The Royal Historical Society represents the interests of history and historians, of all kinds, via a programme of advocacy and policy research. The higher education, publishing, technological and cultural landscapes, within which much of our work is situated, have changed rapidly over recent years.
The need for historians to be supported, and for the value historical scholarship and expertise to be understood and practised well, is more important than ever.
Advocacy and campaigning for history is central to the Society’s new ‘Strategy for 2026-2028’.
The Society’s advocacy work is co-ordinated, from 2026, by a new Officer role on the RHS Council. This is held by Dr Emilie Murphy as Secretary for Advocacy and Public Engagement who chairs the Society’s sub-group for this area.
Advocacy
The RHS is the UK’s foremost body for supporting the historical profession and championing history as a discipline. The Society’s advocacy work takes place at a range of levels: individual, departmental, sector and disciplinary.
Support for departments
We work closely with individuals and departments who contact us in need of support, through sharing resources, offering expertise and communicating with university senior managers. The Society also makes available and maintains disciplinary information and links via its a toolkit — ‘Supporting History Teaching and Research in UK Universities’ — launched in 2022 and regularly updated.
In addition, the Society runs a programme of Visits to departments across the the UK to meet with historians and discuss matters relating to their institutions and the wider profession.
Recent and forthcoming Visits include to the universities of Lincoln, Edge Hill, Kent / Canterbury Christ Church, the Highlands and Islands, and Hertfordshire (2022-23), York / York St John and Brunel (2024), and Exeter (Cornwall campus), Aberdeen, Suffolk and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (2025). Visits in 2026 are to: Sheffield Hallam / Sheffield, Aberystwyth, Strathclyde, and the University of the West of England / Bristol
The Society also publishes data relating to the History and the historical profession in UK Higher Education, as generated by external providers. This resource, and the Toolkit, focus particularly on historians and departments facing threats of cuts or closures to academic programmes and staff.
Briefings on cuts and closures in UK departments
In October 2024 the Society published ‘The Value of History in UK Higher Education and Society’. This briefing brings together collates recent RHS work on cuts and closures, along with data on the history’s strengths as a subject, with reference to student enrolments, graduate outcomes, and student satisfaction. The document considers what we risk losing, especially at departments at post-92 institutions, if cuts continue.
The briefing also signals an enhanced role for the Society as a champion of history’s contribution and value. The Society remains an organisation to which historians turn in need. To this we add a more proactive campaigning dimension, which the Society will develop. Appreciating, celebrating and communicating the value of history will involve speaking, in new ways, to new audiences.
Public statements in support of departments and the discipline
Over recent years, the Society has published a number of public statements against cuts and closures at specific institutions and courses.
Recent statements on the discipline include the Society’s joint statement on collaborative advocacy and promotion of the discipline (February 2025); an interview (April 2025) with the Society’s President, Lucy Noakes, on the state of history in UK higher education for the BBC History Extra podcast; an article for History Workshop on ‘Making the Case for History: A View from the Royal Historical Society’ (April 2025) and ‘The Value and Provision of History in UK Higher Education (October 2025).
Any department that seeks support — for example, with advice on plans to cut or reduce History provision with their institution — may get in touch confidentially with the Society via the President or Director. Individuals with concerns about the discipline may also contact the Society at any time.
Collaborative work with UK and international organisations
The Society believes we are stronger working collaboratively with fellow organisations to support the historical discipline and profession.
In resisting cuts and closures, and championing the value of History, we work as part of a ‘Quartet’ of UK organisations: the Historical Association, History UK and the Institute of Historical Research. The Society also hosts an annual half-day meeting for heads of UK subject-specialist history societies to discuss areas of shared interest and concern.
The Society also works closely with UK-based colleagues who comprise the Arts and Humanities Alliance, an association of UK learned societies, as well as with international historical organisations in North America, Australia and New Zealand, and Europe.
Parliamentary engagement
Since 2023 members of the Society’s Council have met with UK parliamentarians to discuss their concerns about cuts and closures at History departments in UK Higher Education, and the often negative language used to describe the History and other humanities subjects at university.
Recent sessions include members of the Commons and Lords, across the parties, and with representatives from the government and shadow front bench, relevant Commons Select Committees, All Party Parliamentary Groups for History and Universities, and the parliamentary secretariat. These meetings continue.
The Society also draws on the experience of its Fellows and Members, many of whom have worked with parliamentarians, either to promote the discipline or with reference to the policy applications of their research.
Policy and Research
The Society’s policy and research programme is responsive to the environment in which historians work. Much of this work takes place via established RHS committees that monitor, respond to, and shape developments in the Research environment and culture in Higher Education; History Education and teaching; and Publishing.
From 2024, the Society has been following developments in the Research Excellence Framework (REF) for 2029. Regular updates on and responses to are available here.
The Society’s Equalities work remains of central importance to the Society. Recent initiatives include the creation of a Masters’ Scholarships programme (since 2022) to support students from groups underrepresented in academic History and publication, in June 2024, of an Update to the Society’s 2018 report, Race, Ethnicity & Equality.