Does it pay (literally) to have an honours degree?

Joint honours or Single Honours degree?

• I'm applying for university this year, but I can't decide between English and History because I love both. I'm thinking about applying for both English and History joint honours and History single honours. Joint honours usually have lower entry requirements for some reason, so I was going to apply to that course because it means I have a backup - I haven't found any universities I like that have lower entry requirements for single honours history! I've written my personal statement for both English and History However, I have heard joint honours are more work, less interesting due to the lack of flexibility compared to a single honours degree and harder to get a first in?? What should I do? Apply to single honours history? (and therefore re-write my personal statement with only 2 weeks to go?) Apply to joint honours history and english?

• Answer:

  Hey Kathryn, I've done two degrees: 1) BSc Medical Physiology with I.T. (Joint Honours) in 2003 and then 2) BSc Diagnostic Radiography (Single Honours) in 2006. I can therefore make comparisons between the two for you! With any BSc degree, you do 360 credits. This is split into (usually) 3 years of 120 credits each. A module usually consists of either 10, 20, 30 or 40 credits. If you were doing a single honours degree, everything you learnt would be relevant to the course i.e. all 120 credits each year. On a JHS course, decisions are made as to which modules from each of your subjects are going to make up your overall degree: some people do it 50/50, and some people opt for 70% English / 30% History, and so on. Ultimately though... Joint Honours degrees are an unnecessary pain in the backside, in my opinion. The negotiations you have to go through, the module timetable clashes (lectures, seminars and exam dates/times) etc. You'll find that the English lecturers won't be very accommodating toward a student's History commitments, and vice versa. The biggest problem, by far, is looking at the modules you WANT to do, and comparing that to the modules that actually FIT in with your timetable. You can easily end up doing an entire year of modules you don't like because of timetable clashes. With a single honours degree... you don't have any of these problems. It's blissfully straight forward. Therefore in conclusion, from my personal experiences... I'd highly recommend doing a Single Honours course. Something else as well; think about the type of career you would like to do with your degree. Fair enough, you need to do something you enjoy, but you also need to do something that'll get you a job. Look at my courses. When I was in my last year of my JHS course, I realised that there was very few jobs out there that would get me a graduate job in something interesting and that was needed in the UK. My single honours course however, Diagnostic Radiography, got me straight into a job that I love and is well paid. Think about English and History. Are you planning on becoming a Teacher? If so, you'll be doing a PGCE (either primary or secondary) and that, combined with your degree, will easily land you a job. If, however, being a Teacher doesn''t interest you... you'll find it very difficult to find a graduate job in English OR History. I know at least 5 people I went to school with who went down a very similar route and are stuck working in Call Centres because their qualifications can't be utilised... at least, in the UK. I hope I've given you some food for thought, and lastly... GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR STUDIES! :-) All the best, Just some guy x