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Linguistics BA

London, Bloomsbury

Linguistics is the study of the capacity to use language. At UCL, students investigate the sound patterns (Phonetics and Phonology) and grammatical structures (Syntax) of the world's languages, and how we create and use meaningful expressions (Semantics and Pragmatics). Students on our courses can explore a range of topics including language acquisition and processing, multilingualism, sociolinguistics, language evolution, and animal communication.

UK students International students
Study mode
Full-time
Duration
3 academic years
UK tuition fees (2025/26)
£9,535
Overseas tuition fees (2025/26)
£29,800
Programme starts
September 2025
Application deadline
29 Jan 2025
UCAS course code
Q100

Entry requirements

A levels IB Diploma Other qualifications
Grades
AAB
Subjects
English Language preferred.
GCSEs
English Language at grade B or 6 and Mathematics at grade C or 4.

Contextual offer information

Grades
BBB more about contextual offers
Subjects
English language preferred.
GCSEs
English Language and Mathematics at grade C or 4.
Points
36
Subjects
A score of 17 points in three higher level subjects preferably to include English Language, with no higher level score below 5.

Contextual offer

Points
32 more about contextual offers
Subjects
A score of 15 points in three higher level subjects preferably to include English Language, with no higher level 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

Pass in Access to HE Diploma with a minimum of 30 credits at Distinction and 15 credits at Merit, all from Level 3 units. Modules from English Language preferred.

BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma (QCF) or BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (RQF - teaching from 2016) with Distinction, Distinction, Distinction. Modules from English Language preferred.

D3,D3,M1 in three Cambridge Pre-U Principal Subjects, preferably including English Language.

AAB at Advanced Highers (or AA at Advanced Higher and BBB at Higher), preferably including English Language at Advanced Higher.

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. English Language 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 3

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 Linguistics BA is a three-year course that develops students’ knowledge and expertise in linguistics theory. The course shares many core elements with the Experimental Linguistics BSc and we also offer a Linguistics (International Programme) BA which includes a year abroad.

Throughout your studies, you will develop your understanding of the core areas of grammatical description:

  • Phonetics and phonology (how sounds are produced and perceived)
  • Morphology and syntax (how words are formed and combined into sentences)
  • Semantics and pragmatics (what sentences mean and how they are used)

In your first year, all your modules are compulsory, so you will develop a thorough understanding of the linguistics theories that will inform your education in Year Two and Year Three.

From Year Two, you will be able to tailor the course to pursue your personal interests in linguistics, language and beyond. Optional modules allow you to explore core areas in more depth, or to branch out into other areas of linguistic inquiry, such as sociolinguistics, multilingualism, and language evolution. Elective modules allow you to explore linguistic issues from the perspective of different disciplines or to develop independent interests. Students can also take elective modules from outside of the department, with many students choosing to study philosophy, psychology, , language sciences, or a foreign language.

Your undergraduate dissertation is the main focus of Year Three. It is the culmination of your studies where you will work with an academic supervisor to develop an original piece of research on a topic of your choice.

Additionally, you will take three advanced modules from the core areas of linguistics, one intermediate or advanced module offered in an area of linguistics, and two further elective modules. Your elective modules can be studied within linguistics, but you may also choose modules from outside the department (students studying a foreign language in Year Two, often continue this in Year Three).

What this course will give you

The UCL Linguistics department is known worldwide for its teaching and research excellence and the work of our staff appears in internationally acclaimed journals and books. You will have access to extensive computer facilities and to a specialist on-site linguistics and language sciences library in addition to UCL's main library.

Your home department is based at Chandler House, a dedicated building for linguistics and language sciences. There are social and study spaces for students with events and talks happening throughout the academic year. You will acquire a broad foundation in linguistic analysis and theory, while being able to pursue chosen areas in greater depth, and study language and linguistics in a broader context.

You will develop a wide range of transferable skills: a broad understanding of language and languages; data collection and analysis; hypothesis testing; critical reading and argumentation. Through elective modules, you can also gain experience with experimental design, statistical analysis, and computational methods.

The skills and knowledge that you gain from studying linguistics at university level are valued in a wide variety of future career destinations, including marketing, advertising, PR and communications, business and management, teaching and speech and language therapy.

Our focus on small-group teaching helps create a friendly and supportive atmosphere. The department runs a mentoring scheme whereby second-year or final-year students support new students.

Additionally:

  • We are the top ranked university for Linguistics in London (The Guardian University Guide 2023).
  • UCL is consistently ranked as one of the top ten universities in the world (QS World University Rankings 2010-2024).
  • UCL is 2nd in the world for Social Sciences (General) in the National Taiwan University Rankings for scientific papers (2023).

Teaching and learning

In each year of your degree you will take a number of individual modules, normally valued at 15 or 30 credits and adding up to 120 credits per year in the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS). 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.

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

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.

In Year One, you will learn about basic issues in linguistics and gain a solid foundation in linguistic analysis through the study of phonetics, phonology, pragmatics, semantics, and syntax of various languages. You will acquire basic tools and analytic concepts of contemporary linguistic theory.

In Year Two, you will take a further four modules in core aspects of linguistic analysis. You will also be able to study other aspects of linguistics. Moreover, you can elect two modules from anywhere in the university to either support a specific aspect of your education in linguistics or to develop an independent interest.

In the third year you have the possibility of tailoring your degree with two elective modules and you will also be allowed to choose the areas of linguistic analysis you would like to gain specialist knowledge in, and you will undertake a year-long independent research project in linguistics.

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3

Compulsory modules









Optional modules








Compulsory modules



Optional modules

Pragmatics and Cognition


Issues in Pragmatics


Advanced Semantic Theory




Constructed languages



Your learning

Teaching is mainly delivered through lectures, workshops, and small-group teaching (tutorials in which you meet with a group of between 5 – 15 students and a staff member to discuss topics covered in the lecture) as well as a virtual learning environment (VLE). Some modules also involve workshops.

The course introduces you to descriptive and analytical tools, to foundational issues, and current research questions in theoretical linguistics. The course strongly emphasises discovery and research-based learning, fostering your ability to construct and evaluate rigorous models of linguistic data patterns, an ability that enables our graduates to pursue a broad range of academic and non-academic pursuits upon successful completion of the course.

You will learn through a mix of hands-on exercises, lectures, group and individual projects, discussion classes, and individual study. Your ability to communicate effectively will be developed through group discussions and assessments requiring you to produce cogent outputs (pieces of writing, presentations) with an audience in mind. Feedback on your written and oral work emphasises not only its intellectual merits, but also its effectiveness in presenting a coherent argument for an audience.

You will typically have between 8-12 contact hours per week during term time depending on year of study and module choices. You will be expected to undertake additional hours of self-directed learning which will include reading research articles and preparing for lectures/assessments.

Assessment

Each module is assessed and examined separately in the same academic year in which you take it.

You will be assessed by a variety of methods including essays, unseen exams with multiple choice, short answer or long answer questions, in-class quizzes, presentations, and homework problems. In the first year, there is stronger emphasis on continuous assessment (homework assignments and quizzes) and on testing knowledge (unseen exams). The emphasis then shifts to progressively larger and more independent projects (essays and presentations) culminating in your dissertation project. Assessed components include both individual and group work.

The development of subject-specific knowledge is supported early on through regular homework assignments and continuous assessment and later through increasingly complex research projects. The latter also support the development of intellectual, academic and research skills. Practical and transferable skills (IT, library, and time management) are developed throughout implicitly. Teamwork and leadership skills are particularly developed through group projects, and the ability to communicate orally is developed through the inclusion of group work and presentations in the mix of assessments.

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 Services team.

Visit us

All open days and events

Online - Open day

Virtual Open Event: Linguistics (AM)

—

During this online session, you'll hear from programme Director Klaus Abels and various lecturers on the BA Linguistics and the BSc Experimental Linguistics programmes. They'll talk you through the various course structures, modules, career outcomes and life as a student in the department, UCL and London more widely. We'll also have current students on the course in the session for you to meet.

Online - Open day

Virtual Open Event: Linguistics (PM)

—

During this online session, you'll hear from programme Director Klaus Abels and various lecturers on the BA Linguistics and the BSc Experimental Linguistics programmes. They'll talk you through the various course structures, modules, career outcomes and life as a student in the department, UCL and London more widely. We'll also have current students on the course in the session for you to meet.

The foundation of your career

Your knowledge of linguistics and the variety of transferable skills you will gain will support you pursuing a variety of career destinations.

Graduates from our Linguistics BA programmes have gone on to work as teachers, writers and translators, management consultants and in the finance services. Our graduates now work in education, accountancy, publishing, consultancies and social care.

Data is from the Graduate Outcomes survey carried out by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), looking at the destinations of UK and EU graduates from 2017-18 to 2020-21.

Many Linguistics graduates from UCL carry on with the subject at postgraduate level, often with a view to pursuing an academic career in research. Linguistics connects with many other disciplines and a number of graduates go on to work in these areas, e.g., teaching languages (especially English as a first or foreign language), speech and language therapy, natural language processing, advertising or the media.

Employability

In addition to subject-specific skills, you will also acquire the analytical, investigative and study skills essential for most graduate careers, which could include law, computing, commerce, and industry.

The course is designed to teach many transferable skills:

  • How to acquire data in a controlled fashion.
  • How to analyse it and develop abstract models of complex sets of facts.
  • How to present a structured argument.
  • How to express yourself clearly both in writing and orally.
  • How to undertake independent research.

Innovative teaching methods support the development of necessary skills such as teamwork.

Fees and funding

Fees for this course

UK students International students
Fee description Full-time
Tuition fees (2025/26) £9,535
Tuition fees (2025/26) £29,800

Fees are for Undergraduate 2025/26 entry and are for the first year only. Fees for subsequent years may be subject to increase: Student Terms and Conditions. UK fees are in line with the Government announcement on fee cap increases and are subject to the passing of secondary legislation. Overseas fees shown are the fees that will be charged to 2025/26 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

There are minimal costs other than those covered by tuition fees. Some modules make use of textbooks, but these are typically available (in hard copy or electronic version) through the UCL library. Students who pursue experimental work as part of their dissertation are eligible to have costs refunded up to a set budget.

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 studying language and linguistics from an academic and research perspective.

If you have work experience that you want to include in your personal statement, we recommend that you include this, but it is important that you make this relevant to the field of linguistics.

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.

We value the experience that candidates who do not have standard qualifications may bring, and encourage you to contact us if you are interested in the programme.

Further information is available here.

Download prospectus

Got questions? Get in touch

Division of Psychology and Language Sciences
Division of Psychology and Language Sciences

pals.lingteachingoffice@ucl.ac.uk

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