Experimental Linguistics BSc

Join us at the forefront of a rapidly evolving discipline, where we combine our knowledge of the origins and structures of human language with practical scientific approaches and quantitative lab-based testing.

With the three-year Experimental Linguistics BSc course, you’ll learn how to use the latest scientific approaches and methodologies, and design practical experiments to study how people use language to create meaning and transfer information in real time. The course shares many core elements with the Linguistics BA and we also offer a study-year abroad on the Experimental Linguistics with Study Abroad BSc.

To do this, you’ll develop a comprehensive toolkit, drawn from a range of different academic disciplines, including psycho-linguistics and neuro-linguistics. You’ll get opportunities to work across other departments within the Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, and benefit from the expertise of a wide range of leading academics.

On the course, you may study evolutionary biology to shed light on the origins of language, deploy psychological and neuroscientific methods, use eye-trackers to observe language processing in the brain in real time, use acoustic analysis, or put together field studies to learn more about languages from all over the world.

In your first year, you’ll acquire a foundational understanding of the three 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)

As you progress into the second year, alongside your three compulsory modules, you’ll select five elective or optional modules, allowing you to tailor your course around your own interests and career goals. You can choose to pursue your studies across countries and continents with the option of an additional year abroad on the Experimental Linguistics (with Study Abroad) BSc. Alternatively, you can immerse yourself in computational linguistics, exploring the intersection of language and statistics that’s powering the rise of the large language models (LLMs) reshaping our society.

In your final year, you’ll design, organise and carry out your own original research project, under specialist supervision. You’ll combine this with elective modules covering advanced linguistics theory alongside topics to match your areas of interest.

UCL has a rich tradition of research into language with a strong history in the cognitive scientific approach to the study of language. The UCL Linguistics department is at the heart of this tradition, and so the students will be learning directly from our tight-knit community of leading researchers in the world of linguistics.

Your home department is based at Chandler House, a dedicated building for linguistics and language sciences. Facilities include sound-proof booths and eye-tracking facilities to conduct psycholinguistic experiments. There are social and study spaces for students, and subject specific events and talks are held throughout the academic year.

Chandler House is based in Bloomsbury, in the heart of London, so you have access to a global city with world-class facilities, clubs and social venues.

Additionally, you gain access to:

• World-leading linguistics training. Study with one of the world’s most prestigious research universities, the top ranked university for Linguistics in London (The Guardian University Guide 2026). We are also ranked 3rd in the UK for Linguistics according to The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2026.
• Diverse London location. With around 1,000 languages spoken, this exceptionally multi-cultural city provides a wealth of opportunities to test and develop your linguistic abilities.
• A broad set of multidisciplinary skills and linguistics competencies. Gain expertise and explore how linguistics interacts with fields as varied as anatomy, psychology, statistics and neuroscience.
• A tightly knit, supportive academic environment. You’ll join a small but lively community (typically 50 students in each year) in the linguistics building, Chandler House, in the heart of London.
• The chance to study abroad for a year. Enrolling on the four-year Experimental Linguistics (with Study Abroad) BSc allows you to complete an additional year of study at one of our elite partner institutions, building your linguistics skills and professional network in such destinations as Tokyo, Sydney or Utrecht.
• Statistical methods, data analysis and computational linguistics. You’ll develop the fundamental skills used to analyse quantitative psychological data, and learn about computational linguistics through optional modules from expert lecturers and researchers from leading tech companies (including Google DeepMind).
• Routes to industry and academia. Leave well equipped for a broad range of highly-skilled roles in language or communication-based industries, or pursue a PhD.
• Professional networking opportunities. Build connections within the international linguistics community, through our department’s enduring associations with the Linguistics Olympiad and the Linguistics Association of Great Britain (whose annual award for Outstanding Undergraduate Dissertation has been won by UCL students six times since 2017).