History and Modern Languages

The joint degree in History and Modern Languages combines the best of both subjects. It offers the opportunity to develop near native-speaker skills in a foreign language while studying a range of papers relating to the culture and history of the relevant language area; options in some languages also include film and contemporary politics. Students will also develop analytical skills in History through studying topics in British, European, American and World history, as well as the history of political thought. There will be opportunities to work with historical sources in foreign languages.

The languages available for study are:

• French (post A Level)
• German (from scratch or post-A Level)
• Spanish (from scratch or post-A Level)
• Italian (from scratch or post-A Level)
• Portuguese (from scratch)
• Russian (from scratch or post-A Level)

The History and Modern Languages degree (or ‘tripos’) is a four-year degree. You spend third year studying or working abroad, immersed in the language, culture, history and politics of a foreign country. Please visit the University website for full details of the History and Modern Languages course content and structure, including the course film. You will also find information on the Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages and Linguistics page for prospective applicants. If you have further questions about course content, please contact facultyoffice@mmll.cam.ac.uk. 

You have lectures at the Faculty of History and Faculty of Modern Languages, plus small-group teaching sessions known as ‘supervisions’ here in College. These are organised by your Director of Studies to provide personalised feedback on your work. And to support your studies, you have access to Cambridge’s world-class libraries and their extensive collections of foreign language films. 

The Christ’s Director of Studies on this course is Dr Ksenia Zanon.

Read about the experiences of Eebbaa  and Nik who studied History and Modern Languages here at Christ's. You may also be interested to read the profiles by Ossie and Laura, both of whom applied for History and Modern Languages but ended up on the History course.

You may also find it helpful to read profiles by students studying History (Alice, Max, Isobel, James and Sathya) and Modern and Medieval Languages (Sophie, Yi-Ling, Juliette and Ethan).

If you’d like to hear from other Christ's students, please watch the Christ's student Q&A film, and visit our Student Profiles page.

All applicants should be studying at A-Level, IB Higher Level, Scottish Advanced Higher or equivalent in the language for which they are applying (unless you will be studying a language from scratch), and A-Level, IB Higher Level or equivalent in History. 

Applicants proposing to study a language from scratch must offer a modern or classical language at GCSE or equivalent.

We encourage students to attend one of our regular Subject Matters webinars for help with choosing Post-16 subjects for competitive university applications. This webinar is pitched for students aged 14-16 though it is also possible to attend when you have started sixth form. 

After your application is received, you will be asked to upload two essays that you feel accurately reflect your abilities and interests. This should be work which has been prepared during the normal course of your studies and has already been marked by a teacher. One piece of work should be relevant to History, the other should be in the language for which you have applied (except for ab initio languages, in which case you should upload an essay written in English). We recommend that you keep copies of the work you send for your own reference as it may be discussed at interview. Full written work guidelines will be provided as part of the current applicants section on this website (published by 20 September each year).

If we invite you for interviews, these usually take place in early December. At Christ's we do all of our interviews online on Microsoft Teams. You can have your interviews either at home (most applicants do this) or at school (if easier). 

Those selected for interviews are normally interviewed for 35-50 minutes in total. At Christ’s, we usually split the time into two interviews with academics in History and Modern Languages, with one History interview and one Modern Language interview. Applicants should be prepared to discuss their relevant interests and potential directions they may wish to follow. 

Shortly before your Modern Language interview, you will be sent a short text to read, for discussion during the following interview. An interview for a language you have already studied will include a text in that language (and perhaps some questions to think about as you read it); interviewers for a language you wish to learn from scratch will instead set a text in English, but will be seeking to gauge the level of your commitment to your chosen language, as well as general linguistic and analytical aptitude.

Further, more general information about interviews (including two useful films) is available in the Cambridge interviews section, and it's worth also having a look at supervisions (short film here), as interviews are similar to what you do every week as a Cambridge student. We also recommend this film in which current Cambridge History students discuss their interview experiences. Remember that your interviews may cover different things to the students speaking.

Assessment details are confirmed by July each year, but note that applicants for History and Modern Languages who are selected for interview are normally asked to take an Admissions Assessment towards the end of November (Wednesday 19 November 2025 for this year's applicants). We arrange your assessment automatically if you are selected for interview, so you don’t need to register. You complete the assessment remotely (you can complete it at home or at school) and upload your work - you will not need to travel for it. Details of how the assessment will work are given to students selected for interview by email.

Information about the format and content of the Admissions Assessment is available on the College assessments page by July each year. Note that there are two versions of the assessment - History and Modern Languages students who have studied their language at A level or equivalent take the same assessment as MML applicants, whereas those applying to study a language from scratch take the History and Modern Languages ab initio Admissions Assessment. There are sometimes changes to assessments from year to year - any changes are confirmed by the July before you apply.

Further information about the format and content of the assessments is available in the  Undergraduate History & Modern Languages course information. See the entry requirements tab. 

We define the terms of each offer individually, but our typical conditional offer for History and Modern Languages is 

> A*AA at A-Level including History (and a Modern Language unless you are applying for an ab initio language) 
> 42 points overall in the IB with 7,7,6 in Higher Level subjects including History (and a Modern Language unless you are applying for an ab initio language). 
> A1,A2,A2 in three Scottish Advanced Highers including History (and a Modern Language unless you are applying for an ab initio language).

We may tie the A* to a relevant subject (depending on what combination of subjects you are taking) or ask you to complete some additional self-study if you have not taken a close equivalent of A-level History.

You need to be academically ambitious: the majority of Christ's students arrive with higher grades than are required.

You can look up other qualifications in the offer levels for other exam systems and international entry requirements, and if you are applying from outside the UK please read the Christ's international students section for further information and check the country pages.

If you will have finished school when you apply, please also read about post-qualification applications, taking a gap year, and, if relevant, applying from a university.

For a fuller picture of what the course involves, take a look at Undergraduate History and Modern Languages admissions on the University website and visit the Faculty course information too.

If you have any other queries at all, please contact us at admissions@christs.cam.ac.uk and we’ll be happy to advise.