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Contact information
- Ms Jolanta Skorecka
- Undergraduate Coordinator
- uganthro@ucl.ac.uk
- +44 (0)20 7679 8621
Anthropology BSc
This programme looks at the biological, cultural, social and material culture aspects of human beings as well as their evolution. It will help you gain a broad set of skills including: critical reasoning; the ability to search, sift and analyse various materials; collaborative group work; and oral and written communication.
Covid-19 programme updates
Due to COVID-19, there may have been updates to this programme for the 2020 academic year. Where there has been an update, these are indicated with a red alert and a link which will provide further information.
Key Information
Programme starts
September 2020
- UCAS code
- L602
- Duration
-
Full-time: 3 years
- Application deadline
- 15 January 2020
- Location
- London, Bloomsbury
Entry requirements
A Levels
- Grades
- AAB
- Subjects
- No specific subjects.
- At least two A level subjects should be taken from UCL's list of preferred A level subjects.
- GCSEs
- English Language and Mathematics at grade C or 5, plus Science or Biology at grade B or 6. For UK-based students, a grade C or 5 or equivalent in a foreign language (other than Ancient Greek, Biblical Hebrew or Latin) is required. UCL provides opportunities to meet the foreign language requirement following enrolment, further details at: www.ucl.ac.uk/ug-reqs
Contextual offer
- Grades
- BBB (more about contextual offers)
- Subjects
- No specific subjects.
- GCSEs
- English Language and Mathematics at grade C or 5, plus Science or Biology at grade B or 6. For UK-based students, a grade C or 5 or equivalent in a foreign language (other than Ancient Greek, Biblical Hebrew or Latin) is required. UCL provides opportunities to meet the foreign language requirement following enrolment, further details at: www.ucl.ac.uk/ug-reqs
IB Diploma
- Points
- 36
- Subjects
- A total of 17 points in three higher level subjects, with no score below 5.
Contextual offer
- Points
- 32 (more about contextual offers)
- Subjects
- A total of 15 points in three higher level subjects, with no score below 5.
UK applicants qualifications
For entry requirements with other UK qualifications accepted by UCL, choose your qualification from the list below:
Equivalent qualification
BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma (QCF) or BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (RQF - teaching from 2016) with Distinction, Distinction, Distinction.
Pass in Access to HE Diploma, with a minimum of 18 credits awarded with Distinction in the Level 3 units, the remainder of the Level 3 units awarded with Merit.
D3,D3,M1 in three Cambridge Pre-U Principal Subjects
A,A,B at Advanced Highers (or A,A at Advanced Higher and B,B,B at Higher)
Successful completion of the WBQ Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate plus 2 GCE A-Levels at grades AAB
International applications
In addition to A level and International Baccalaureate, UCL considers a wide range of international qualifications for entry to its undergraduate degree programmes.
English language requirements
If your education has not been conducted in the English language, you will be expected to demonstrate evidence of an adequate level of English proficiency. Information about the evidence required, acceptable qualifications and test providers can be found on our English language requirements page.
The English language level for this programme is: Good
A variety of English language programmes are offered at the UCL Centre for Languages & International Education.
Degree benefits
UCL Anthropology is one of the few departments in the country that combines social anthropology, biological anthropology, material culture and medical anthropology to give you a truly broad-based anthropology degree.
One of the largest anthropology departments in the UK, with highly-rated research, offering an exceptionally wide range of modules taught by academic staff at the forefront of the discipline.
Access to excellent resources including extensive literature in the UCL Main Library and other nearby libraries, such as in the Centre for Anthropology at the British Museum.
We have an outstanding collection of ethnographic items and the Napier Primate Collection, and work closely with the ethnographic department of the British Museum and with the Horniman Museum.
Degree structure
In each year of your degree you will take a number of individual modules, normally valued at 15 or 30 credits, adding up to a total of 120 credits for the year. Modules are assessed in the academic year in which they are taken. The balance of compulsory and optional modules varies from programme to programme and year to year. A 30-credit module is considered equivalent to 15 credits in the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS).
In the first year, you take compulsory modules covering the three branches of the programme; biological anthropology, social anthropology and material culture. Biological anthropology focuses on contemporary human-environment interactions and human evolution. Social anthropology explores social and cultural differences and their determinants, from indigenous groups to modern western economies. Material culture studies human, social and environmental relationships through the evidence of people's construction of their material world. Your first year also includes a three-day field trip to discover ethnographic research and participant observation in ritual, landscape, and techniques.
Your second year includes both compulsory and optional modules. In the third year, you select five optional modules from a wide range alongside a dissertation.
Modules
An indicative guide to the structure of this programme, year by year.
Core or compulsory module(s)
Introduction to Biological Anthropology
Introduction to Material and Visual Culture
Introductory Social Anthropology
Methods and Techniques in Biological Anthropology
Researching the Social World
Optional modules
All first-year modules are compulsory.
Core or compulsory module(s)
Theoretical Perspectives in Social Anthropology and Material Culture
Being Human
Optional modules
You will select a minimum of 75 and a maximum of 90 credits from Anthropology optional modules which must include choices in biological, social, material culture and medical anthropology.
Anthropology of the Body
Art in the Public Sphere
Ethnography of Forest People
Linguistic Anthropology
Medical Anthropology
Palaeoanthropology
Primate Behaviour and Ecology
The Anthropology of Social Media
You may take up to a maximum of 15 credits from other undergraduate elective modules outside the department.
Core or compulsory module(s)
Individual Studies in Anthropology
Optional modules
You will select a minimum of 60 and a maximum of 75 credits from all final-year Anthropology options. These may include:
Anthropology of Capitalism
Ethnographic and Documentary Film Making - a practice-based introduction
Evolution and Human Behaviour
Reproduction, Fertility and Sex
Ritual Healing and Therapeutic Emplotment
Temporality, Consciousness and Everyday Life
The Anthropology of Music and Performance
Transforming and Creating Worlds: Anthropological Perspectives on Techniques and Technology
You may take up to a maximum of 15 credits from other undergraduate elective modules outside the department.
Covid-19 module updates
Due to COVID-19, there may be updates to the modules for your chosen programme of study this year. Some modules may not be available or may need to be moved to a later term or year of study.
These updates are relevant for 2020-21 academic year only. The full list of modules will be available in the module catalogue from late August. From the first week of September, you will be invited to complete module selection from Portico, our student record system.
There may need to be additional updates or changes to modules during the academic year to allow for new guidance from the UK Government and Public Health England. Your department shall keep you updated of these changes as they become available
Your learning
Our teaching comprises lectures, tutorials, seminars and laboratory classes. Small-group tutorials, normally meeting weekly, are an important element of many modules. Ongoing feedback is given to help you improve your written work.
Covid-19 field trip updates
Due to COVID-19 updates, there may need to be changes to planned field trips for this programme. This will depend on travel restrictions, social distancing measures, and the availability of the relevant venues. Your department will keep you updated if field trips are able to occur and/or any alternative options available.
Covid-19 contact hours on campus
In Term One, while campus will be open, all the learning activity for the core content of your modules will take place online – including lectures, tutorials, seminars and assessments. By “core content” we mean everything you need to learn to complete the module successfully.
In addition to these online contact hours, we will be offering some face-to-face educational activities for students on campus, and we will provide alternative online activities for those students unable to join us on campus. These activities, which will include contact with academic staff, will be relevant to your programme of study may include seminars, academic and employability skills workshops, small-group or individual tutorials, lab and practice-based teaching.
UK Government safety guidelines will limit the amount of ‘in person’ activity we can offer and while it will vary from programme to programme, is likely to be no more than 1-2 hours per week. This will vary across departments, particularly if your programme includes laboratory/practical/studio/workshop sessions. You will be updated with more specific details as they are available and your timetable will indicate which sessions will be on campus and which will be available online.
Communicating further Covid-19 mitigation plans
We are continuing to follow UK Government guidance, as well as the expertise of our researchers, including specialists in health, education, human behaviour and infection prevention, to make sure UCL is as safe as possible during the COVID-19 pandemic. If it becomes necessary to make further changes to your programme as a result of new guidance/regulations, UCL and your department will communicate these as soon as this becomes clear. We will keep you up-to-date with our plans throughout term one, so you have the information you need to be able to take decisions that are right for your circumstances. Please ensure that you keep in touch with your department by regularly checking your UCL emails, Moodle courses, the Coronavirus FAQs for Students page and any UCL online groups or social media you follow.
Assessment
Your modules may be assessed by written coursework, by examination or a mixture of both. Examinations are normally unseen and their formats vary according to the module. Some combine short answers with essay questions, others rely solely on longer essay answers.
Covid-19 assessment updates
There may be changes to the format of assessments for modules in this programme due to COVID-19. These will be summarised for each module on the module catalogue from 17 August 2020.
If any changes to assessments need to be made during the academic year due to updates in government guidance, these will be communicated to you as soon as possible from your department.
Detailed course descriptions are available on the department website: Anthropology BSc.
Careers
The broad range of methodological skills and analytical perspectives offered by the UCL Anthropology programme gives our graduates an unusually wide range of career possibilities, many of them directly related to the discipline's cross-cultural focus and to our blending of the social and biological sciences.
Former graduates work in diverse fields, such as journalism, film-making, TV, museums, social work, international development, NGOs and the voluntary sector, police, probation, refugee work, wine tasting, market research, advertising, design, PR, marketing, music industry, accountancy, local government, HR, ESL teaching, and as cultural advisors for multinationals.
UCL is commited to helping you get the best start after graduation. Read more about how UCL Careers and UCL Innovation and Enterprise can help you find employment or learn about entrepreneurship.
Student view
“I wanted to study Anthropology because early on I realised that I am very interested in human interaction and the ways we socialise in combination with biological facts. Anthropology is about humans and London is such a diverse and international place. ”Siba Kalantari - Anthropology BSc Second Year
Fees and funding
Tuition fees
The fees indicated are for undergraduate entry in the 2020/21 academic year. The UK/EU fees shown are for the first year of the programme at UCL only. Fees for future years may be subject to an inflationary increase. The Overseas fees shown are the fees that will be charged to 2020/21 entrants for each year of study on the programme, unless otherwise indicated below.
- UK/EU students
- £9,250 (2020/21)
- Overseas students
- £28,610 (2020/21)
Full details of UCL's tuition fees, tuition fee policy and potential increases to fees can be found on the UCL Students website.
Funding
Various funding options are available, including student loans, scholarships and bursaries. UK students whose household income falls below a certain level may also be eligible for a non-repayable bursary or for certain scholarships. Please see the Fees and funding pages for more details.
Departmental scholarships
Funding opportunities relevant to the department may appear in this section when they are available. Please check carefully or confirm with the programme contact to ensure they apply to this degree programme.
The Scholarships and Funding website lists scholarships and funding schemes available to UCL students. These may be open to all students, or restricted to specific nationalities, regions or academic department.
Application and next steps
Your application
Given our broad-based degree candidates whose academic studies have encompassed arts/humanities and science (preferably biology or human biology) will be well equipped to manage all aspects of the degree.
How to apply
Application for admission should be made through UCAS (the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service). Applicants currently at school or college will be provided with advice on the process; however, applicants who have left school or who are based outside the United Kingdom may obtain information directly from UCAS.
Application deadline: 15 January 2020
Selection
The department has a long-standing policy of encouraging applications from those with non-standard qualifications. If you are such a candidate you may be asked to provide supplementary evidence of your suitability for the programme, for example by submitting an essay. All applications are considered on their own merits and offers may be tailored to your specific circumstances if we believe you have potential.
For further information on UCL's selection process see: Selection of students.
Page last modified on 12 March 2020