Key facts

• Typical offer conditions - A*AA - A*A*A at A-Level / IB 42-42 with 776 in Higher Levels
• Required subjects - A-Level History or equivalent; and only if applying to study a language post A-Level an A-Level or equivalent in your chosen language
• Admissions tests - College administered language assessment for which you do not have to register in advance
• Interviews - two subject based (one history and one languages)
• Written work - two submitted essays (including one in your chosen language if you are applying to study a language post A-Level)
• Average offers made - 3

The subject at Selwyn

This joint degree combines the best of both subjects, offering the opportunity to develop skills in a foreign language while studying a range of papers relating to the culture and history of the relevant language area.  You will spend your third year studying or working in one of the countries where your language is spoken.

Students will develop analytical skills in history through a wide range of topics in British, European, American and World history, as well as the history of political thought.  

If you have no experience of a language you will study it ab-initio (from the very beginning). If you do have an A-Level or equivalent n the language, it will not be new to you so you can carry on studying it at a more advanced level.  You can study the following languages if you have no experience, or if you have an A-Level or equivalent in the language:German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish

You can only study French if you have an A-Level or equivalent in the language.

In Selwyn, the College Library holds over 40,000 books.  This includes a history and  languages section, where you will find books of central importance to your course.  Students at Selwyn are supported by a wide range of College travel grants, to assist academic travel.

The Teaching Fellows

Selwyn has a number of fellows in both History and Modern Languages and can therefore provide supervisions on many subjects in College as well as being in a strong position to exchange teaching with other Colleges.

Professor Christopher Briggs is a Senior Lecturer in Medieval British Social and Economic History. Dr Bobby Lee is a Lecturer in American History. Dr Mike Sewell specialises in modern American history. Dr David Smith specialises in seventeenth and early eighteenth-century British and European history. Dr Tom Smith specialises in the history of religion. In addition Dr Tom Hopkins teaches the history of political thought.

In languages, Selwyn's teaching officers range across all the principal languages of the Tripos.  Dr Edmund Birch (French), has research interests in French literature of the nineteenth-century.  Dr Bryan Cameron (Spanish) is a specialist in modern Spanish culture, with research interests in the nineteenth-century Spanish novel and experimental film, Dr Elena Filimonova (Russian) has research interests in Russian linguistics, Dott. Claudia Domenici (Italian) has scholarship interests in language teaching methodology, language teaching material and the interaction of language.  Dr Charlotte Woodford (German) has published on early modern nineteenth-century and early twientieth-century German literature, with a special focus on women's writing and the novel.

The College also has its own lectors in French and German.

Subject Requirements

To apply to study History and Modern Languages you must be taking A-Level History or equivalent.   If you wish to choose to study a language post A-Level (rather than ab-initio), you must also have an A-Level or equivalent in that language.

Applicants will be expected to demonstrate an interest and the potential to succeed in both subjects.

Admissions assessment

Applicants will take an hour long written language assessment, which follows the same format in all Colleges.  For post A-Level language candidates, this is designed to assess writing skills in both English and your foreign language. Those applying for a language ab-initio will sit an assessment intended to assess their writing in English and their aptitude for studying languages. You will not need to register in advance for this assessment and the details will be sent alongside interview invitations.

Interviews

You will have two subject interviews, one in each subject. Your submitted History essay will be used during your interview as a basis for discussion. You will also be asked to work with some stimulus material in both interviews, as well as being asked about your wider interest in the subjects.

Written work

If you apply to us you will be asked to submit a recent and marked essay in History. The essay should not be written especially for the occasion.  If applicable, you should also send in one essay written on any subject in the post A-Level language you are applying for.  Candidates for an ab-initio language do not need to submit this language essay, but should submit a second History essay instead.

March 2026