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Audiology BSc

London, Bloomsbury
Audiology BSc (2024)

Build your career in healthcare by studying UCL's Audiology BSc course.

Audiologists work in clinical settings and help diagnose, treat, and manage a variety of hearing and balance related conditions. By studying the Audiology BSc course you will gain the necessary skills and knowledge to register as a qualified audiologist. Audiologists can work in a variety of roles in the commercial sector or the NHS.

UK students International students
Study mode
Full-time
Duration
3 academic years
UK tuition fees (2024/25)
£9,250
Overseas tuition fees (2024/25)
£28,100
Programme starts
September 2025
Application deadline
29 Jan 2025
UCAS course code
B610
Apply via UCAS

Entry requirements

A levels IB Diploma Other qualifications
Grades
AAB
Subjects
To include Biology, plus one other Science: Mathematics, Physics or Psychology preferred.
GCSEs
English Language and Mathematics at grade B or 6.

Contextual offer information

Contextual offers are typically one to two grades lower than the standard offer. Grade and subject requirements for contextual offers for this programme will be published in Summer 2024.

Points
36
Subjects
A total score of 17 points in three higher level subjects to include Biology and one science: Mathematics, Physics or Psychology preferred, with no higher level score below 5. If Mathematics is offered at higher level, the programme will accept either 'Analysis and Approaches' or 'Applications and Interpretation.

Contextual offer

Contextual offers are typically one to two grade boundaries (equivalent to A levels) lower than the standard offer. IB Diploma grade and subject requirements for contextual offers for this programme will be published in Summer 2024.

UK applicants qualifications

For entry requirements with other UK qualifications accepted by UCL, choose your qualification from the list below:

Equivalent qualification

Pass in Access to HE Diploma with a minimum of 30 credits at Distinction and 15 credits at Merit, all from Level 3 units. Please note, where subject specific requirements are stipulated at A level we may review your Access to HE syllabus to ensure you meet the subject specific requirements prior to a final decision being communicated.

BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma (QCF) or BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (RQF - teaching from 2016) with Distinction, Distinction, Distinction. Please note, where subject specific requirements are stipulated at A level we may review your BTEC syllabus to ensure you meet the subject specific requirements prior to a final decision being communicated.

D3,D3,M1 in three Cambridge Pre-U Principal Subjects, including Biology, plus one other Science: Mathematics, Physics or Psychology preferred.

A,A,B at Advanced Highers (or A,A at Advanced Higher and B,B,B at Higher) to include Biology, plus one other Science at Advanced Higher: Mathematics, Physics or Psychology preferred.

Not acceptable for entrance to this programme.

Not acceptable for entrance to this programme.

Successful completion of the WBQ Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate plus 2 GCE A-Levels at grades AAB to include Biology, plus one other Science: Mathematics, Physics or Psychology preferred.

International applications

Country-specific information, including details of when UCL representatives are visiting your part of the world, can be obtained from the International Students website.

Access and widening participation

UCL is committed to widening access to higher education. If you are eligible for Access UCL you do not need to do anything in addition to the standard UCAS application. Your application will be automatically flagged when we receive it.
Check your Access UCL Scheme eligibility

Undergraduate Preparatory Certificates

The Undergraduate Preparatory Certificates (UPC) prepare international students for a UCL undergraduate degree who don’t have the qualifications to enter directly. These intensive one-year foundation courses are taught on our central London campus.

Typical UPC students will be high achievers in a 12-year school system which does not meet the standard required for direct entry to UCL.

For more information see: ucl.ac.uk/upc.

English language requirements

The English language level for this programme is: Level 4

Information about the evidence required, acceptable qualifications and test providers can be found on our English language requirements page.

A variety of English language programmes are offered at the UCL Centre for Languages & International Education.

Course overview

The Audiology BSc is a three-year course that trains students to join the healthcare workforce as audiologists. Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to graduate into a rewarding and dynamic career as an audiologist, with many transferable skills and future training offering further career development.

The first year will provide you with a full grounding in the science that underpins healthcare and audiology. You will learn about hearing loss in adults and how it can be managed or treated. You will carry out routine hearing tests and learn basic clinical procedures on day placements. From the first year of your course, you will get specialist clinical training in our Clinical Skills Lab, providing you with industry-standard equipment to learn how to deliver clinical procedures such as hearing tests or using an otoscope to conduct ear examinations.

In Year Two, you will study diagnosis and management of hearing loss in adults in further detail, including how to fit and program hearing aids. You will become familiar with a range of modern hearing technology.

You will learn about hearing loss in children, tinnitus, and balance disorders. In parallel to your clinical studies, you will study research methods and data analysis techniques, and choose a research project topic for your final year (similar to a dissertation in other courses). You will develop your clinical and communication skills with more advanced module teaching and complete a five-week compulsory clinical placement at an audiology clinic. The clinical placements are some of the most rewarding and engaging parts of your course where you will begin to use your clinical skills and knowledge with real patients and see how audiologists make measurable improvements on patients’ lives.

In your final year, you will complete your research project and choose from a range of audiology topics to develop your knowledge in areas that interest you. You will continue to develop yourself as a competent and confident clinician by learning about professional practice and undertake a compulsory 20-week clinical placement to prepare you for working professionally as an audiologist.

What this course will give you

You will receive high quality teaching from expert researchers and clinicians at the UCL Ear Institute, a renowned centre for audiovestibular education and world-leading research. You will also engage with professionals from the wider audiology community thanks to our links with hospitals and clinics across the UK.

From your first year, you will begin to use equipment and facilities used by audiologists in clinical settings to develop your own clinical skills.

The course will develop your clinical skills and allow you to gain experience delivering audiology services in real clinical settings on your integrated placements at NHS teaching hospitals, hearing aid dispensers and private sector clinics. On your placements you will shadow and work with a registered audiologist to gain first-hand experience of completing clinical assessments and hearing aid fittings. By your third year, you will have developed enough confidence and gained enough experience to complete audiological assessment and rehabilitation while being supervised on your placements.

You will meet members of the public with audiological disorders who will share their experiences and work with you to enhance your understanding of ear related conditions. Working as an audiologist is a very rewarding career and often appeals to people who particularly enjoy helping others. Audiologists often make significant improvements to patients’ lives, as hearing loss and ear disorders can be isolating and detrimental to people’s quality of life.

Furthermore, our small class sizes (fewer than 30 students) provide a sense of community and allow informal and interactive teaching where you can easily ask questions. Your teaching will be based at the Ear Institute itself, which has a strong sense of community with academic and social events planned throughout the year. You will be joining a faculty of researchers, academics and students who are all passionate about advancing the understanding of hearing loss and related disorders and improving outcomes for patients. Students are also encouraged to engage with the whole of the UCL student community with opportunities to join sports clubs and societies or attend a wide variety of campus events (from volunteering fairs to movie screenings).

Additionally:

  • UCL is consistently ranked as one of the top ten universities in the world (QS World University Rankings 2010-2024).
  • UCL is ranked in the top ten in Europe for employability (QS Graduate Employability Rankings 2022).
  • We work closely with NHS departments, private hospitals, and commercial hearing aid dispensers in and around London to provide placement and observation opportunities for students and are partnered with the Royal National ENT and Eastman Dental Hospitals.

Teaching and learning

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).

Upon successful completion of 360 credits, you will be awarded a BSc (Hons) in Audiology.

Modules

Please note that the list of modules given here is indicative. This information is published a long time in advance of enrolment and module content and availability is subject to change. Modules that are in use for the current academic year are linked for further information. Where no link is present, further information is not yet available.

The Audiology BSc course provides students with a full and comprehensive understanding of the theory and clinical practice central to audiology.

In Year One, you learn about the science that underpins healthcare and audiology, hearing loss in adults, and contemporary approaches to diagnosing and managing it. You will begin to develop your own clinical experience by carrying out routine hearing tests and learning basic clinical procedures. Bringing the role of audiologists to life, you will also visit hearing clinics to observe audiologists in their day-to-day role. There are opportunities to ask questions and see clinics being used by real patients.

In Year Two, you will study diagnosis and management of hearing loss in adults in further detail. You will expand on your audiological knowledge by learning about hearing loss in children, tinnitus, and balance disorders. You will study research methods and choose a research project topic for your final year. You will continue to develop your clinical skills and patient communication skills by completing a compulsory clinical placement of five weeks.

In Year Three, you will complete your research project and choose from a range of audiology topics to develop your knowledge of areas that interest you. You will complete a further 20 weeks of professional clinical practice on your placement to enhance your employability.

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3

Compulsory modules










Compulsory modules









Compulsory modules

Audiology 5

Audiology 6

Clinical Practice 3

Research Project

Study Skills and Personal Development 3


Your learning

We use our virtual learning environment to provide a range of learning resources, such as video lectures, structured learning activities (e.g., quizzes, online discussion boards, webinars) and directed reading. This is supported with online and live lectures, seminars, group work and practical sessions. We also use clinical case studies to help you learn how to make clinical decisions.

You will undertake compulsory clinical observation days in Year One and compulsory clinical placements in the NHS and/or private sector during Year Two and Year Three. Placements are provided according to clinical availability: we work with leading clinics in and around London and other parts of the UK. You should be prepared to travel to your clinical placement and possibly to stay away from home during some placement weeks.

A module will typically involve 1-2 hours of contact time with tutors and 8-10 hours of self-directed study, group work per week but this varies considerably between modules depending on their size and the learning content. Theoretical modules will include more self-directed study whereas practical modules, (such as clinical practice and case-based learning modules) will involve more group work and laboratory sessions. Contact time is usually in the form of face-to-face sessions.

Assessment

You will write essays and case study reports, record videos and give presentations. Assessments also include clinical and experimental workbooks, a research project, practical assessments where you show you can complete a clinical procedure, and written exams. Clinical competency assessments will be completed during the final year placement.

Accessibility

Details of the accessibility of UCL buildings can be obtained from AccessAble. Further information can also be obtained from the UCL Student Support and Wellbeing team.

Visit us

All open days and events

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Online - Open day

Undergraduate Virtual Open Days

UCL is London's leading multidisciplinary university, voted University of the Year 2024 by the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide. With students from over 150 different countries, UCL is a diverse global community of world leading academics and students. Join us at our Virtual Open Days and discover why UCL might be the place for you! Check out our Open Days webpages where you can find out about the programmes on offer, student services and book live Q&A sessions to get your questions answered.

Online - Open day

Undergraduate Audiology BSc - Virtual Discovery Session

Join the Ear Institute to find out more about studying the Audiology BSc course at UCL. This is a fantastic opportunity to learn more about the programme, what it's like to study at UCL, and your potential career as an audiologist or hearing aid dispenser. You will get to hear from academic staff who teach on the programme and get an opportunity to ask them questions.

Watch on demand event

The foundation of your career

Graduates will typically work clinically as an Audiologist in the NHS or as a Hearing Aid Dispenser in the private sector. There are other career destinations that graduates will be able to pursue, including service support and training within the audiology equipment and service industries, and there are also a variety of career opportunities in the charitable sector.

Graduates may also wish to pursue further studies, such as a Master's degree or a doctorate. This will allow them to either specialise further in a clinical area of interest, to follow a career in scientific research or audiology education.

Employability

This degree will equip you with the scientific and clinical skills needed to diagnose and manage ear disorders in a clinical setting, or to undertake audiology research. It is anticipated that most graduates will enter a healthcare career but within this there are further opportunities to develop your own career, by developing in a specialist area of audiology, leadership, research, or education. Within the NHS, audiologists typically start at band 5 with potential progression to band 9 (requiring experience and additional qualifications such as the Higher Specialist Scientist Training).

The course develops several transferable skills which are all attractive to employers in a variety of sectors. You will develop strong analytical, communication and interpersonal skills which can be adapted to a variety of other roles. Working as an audiologist requires strong critical thinking and problem-solving skills, as well as excellent communication skills as you will be working with patients during your studies. These are highly transferrable to other roles.

Accreditation

This is a new degree. We are applying for accreditation/approval from the National School of Healthcare Science and the Health and Care Professions Council. Accreditation from these organisations will allow graduates from the course to register to work as an audiologist (Healthcare Scientist) for the NHS or in the private sector as a Hearing Aid Dispenser.

Fees and funding

Fees for this course

UK students International students
Fee description Full-time
Tuition fees (2024/25) £9,250
Tuition fees (2024/25) £28,100

The fees indicated are for undergraduate entry in the 2024/25 academic year. The UK 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 2024/25 entrants for each year of study on the programme, unless otherwise indicated below.

Full details of UCL's tuition fees, tuition fee policy and potential increases to fees can be found on the UCL Students website.

Additional costs

A charge for a Post Office check (£15.00) needed for an application for a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check is payable by the student. The cost of the DBS check itself is paid by the department.

The cost of travel to clinical placements (or accommodation costs if daily travel is not possible) within the UK. Expected total placement travel cost is approximately £1800, based on a monthly London travel card cost for the expected duration of the placements. Student discounts may reduce this, and a placement hardship fund is available for students with financial difficulties.

A guide including rough estimates for these and other living expenses is included on the UCL Fees and funding pages. If you are concerned by potential additional costs for books, equipment, etc., please get in touch with the relevant departmental contact (details given on this page).

Funding your studies

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.

See all the ways you can fund your studies

Scholarships

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.

Next steps

Your application

Aside from meeting the entry requirements for this course, we particularly welcome applications from students who are passionate about helping people and those who find problem solving rewarding.

If you have work experience that you want to include in your personal statement, we recommend that you include this, but it is important you to make this relevant to audiology/working as an audiologist.

We also understand that some students may be applying for this course alongside applications to study Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy, Optometry and Speech and Language Therapy. We still welcome these applications and understand that these personal statements will be submitted with these subjects as the primary subject focus.

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.

Selection

For further information on UCL's selection process see: How we assess your application.

Applicants are encouraged to attend the applicant open days where they can see the facilities on site at the Ear Institute and ask questions. Offer-holders will be able to take part in live and recorded online events to learn more about the programme. 

Apply via UCAS
Application guidelines
Download prospectus

Got questions? Get in touch

Ear Institute
Ear Institute

ear.admin@ucl.ac.uk

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