SCFA, formerly the Standing Committee for University Professors and Heads of Archaeology, represents the teaching departments of Archaeology in Britain's universities.

What kind of educational background do I need?

Archaeology is an enormous discipline, covering the study of the whole of the human past worldwide, using a wide array of methods, techniques, and conceptual approaches.  For this reason, people with very diverse academic backgrounds choose to study archaeology at university.  Archaeology combines elements of the arts, sciences and humanities, and regardless of the subjects that you have studied at school it is possible to find a niche within the discipline.  For this reason, most university departments of Archaeology in the UK are happy to accept applications from prospective students with very diverse academic backgrounds, except on some of the more specialised degree programmes.

It may be that if you have a background in the sciences you will choose to concentrate on the archaeological sciences, where qualifications in physics, chemistry and biology feed directly into the study of dating, analytical methods, conservation, animal and plant remains and forensic investigation.  Similarly, those who have studied classics may wish to combine archaeology with ancient history, and those who have concentrated on art, history, geography or languages may seek out a degree scheme that emphasises the historical, aesthetic, anthropological and social aspects of archaeology.  As you will see from the descriptions of the various university departments elsewhere on this website, the degree courses offered in different UK institutions are quite varied in their content.  This variation provides you with the opportunity to study the kind of archaeology that you will find the most stimulating.

But on the other hand it is important to remember that most archaeology degrees assume no prior knowledge on the part of new students.  Although a minority of those who enter the universities each year may have taken an ‘A’ level in Archaeology, the start of your degree offers you the opportunity to start from scratch and find those aspects of the discipline that you will wish to concentrate on.  These need not be in any way connected with the subjects that you studied at school.