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Foundations: Exploring Church History


Exploring Church History is an online unit taken over 15 weeks, using Cliff College's online learning platform.

Over the past twenty centuries, the Christian church has spread across the world from its beginnings in Jerusalem. The story of that spread is richer and more varied than we often are aware, and understanding the waves of Christian growth and decline can shed new light on Christian experience today. In this unit, Foundations: Exploring Church History, students are introduced to the global story of the church, providing in broad outline the major movements and developments in Christian history.

Exploring Church History enables students to consider the continued significance of the church’s past for its present mission and ministry. This unit is taught in ten sessions over ten weeks, with a further five weeks to prepare and submit your assessment. More detail of the unit structure is available under 'Dates and cost'.

Find out more about this unit at our upcoming online event:

As a door into church history, it is very useful. I found it helped me become a better listener to the significance of the past.

This unit will be available from January 2025 and is taught in ten sessions over ten weeks, with a further five weeks to prepare and submit your assessment. The first and last sessions are live seminars which you will need to attend either online or onsite at Cliff College. These will take place on Wednesday 15 January and Monday 17 March and run from 7pm-8:30pm.

The other eight sessions are designed for independent study and are made up of video content, reading, written tasks and other creative activities to help consolidate your learning. These can be done at any time in the week that suits you. We recommend that you allow two hours of learning for each session, plus time for reading and assessment preparation.

Throughout the unit you will have opportunities through scheduled online meetings to check in with Cliff College staff, discuss your learning and experience of the unit, seek guidance on assessments and ask any questions you have.

This unit costs £360, including access to all teaching materials and tutorial support throughout your learning. For more information, please contact us on enquiries@cliffcollege.ac.uk.

Applications for this unit are open now - apply here! The deadline for applications for a January 2025 start is Friday 6 December. If you have any questions about the unit or would like to speak to someone before applying, please contact enquiries@cliffcollege.ac.uk.

Entry requirements

A Level 3 qualification (such as an A Level) or equivalent.

It is recognised that standard procedures for assessing applications may not always provide an accurate understanding of an applicant's suitability. In such cases where a Level 3 qualification is not held, qualification it is still possible to apply, and these applications will be considered on a case-by-case basis, in line with our non-standard entry process.

English language proficiency

Applicants whose first language is not English shall have achieved an overall IELTS score of 6.0 or equivalent in an equivalent recognised test. This must have been achieved no longer than two years before the date of enrolment on the unit.