RHS News

History A-Level numbers, 2026

This year’s A-Level results are published on 13 August, with student enrolment figures available for the 57 subjects offered this year, via the Joint Council for Qualifications (JQC), covering exams in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

2026 sees a welcome increase in the number of students taking History A-Level: up from 44,717 in 2025 to 46,960 (an increase of 5%). This compares with a 2.7% increase in enrolments for all A-Level subjects; a 0.2% decline for Humanities subjects overall, and a 4.8% increase for Social Science subjects for the same period.

A summary of this year’s A-Level results is now available from the:

  • Joint Council for Qualifications (JQC) – which provides a new dashboard interface for 2026 offering ‘Main Statistics’ and ‘Insights’ comparing 2026 results with those of 2025.
  • British Academy – which uses JQC data for its ‘Secondary and Post-16 Subject Trends’ dashboard, and also includes results for this year’s Scottish Highers and Advanced Highers, released on 4 August.

At 5%, the increase in History A-Level enrolments sees the fifth highest increase in student numbers, 2025-26, after Political Studies, Economics, Law and Further Maths, for subjects with more than 5000 students.With 46,960 students sitting the exam, History is the 7th most popular A-Level of the 57 available in 2026, after Maths, Psychology, Biology, Chemistry, Economics (47,157 students) and Business Studies (46,977).

 

The 2026 results continue the long-term trend for more female than male students to take History A-Level: 25,661 against 21,299 this year. Between 2025 and 2026, the number of female students taking History increased by 6.2% against 3.7% for male students.

While the total number of male students for History rose in 2026, after two years of decline, the rate of divergence between female and male students increased this year — as shown below via the British Academy dashboard which now enables searching by gender.This trend is also evident in a growing divergence between the number of female and male students applying for and accepting places on History degree courses (as reported by UCAS) and enrolling as first year History undergraduates.

Across the three nations offering A-Levels, the number of students in Northern Ireland rose by 8.8% between 2025 and 2026 (1984 and 2158 students respectively); England recorded a 5% increase (40,679 compared with 42,724) and Wales a 0.1% increase (1885 compared with 1887).

Last week’s Scottish Highers and Advanced Highers results, available from the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) via the British Academy, record a 4% decrease in Highers students for History between 2025 and 2026 (9865 against 9465) and a 5.3% decrease for Advanced Highers (1305 against 1235).

The British Academy dashboard also offers longer-term trends in A-Level numbers by individual subjects (e.g. History) or groups of subjects (e.g. History, English and Geography, or those in ‘Humanities’). The following chart shows student numbers for History between 2006 and 2026, with a peak in 2015.

This year’s British Academy dashboard also includes a new Rankings tab, showing changing percentages of students by subject over selected date ranges.

Between the high point of 2015 and 2026, History A-Level student numbers have fallen by 15.9%, with the sharpest decline being up to the year 2020. Between 2020 and 2026 History numbers have risen by 4.6%.

This compares to a 16.1% increase in student numbers for all A-Level subjects (2020-26) and a 0.9% decrease for all Humanities subjects, including History, for the same period.

British Academy Rankings also enable a similar view for History students in Scotland taking Highers: student numbers here have seen a 4.6% decrease in student numbers, 2020-26.

Release of the 2026 A-Level data is accompanied by the following British Academy guide for student number trends in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences: ‘Who studies what subjects at school and why does it matter?’

 

HEADER IMAGE: iStock photo, credit: IconicBestiary

 

REF invites responses to survey on final policy developments, including SPRE

The REF2029 team currently invites responses to a short survey on aspects of the final design of the 2029 policy. The survey covers six points, with a focus on the Strategy, People and Research Environment (SPRE) section of the next exercise which will count for 20% of a final Unit of Assessment score.

The survey form is available here. It is accompanied by a supporting document which sets out the revised draft criteria on which responses are sought. The deadline for submissions is 4pm on Friday 4 September.

The survey is open to all, including responses from individuals in UK HE, REF leads in departments, and institutions with an interest in the REF policy development. The Society intends to submit a response.

The questions of particular note for historians are those relating to the:

  • draft assessment criteria for Strategy, People and Research Environment (SPRE)
  • SPRE arrangements for institutions submitting to a single Unit of Assessment (UoA)

Other questions concern REF’s final policy on submitting outputs to more than one UoA, and its guidance — for UoA’s of less than 10 FTE — on adjustments to output submissions to take account of ‘equality-related circumstances’.

In its response, the Society will take this opportunity to advocate for a revision of the current 60/40 split in the proposed weighting given to the Institution Level (IL) and Unit of Assessment Level (UL) statements within SPRE. The Society will propose a 50/50 split as a compromise position.

This follows recent substantial discussions on the importance of such a revision for arts, humanities and social science (SHAPE) subjects in particular. One example of this is a letter from the Academy of Social Sciences (May 2026), sent to the Chair of Main Panel C and supported by a number of other learned societies.

Further updates on the next assessment exercise are available via the REF 2029 page of the Royal Historical Society website.

 

‘History and Archives in Practice’ (HAP), 2027. Call for participation now open

History and Archives in Practice (HAP) is an annual partnership event, co-hosted by the Royal Historical Society, The National Archives, and the Institute of Historical Research. Now in its fifth year, HAP brings together historians and archivists to consider shared interests in archive collections, their interpretation and use.

Central to HAP is a focus on archival and research ‘practice’: creating opportunities to demonstrate and discuss how we work with historical collections, and what historians and archivists can achieve collectively.

For History and Archives in Practice 2027 (HAP27), we invite participants to reflect on the value of collections, archival practice and historical inquiry in connecting past to future.

We are particularly interested in how collections, researchers and practitioners can work purposefully — through engagement, collaboration and innovation — to generate meaningful impact and contribute to more informed, inclusive and sustainable futures.

After meeting in Sheffield in Spring 2026, HAP27 returns to London (Senate House, University of London) on Wednesday 28 April 2027

Submit a proposal

We now invite submissions from prospective participants (title and 300-word abstract) by 11:45pm BST on Friday 16 October 2026.

Please submit your proposal here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/HAP27-CfP

HAP27 aims to explore, but is not limited to, some of the following topics:

  • Advocacy and the value of history: In what ways are we demonstrating the importance and value of our work, training, and collections, in our institutions, our sectors, and in broader society? How can we work across sectors and disciplines to advocate for the importance of history within/on society, while navigating financial restrictions and change within institutions and regions?
  • Applied History and social impact: In what ways are archives and historical research having real-world impact and affecting meaningful change beyond our institutions? How can historical knowledge, methods, and perspectives be applied to contemporary challenges in public policy, education, culture, and civic life? What opportunities exist for historians, heritage professionals, and graduates to contribute more directly to decision-making, future planning, and public debate?
  • Embracing technologies as enabling tools: How are historians and archivists approaching emerging technologies critically and creatively? How can we embrace technologies as enabling tools to support deeper inquiries, to enrich our interpretations and open up our collections in meaningful ways?
  • Meaningful collaborations, co-creation and co-production: How are meaningful partnerships and initiatives with audiences, communities and stakeholders shaping more inclusive and impactful approaches to history and collections? In what ways are universities, archives, and the practitioners within each, connecting with people and projects outside of their institutions and within their region?
  • Purposeful practice and engaged research: What constitutes ‘impactful’ engagement in different contexts? How are practitioners and engagement professionals critically and creatively leveraging collections to generate meaningful impact? How are archival collections and historical research actively contributing to furthering social cohesion, civic participation, and a shared sense of place and belonging?
  • Sustainable futures: When considering the future of historical research and collections, what responsibilities do practitioners have in embedding sustainability into their work, be it environmental, organisational, financial and/or sectoral? How do we articulate the social and economic value of historical research and collections, ensuring they are recognised not only as cultural assets but also as contributors to community wellbeing, education, innovation, and economic growth?

As with previous HAP events, we approach our theme by profiling and debating projects and ideas which embrace novel approaches to historical research and archival practice, and the potential to affect positive change.

In doing so, we seek to offer attendees examples of practice, and lessons from practitioners from which we can all benefit, showcasing projects delivered by – and in partnership with – archivists, historians, practitioners and communities.

HAP27 is particularly keen to highlight and support smaller organisations, underrepresented collections and marginalised voices as well as new and emerging research.

For further information about History and Practice, 2027, please also see The National Archives website.

HEADER IMAGE: The National Archives, Art and Science Artist Walter Hoyle, Post Office Savings Bank Publicity, 1935–1985. Catalogue reference: NSC 61/49

 

Society awards 10 grants in new International Research programme for historians resident outside the UK

The Society is pleased to announce ten recipients of its new funding programme for historians resident outside the UK.

The International Research Support Grants scheme, launched this Spring, is for International Fellows and Associate Fellows of the Society to undertake research in archives, or similar, in the United Kingdom or in the Republic of Ireland.

This new scheme recognises that many of the Society’s International Fellows and Associate Fellows require financial assistance to access research materials in the UK and the Republic of Ireland for a wide range of historical projects.

This year’s 10 recipients teach and research in Europe, North America, Asia, and Australia. Grants, of £1000 per person, support research on projects at archives in the UK and the Republic of Ireland in the academic year 2026-27. Recipients and their research projects include:

  • Azriel Bermant on ‘Britain, the United States, and the Cold War in the Middle East, 1979–1991’
  • Matthew Cleary on ‘Social and Legal Networks in the Fourteenth-Century York Marriage Cause Papers’
  • Douglas Kanter on ‘Irish Smuggling in the Age of Revolutions, 1776-1848’
  • Jennifer Luff on ‘The Super Machine: The Politics of Labour and Loyalty in Britain’s Interwar Security Regime’
  • Neval Milanlioglu on ‘Sudan under Ottoman-Egyptian Rule: Power, Resources, and European Rivalry, 1821–1899’
  • Luke Reynolds on ‘Almack’s: A Cultural History of a Regency Icon’
  • Pamela Sharpe on ‘The Journal of Private Robert McNally, 1816-36’
  • Timothy Slonosky on ‘Motives behind Public Health Measures in Sixteenth-Century Scottish Towns’
  • Shalva Weil on ‘Indian Jewish Soldiers and Jewish Soldiers in the British East India Army, 1780-1947’
  • Fiona Williamson on ‘Co-Production of Agricultural Knowledge in the Indian Ocean, Southeast Asia and the Pacific, c. 1890-1940’

The Society is very pleased to be able to offer 10 awards in this first round, having initially planned to make available five grants per year.

The additional awards are possible thanks to a recent generous bequest to the Society from the estate of the late Dr Stephen Roberts.

A former Fellow of the Society, Dr Roberts was a historian of nineteenth-century Britain, specialising in the histories of Chartism and of the West Midlands. For 30 years, Dr Roberts taught history at a school in the region, and also held visiting posts at several universities.

The bequest — known as the ‘Stephen Roberts Fund’ and administered by the Society — will support historians to undertake research in nineteenth-century British history. We are very grateful to the Roberts family for this generous bequest to facilitate historical research. Further information on additional RHS programmes, drawing on the Stephen Roberts Fund, will be made available in the coming months.

After the successful pilot of its International Research Support Grants programme in 2026, the Society expects to run a similar call in Spring 2027, open to current Fellows* and Associate Fellows* resident outside the UK.

 

If you wish to join the Society, as a Fellow or Associate Fellow, please see here for details and the benefits of RHS membership. Applications are welcome at any time.

The next closing dates for receipt of applications are Mondays 27 July and 5 October 2026.

Details of all current holders of Royal Historical Society Fellowships and Grants are available here.

All enquiries about Research Funding should be sent to: [email protected].

HEADER IMAGE: Edward Collier, ‘Vanitas Still Life’ (1662), detail, Rijksmuseum, public domain.

 

Society elects 223 new Fellows, Associate Fellows, Members and Postgraduate Members

At its latest meeting on 1 July 2026, the RHS Council elected 82 Fellows, 44 Associate Fellows, 36 Members and 61 Postgraduate Members, a total of 223 people newly associated with the Society, from today.

The majority of the new Fellows hold academic appointments at universities, specialising in a wide range of fields; but also include curators, librarians, heritage specialists, independent researchers and writers. The Society is an international community of historians and our latest intake includes Fellows from thirteen countries: Australia, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

The new Associate Fellows include not only early career historians in higher education but also historians with professional and private research interests drawn from heritage, learned societies, libraries and archives, teaching, and public and community history.

The new Members have a similarly wide range of historical interests, and include individuals working in universities, culture and heritage, education, the civil service and broadcasting – together with independent and community historians and genealogists.

Our new Postgraduate Members are studying for higher degrees in history, or related subjects, at 43 different universities in the UK, Australia, Austria, Finland, Germany, Hungary, India, Italy, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, and the United States.

All those newly elected to the Fellowship and Membership bring a valuable range of expertise and experience to the Society.

New Fellows and Members are elected at regular intervals through the year. The current application rounds are open and run to 27 July and 5 October 2026.

Those interested in applying to join the Society (as a Fellow, Associate Fellow, Member or Postgraduate Member) should consult the Join Us pages of the RHS website. Full details of the benefits of Fellowship and Membership are available in the Society’s new Guide for Members.

New Fellows, July 2026

  • Nwando Achebe
  • Carlo Edoardo Altamura
  • Simon Amrein
  • Michael Angerer
  • Victor Bailey
  • Guy Barefoot
  • Anne-Marie Beller
  • James Beresford
  • Sam Blaxland
  • Hugo Bonin
  • Scott Breuninger
  • Niall Carson
  • William Coleman
  • Marc Collinson
  • Helen Dampier
  • Katharine Dell
  • Laura Doak
  • Michael Durrant
  • Kathryn Dutton
  • Brigid Ehrmantraut
  • Pedro Feitoza
  • Laura Forster
  • Nicola Frith
  • Christopher Gerteis
  • Christian Götter
  • Juha Haavisto
  • Daniel Haines
  • Kai Hebel
  • Richard Hodges
  • Arthur Holder
  • Theresa Jäckh
  • Lauren Johnson
  • Robert Jones
  • Emily Kadens
  • Haro Karkour
  • Homa Katouzian
  • Chris Kempshall
  • Urfan Khaliq
  • Terry Kilburn
  • Mahmood Kooria
  • Donna Loftus
  • Jon Mackley
  • Mario Maritan
  • Ivan Marković
  • Andrew McDiarmid
  • Alan McDougall
  • Felice McDowell
  • Michèle Mendelssohn
  • Emily Middleton
  • Shannon Monaghan
  • Florin-Stefan Morar
  • James Morris
  • Ankhi Mukherjee
  • Matt Myers
  • Annalisa Nicholson
  • Daniela Sofia Nunes Pereira
  • Karen O’Brien
  • Claire O’Callaghan
  • Hélène O’Keeffe
  • Asher Orkaby
  • Aaron Palmer
  • Marco Panato
  • Marco Papasidero
  • Gabriele Passabi
  • Elizabeth Petcu
  • Francesca Petrizzo
  • Natalia Petrovskaia
  • Glyn Prysor
  • Ollie Randall
  • Nick Ridley
  • Alex Rock
  • Gareth Roddy
  • Edward Shawcross
  • Peter Sherlock
  • Jackie Ui Chionna
  • Genevieve Warwick
  • Robert Wellington
  • Bonnie White
  • David Whitford
  • Caroline Wilhelmsson
  • Deanne Williams
  • Gerhard Wolf
  • Junqing Wu

New Associate Fellows, July 2026

  • Rosalind Acland
  • Bzhar Akoyi
  • Sofya Anisimova
  • David Barton
  • Kelvin Beer-Jones
  • Lloyd Belton
  • Tarini Bhamburkar
  • Ryan Blank
  • James Broun
  • Nicholas Brown
  • Clare Byers
  • Oğulcan Çelik
  • Wai Chung Cheung
  • Arka Chowdhury
  • Paul Cora
  • Fiona Crouch
  • Thomas Cryer
  • Paulo Henrique de Magalhaes Arruda
  • Charles Deakin
  • Josh Dight
  • Joyce Dixon
  • Megan Doole
  • Robert Foulkes
  • Laurence Fox
  • Christos Giannatos
  • Meredith Guthrie
  • Bláithín Hurley
  • Samuel Kramer
  • Alena  Kulinich
  • Kerry Love
  • Madison Marshall
  • Christopher Micsky
  • Roman Osharov
  • Bidyut Patar
  • Craig Paterson
  • Brian Pollock
  • Francesca Richards
  • Evelyn Rooke
  • Catherine Ryan
  • Jane Skelding
  • Caitlín Smith
  • Meric Tanik
  • Sheriza Wadhwani Samtani
  • Julian Wood

 

New Members, July 2026

  • Olivia Abbatt
  • Alpay Atabay
  • Linda Baines
  • Paul Barley
  • Jonathan Blackburn
  • Debra Butler
  • David Cannon
  • Sarthak Chakraborty
  • David Fletcher
  • Scott Fotheringham
  • Diana Gordon
  • Crispin Holliday
  • Syed Walli Husnain
  • Muhammad Ibrahim
  • Peter Jeffreys
  • Victoria Jung
  • Allyson McElwaine
  • Jonathan Mundey
  • Kazka Nadira
  • Olabisi  Ojora
  • Michael Pitfield
  • Kapil Rajahans
  • Kashnar Rakhi Anjan
  • Luke Seaford
  • Chris Shirley
  • Aryadeep Sinha
  • Claire Smith
  • Jack Soulsby
  • Abby Speakman
  • Hugh Thornton
  • Jonathan Thorpe
  • Craig Truscott-Robins
  • Jeffrey Wang
  • Richard Wiltison
  • Celemet Yener
  • Weronika Zgryska

New Postgraduate Members, July 2026

  • Amrita Ajay
  • Aaliyah Attwood
  • Alek Barović
  • Annika Bärwald
  • Emre Bayramli
  • Euan Bell
  • Francesca Benson
  • Francesca Bisi
  • Kelly Burriss
  • Neelashree Dasgupta
  • Arna Dirghangi
  • Charlotte Disley
  • James Dranfield
  • Joshua Edwards
  • Imeje Fidelis
  • Mark Gratton
  • Benjamin Harris
  • Nicholas Hawkins
  • Geneva Henson
  • Ruka Hussain
  • Alice Jacobson
  • Ria Gwendoline  Jones
  • Kieran Kerr
  • Mi Jin Kim
  • Niklas Köhne
  • Nisha Kumari
  • Swetabja Mallik
  • Rosa Marks
  • Emma Marns
  • Emma Marns
  • Andrea Márton
  • Ailsa Maxwell
  • Julie Beuschel Mikkelsen
  • Yevhen Minko
  • Charles Molony
  • Lisa Moran
  • Nadeen Moustafa
  • Lavinia Munteanu
  • Evie Nash
  • Ioana Alexandra Niculae
  • David Ogoru
  • Emma Owen Davies
  • Joseph Price
  • Ffion Roberts
  • Isra Saker
  • Nicole Salomone
  • Jordan Seymour
  • Claire Shockledge
  • Ria Smith
  • Michelle Smith
  • Matthew Smith
  • Sadie Spencer
  • Theodore Stone
  • Rebecca Stoneham
  • Andrew  Threadgould
  • Lachlan Urquhart
  • Gide Van Cappel
  • Sviatoslav Vil
  • Ariel Wiebe
  • Alexander Witt
  • Sikiru Yusuff

 

 

HEADER IMAGE: Summer basket: lotus, pomegranate and day lily, Ding Liangxian, Chinese, 18th century, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, public domain

 

Rebecca Earle’s 2026 Prothero Lecture: recordings now available

On Wednesday 1 July, we were delighted to host Professor Rebecca Earle FBA to deliver this year’s Royal Historical Society Prothero Lecture: ‘The Last Voyage of the Santiago: A Ship and its World in the Age of Revolution’.

Rebecca’s lecture — held at Mary Ward House, London, and online — drew on her current research on the relationship between warfare and the circulation of goods in the early modern world.

Recordings of the lecture are now available:

Watch the lecture

Listen to the lecture

 

Rebecca’s focus was the Spanish treasure ship Santiago Apostol which set sail from Lima for Cadiz in 1792. Before reaching its destination, the Santiago was captured at sea, not once but twice. The double capture altered the lives of Filipino sailors, Lancashire handloom-weavers, and Sephardic notaries. It precipitated war between Britain and Spain and shaped European ideas about distant Peru and its peoples. It also injected nearly a million pounds into the British economy.

​By following the story of the Santiago, and listening to some of its voices, Rebecca’s lecture traced the processes linking people—a Peruvian merchant, an Admiralty judge, a landlady on the Isle of Wight—who themselves never met, lives both entangled and disconnected.

As Rebecca argued, the Santiago and the fate of its cargo enables us to appreciate the role of imperial warfare in circulating global goods to new consumers. War was both an obstacle and a stimulus to the era’s growing consumption. The Santiago’s eventful last voyage opens a window into the turbulent world of the 1790s, offering a sideways view of the Age of Revolution.

Our great thanks to Rebecca for her lecture and to all those who attended in person and online. The Lecture was followed with the announcement of the winners of this year’s RHS First Book and Early Career Article Prizes, and the Society’s Summer Party.

Rebecca Earle FBA is Professor of History at the University of Warwick. Her books include Spain and the Independence of Colombia (2000), The Return of the Native: Indians and Mythmaking in Spanish America, 1810-1930 (2008), The Body of the Conquistador: Food, Race and the Colonial Experience in Spanish America, 1492-1700 (2012), and, most recently, Feeding the People: The Politics of the Potato (2020), which uses the history of the potato to trace out some of the key features of modernity.

Rebecca is currently writing about what we can learn from cookbooks (other than how to cook). A further project explores the circulation around early-modern Europe of artworks from colonial Spanish America. She was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 2020.

Established in 1969, Royal Historical Society’s Prothero Lecture – which is named for the historian and former RHS President, George W. Prothero (1848-1924) – has been given annually since that date. Those invited to give the lecture are leading historians whose research has shaped how we think about the past.

Prothero lecturers over the past five decades include, among many others, Samuel H. Beer, Joanna Bourke, Linda Colley, Stefan Collini, Natalie Zemon Davis, Olwen Hufton, Sujit Sivasundaram, Quentin Skinner, Brenda E. Stevenson, Keith Thomas, and last year Peter Gatrell who spoke on ‘The “Refugee World”: A Twentieth-Century Retrospective’.

Many of these lectures, subsequently published in Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, have been opportunities for leading scholars to reflect on their work and careers in the round.

 

Winners of the Society’s 2026 First Book and Early Career Article Prizes

The Royal Historical Society is delighted to announce the winners of its prizes for a first book and an early career article in 2026. Two winners were named from each category for work published in 2025:

RHS First Book Prize 

RHS Early Career Article Prize

The winners were announced by Professor Lucy Noakes, President of the Society, as part of this year’s Prothero Lecture held on the evening of Wednesday 1 July.

The winning titles were selected from shortlists of eight monographs and eight articles, following the submission of more than 60 works in each prize category this year.

In their citation for Kiran Mehta’s monograph, the book prize judges congratulated:

A highly original monograph that addresses a notable gap in studies of early modern crime and punishment: the role of magistrates. This book painstakingly charts the various types of prisons operating in London in the early modern era. 

The author exposes the difference between their intended uses and the somewhat muddled system which operated in practice. Magistrates were key players in shaping policies around early modern punishment and prison reform, and this book brings them centre stage.

 

In their citation for John Latham-Sprinkle’s book, the panel praised: 

A masterly study of the Kingdom of Alania which shows how historical analysis can be brought to bear even when source material is largely absent or fragmentary. It is rare for any historian to have the opportunity to name a ruling dynasty, but John Latham-Sprinkle has done just that.

His book adeptly shows how that state was formed and brings the existing Russian historiography to a wider audience. The author not only tackles a difficult and under-researched topic but also considers how such histories can and should be written.

 

In their citation for Gianamar Giovannetti-Singh’s work, the judges praised:

A brilliant article which presents a sweeping, transoceanic history that fundamentally challenges our understanding of early modern geography and knowledge production. The article stands out for its staggering intellectual ambition, its rich source base, and its masterful execution of global history.

Commenting on Stephanie Wanga’s article, the judges commended:

An outstanding study which provides a bold and highly original re-assessment of the Tanzanian political project of Ujamaa as a radical theory of freedom. This is an intellectually ambitious and methodologically innovative article that charts new conceptual possibilities for the discipline.

The two winners of this year’s article prize each receive £250 while the book prize winners are recipients of £1000 each. We were delighted that Kiran, John and Gianamar were able to attend the Prothero Lecture on 1 July to receive their awards.

The call for authors to submit articles and monographs for the Society’s 2027 prize rounds, for work published in 2026, will open in September.

HEADER IMAGE: iStock photo credit: sompong liabsanthia

 

Royal Historical Society at the Chalke History Festival

Last week saw the annual Chalke History Festival, held at Broad Chalke, Wiltshire (22-28 June). The Royal Historical Society took part in two events on 23 June in line with its work to demonstrate the connections between academic research — undertaken by specialist historians within higher education — and more popular forms of history, including festival and talks.

The first event comprised two lively and fascinating panel discussions, organised and supported by the Society and the Institute of Historical Research, which highlighted the value and importance of history.

Both discussions saw the historians Sarah Churchwell and Nicholas Guyatt joined by journalists Anne Applebaum and James Naughtie to discuss American history and politics since 1776. The first panel, ‘The Continuing Revolution’, chaired by Claire Langhamer (Director of the Institute of Historical Research) traced a historical arc from the Declaration of Independence to the challenges of the current moment to ask, ‘what comes next for American democracy?’

The second America 250 panel, chaired by the RHS President Lucy Noakes, focused on the issue of who gets to be American, a question that has been at the heart of the ‘American project’ since 1776. Large and enthusiastic audiences were keen to engage with the questions raised in these two excellent discussions. As historical arguments resurface with renewed urgency, these discussions demonstrate once again just how vital an understanding of history is in today’s contested political worlds.

A second RHS / IHR sponsored event, with Dr Charlotte Gauthier (Royal Holloway, University of London), explored ‘The Cardinal’s Spies: Wolsey, Henry VIII and the Race to Save Christendom’. Earlier this year, Charlotte was the winner of ‘Pitch my Project’, a new programme organised by the Society and IHR to encourage and prepare academic historians to develop their research for presentation to wider audiences in the form of festival talks.

As the winner, Charlotte received mentoring in public presentations and the chance to speak about the Cardinal’s spies to an audience at Chalke History Festival.

Both RHS supported sessions played to large and very appreciative audiences. Writing after her talk, Charlotte summarised the experience of taking her work to new audiences as follows:

I was delighted to take part in the 2026 Chalke Festival. The tent was full to overflowing for my talk on ‘The Cardinal’s Spies: Wolsey, Henry VIII, and the Race to Save Christendom, 1526-27’.

It was a joy to see such a large and highly engaged audience drawn from all walks of life, and to enjoy a lively and illuminating Q&A with numerous very thoughtful questions from attendees. Judging by the long queue of people coming to greet me and ask additional questions afterwards, the talk certainly tapped into people’s interests.

This is the beauty of communicating scholarly research to a wider audience: there is a real hunger for new and interesting stories, told in a compelling way. As an historian, it’s refreshing to be able to explore and communicate aspects of my research that wouldn’t be suitable to a more academic setting. I hope to attend Chalke again in future.

 

HEADER IMAGE: Society President Lucy Noakes (right) in conversation with panellists (left to right): Anne Applebaum, Sarah Churchwell, James Naughtie and Nicholas Guyatt.

SECOND IMAGE: Charlotte Gauthier presents on ‘The Cardinal’s Spies: Wolsey, Henry VIII and the Race to Save Christendom’.

 

RHS Council elections, 2026: invitation to Fellows to stand for election

 

The Royal Historical Society seeks nominations for two Councillor positions to replace serving Council members in November 2026.

Closing date for nominations: Friday 7 August 2026. Nominations to be submitted via the Society’s applications portal.

The Council of the Royal Historical Society is central to the governance, strategic development and activities of the Society. Its members are Councillors (trustees) of the Society and led by the President, Professor Lucy Noakes.

Councillors play a full and active role in reviewing and developing the work of the Society. They work closely with the Society’s professional Office — based at University College London — which runs the organisation day-to-day. Trustees attend Council meetings, serve on committees, and engage in activities such as Society visits to UK history departments, allocation of research funding, event planning, advocacy and campaigning, and judging prizes.

Selected trustees serve in ‘Officer’ roles, such as the Society’s Vice President, Treasurer, and as chairs of committees which oversee areas including research and education policy, advocacy and publications.

Councillors serve for four years and annual elections are held to replace those stepping down at the end of their term. Election to Council is open to current Fellows of the Society.

The Council and Office offer a friendly, supportive and collaborative environment in which to contribute to the Society’s work supporting history and historians.

The Council includes historians from a range of professional backgrounds and HE institutions, career stages and research interests. The Society seeks to maintain this breadth of experience to ensure that the Council is as fully representative of the historical profession, and the study of history, as possible.

You can read more about the Society’s current priorities, and the work of Councillors, in this new Q&A blog post: ‘Elections to the Society’s Council, 2026: the role and activities of the Society’s Councillors’

In addition, we have two short video introductions: from the Society’s President, Professor Lucy Noakes, on the work of the Council and the roles of Councillors; and from Professor Olwen Purdue, a current Council member who concludes her term in November 2026 .

For more, via YouTube, please click on the images below.

Nominations are now invited from current Fellows of the Royal Historical Society to stand for election to the Society’s governing Council.

The Society seeks to elect two new Council members (trustees) in 2026, to replace serving Council members. Newly elected Councillors will take up their roles from December 2026.

Closing date for nominations: Friday 7 August 2026.

This is an important time for the Society as it pursues its Strategy for 2026-28 (launched in November 2025), under the leadership of its President, Lucy Noakes.

Fellows of the Royal Historical Society are invited to nominate themselves for election to the Council for a term of four years commencing in December 2026.

Please see the Society’s website for the affiliations and subject expertise of current Members of Council. The Councillors ending their terms in November 2026 are Dr Helen Paul and Professor Olwen Purdue.

Nominations from those wishing to stand must be supported by one Proposer and one Seconder who will also be current Fellows of the Society. Please note: 2026 sees a change to previous elections when four Seconders were required per nomination.

The call for nominations runs to Friday 7 August with voting due to open in the week commencing 17 August. Voting by Fellows will close in the week ending Friday 25 September, with results announced soon after.

For more on the role of an RHS Councillor, and how to submit a nomination, please see here.

Submission of nominations is via the Society’s online applications platform, available here.

Eligible Fellows of the Society, with questions concerning nomination, may contact the President, Professor Lucy Noakes: [email protected].

 

Martin Lynn Scholarship in African history: applications now invited from PhD students

Applications are now invited for the Society’s annual Martin Lynn Scholarship in African history. The Scholarship supports graduate students undertake doctoral research in Africa during the academic year 2026-27.

The Scholarship is made possible thanks to the generosity of the Lynn family and is named for the late Martin Lynn (1951-2005), Professor of African History at Queen’s University, Belfast. Appointed to this position in 2002, Professor Lynn was the first scholar to hold a chair in African history in Ireland.

Professor Lynn’s scholarly career was devoted to the history of West Africa and he published most extensively and importantly on the 19th- and 20th-century history of Nigeria. This award reflects Professor Lynn’s interests.

Applications for the Scholarship are now invited, from current Postgraduate Members of the Society, before the closing date of Friday 4 September 2026. applications should be made via the Society’s online applications platform.

 

Other funding calls from the Society, July to September 2026

Details of the Society’s other calls for applications are available here. These programmes are again open to current Fellows and Members of the Society.

Information on how to join the Society — as a Fellow, Associate Fellow, Member or Postgraduate Member — is available here.