Course details
Our BSc Anthropology degree is designed to give you a broad understanding of humanity, from our evolutionary origins to our present day behavioural and cultural diversity. Biological anthropology is closely related to archaeology and primatology, and so you will also gain an appreciation of how humans are related to other species, living and extinct.
You will study biological anthropology in the context of a broad approach to the subject including social anthropology as well as interdisciplinary perspectives on health.
Why Durham University?
Studying Anthropology at Durham allows you to gain a deep understanding of humanity in all its rich diversity and complexity, helping to navigate the biggest challenges our societies face today.
We are among the largest Anthropology departments in the UK with around 120 students in each year group, and one of the few to combine social, biological and medical aspects of anthropology.
Join a dynamic and welcoming Department that takes a distinctly broad-based approach to the study of humanity.
Our lecturers are passionate, dedicated teachers and researchers, and our modules cover numerous areas that overlap with other subjects, including culture, environmental issues, evolution, genetics, forensics, literature, health, music, politics, primate behaviour, religion, reproduction, skeletal anatomy and many others still.
Rankings
3rd in the UK Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2026
5th in the Guardian University Guide 2026
5th in the UK Complete University Guide 2026
Top 100 in the QS World University Rankings 2026
Careers Opportunities
With a degree in Anthropology, you will be equipped with a diverse and practical knowledge base, including highly transferable skills in research and communication.
Employers worldwide value this skill set, particularly where creativity, curiosity and the ability to understand human diversity are at a premium.
Our graduates apply their knowledge directly in fields as diverse as health, community work, conservation, education, international development, culture, and heritage.
Many progress into careers that require a broad understanding of human society and behaviour as well as the interpersonal, organisational, problem solving and independent thinking skills that come with the discipline.
Such careers include advertising, publishing, journalism, teaching, human resource management, law, consultancy and marketing.
For current information please scroll to the bottom of the page for Provider Information and select Visit our Course Page under Course Contact Details.
We use a wide range of assessments designed to provide training in a variety of anthropological and broader transferable skills, including not only 'traditional' essays and exams but also research projects, popular academic writing and outreach activities.
In your final year you will have the chance to design and carry out your own anthropological research project for your dissertation, with support and guidance from your supervisor.
In addition to the help provided by your subject lecturers, you can also access extensive support for your assessments through ASC, the Academic Skills Centre. See below for details: https://www.durham.ac.uk/departments/centres/academic-skills-centre/
This course is available in Clearing. If you have submitted an application, you can add this course. If you haven’t sent us an application yet, you can do this until 24th September 2026.
This is the equal consideration deadline. You can still apply after this date, but your application may not receive guaranteed consideration.
Durham University has participated in the Teaching Excellence Framework. These ratings were awarded in 2023, for four years.
See why these ratings were awarded
What does this TEF outcome mean?
The following entry points are available for this course:
Durham has a long and proud history of welcoming students from countries across the globe.https://www.dur.ac.uk/study/international/
International students who do not meet direct entry requirements for this degree might have the option to complete an International Foundation Year. For further details please visit: https://www.durhamisc.com/programmes/international-foundation-year
Discover what it's like to study Anthropology at Durham University: insights on the course, making friends, personal statement tips, uni prep, and recommended books, podcasts, and videos.
If you’re taking other qualifications not listed above, please check our qualification pages to see if we accept these: www.durham.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/how-to-apply/entry-requirements/
If you have a non-standard academic profile, then ask us about it here:
www.durham.ac.uk/study/ask-us/
Find out more about qualification requirements for this course.
English Language requirementshttps://www.durham.ac.uk/study/international/entry-requirements/english-language-requirements/
Contextual Offer:
A level Grades BCC or equivalent
This section shows the range of grades that students who received offers were previously accepted on to this course with (learn more).
It is designed to support your research but does not guarantee whether you will or won't get a place.
Admissions teams consider various factors, including interviews, subject requirements, and entrance tests. Check all course entry requirements for eligibility.
We are unable to show previous accepted grades for this course. This could be because the course is new, it's a postgraduate course, there isn't enough historical data, or the provider has opted out of sharing their entry grades data for this course - learn more.
This report uses your grades to show how students with similar results have done when applying to this course in the past. Sometimes, there isn’t data for every possible set of grades. When that happens, universities and colleges occasionally fill in the gaps for sets of grades that are typically accepted.
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Tuition fee status depends on a number of criteria and varies according to where in the UK you will study. For further guidance on the criteria for home or overseas tuition fees, please refer to the UKCISA website.
Home Students.
The tuition fees for 2027/28 will increase to £10,050. Please note that these figures remain subject to parliamentary approval.
The tuition fees shown for home students are for one complete academic year of full-time study and are set according to the academic year of entry. Fees for subsequent years of your course may rise in line with an inflationary uplift as determined by the government.
Durham University will charge home rate tuition fees up to the maximum allowed by the UK Government. Should the UK Government choose to increase the maximum tuition fee allowed in the second and subsequent years of your course, Durham University will raise tuition fees in line with UK Government policy and approvals.
International and EU Students.
The tuition fees shown for international and EU students are for one complete academic year of full time study and are set according to the academic year of entry. Fees are subject to an annual inflationary increase. In deciding the annual level of increase the University will take into account inflationary pressures on the costs of delivery. Tuition fees will rise annually by up to the higher of 6% or the latest annual percentage increase in the Consumer Prices Index.
Tuition fee status depends on a number of criteria and varies according to where in the UK you will study. For further guidance on the criteria for home or International tuition fees, please refer to the UKCISA website.
Durham University offers a range of scholarship opportunities to academically well-qualified and highly motivated students. For further details, including deadlines for application, please visit: https://www.durham.ac.uk/study/scholarships/
Clearing - Register your Interest
Phone:0800 987 4120
Thursday 14 August 8am-6pm
Friday 15 August 9am - 5pm
Monday 18 - Friday 22 August 9am-5pm
Phone:0191 334 1000
The Palatine Centre
Stockton Road
Durham
DH1 3LE
At Durham University
