, half would be formal lectures, the purpose of which is to survey the relevant literature, impart information, analyse problems or explain methods of approach. Lectures are complemented by seminars and tutorials. The former comprise groups of ten to fifteen students meeting under the direction of a tutor and focus on specific topics which might arise from the lecture program. Tutorial groups will be smaller, perhaps involving one to one relationships and might be fixed at times requested by the student.
Assessment of performance takes place every year and a variety of assessment methods are in place. The traditional formal examination comprises unseen essay questions answered during a two or three hour examination. However, it is now increasingly supplemented by work submitted throughout the academic year which might consist of essays of around 2,000 words, reviews, class presentations or longer projects of up to 5,000 words. Many of the humanities based degrees require the submission of a dissertation or thesis during the final year. This involves independent but supervised work on a theme agreed with the tutor and is usually about 10,000-12,000 words in length. Most universities will have computer drop-in centres with trained technicians so that students can develop word processing and database skills quite easily.
British universities offer immensely attractive opportunities and a pleasant and friendly environment. The wide range of stimulating and high quality humanities provision allow students to build programs which will fulfil their individual requirements within a flexible academic framework. Furthermore, the experience of studying for a first degree lays the foundation for those students wishing to embark upon post graduate study which can range from a taught MA course to research possibilities at MPhil and PhD level.
