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Migration has been a feature of human life since our species’ origins in Africa many thousands of years ago. The first human settlers in Britain migrated here about 25,000 years ago and more immigrants arrived and mixed with later arrivals across the centuries. We are their descendants.

Throughout our history, moving here has changed the people who came and they have changed Britain. Our changing population has been an unchanging fact. The story of migration is the story of our nation seen through the lives of all of us.

As you study migration you will encounter the major events and changes in the history of Britain. These include the Norman Conquest, the Hundred Years' War, the Reformation, enslavement, the British Empire, the Industrial Revolution, the two World Wars, the Cold War, the European Union and the modern conflicts causing mass movement of people seeking safety. You will also see how Britain’s economy and its relationship with the wider world changed and developed over 1000 years. Immigrants to Britain played a part in all of these, sometimes a key role.

Immigration is a controversial political topic in our own time. Many of today’s issues and debates are the same as those in the past, while others are very different. Studying the history of migration will help you think about today’s arguments in context, with evidence, so that you can make informed judgements that learn from history.