About this course
At Southampton, English is an interdisciplinary course. You’ll see how literature connects with areas such as film, science, performance and politics. You can study everything from medieval travellers’ tales to modern fictions of globalisation.
With our advice, you can shape your BA English degree to suit your own development. For example, you can:
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write avant-garde poetry
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study Victorian sensation fiction
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take a range of modules on women writers
Your studies will include critical analysis, presentations and group work. These will help you develop your conceptual thinking, communication and research skills.
As part of this course you can:
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join one of 40 student-led performing arts groups
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take part in writing workshops at Nuffield Southampton Theatres
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use a unique collection of rare books at the Chawton House Library
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learn a modern language at any level
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explore experimental writing with our Entropics events
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get one-to-one tutorials on writing from our Royal Literary Fund Fellows
You’ll have the opportunity to study abroad, spending a semester, a summer or even a full year at one of our global partner universities.
Course location
This course is based at Avenue.
Awarding body
This qualification is awarded by the University of Southampton.
Download the programme specification
The programme specification sets out the learning outcomes of this course and details how the course is taught and assessed.
Entry requirements
For Academic year 202021
A-levels
AAB including English Literature or a related subject*
A-levels additional information
Offers typically exclude General Studies and Critical Thinking. *Related subject includes History, English Language and Literature, English Language or Drama and Theatre Studies.
A-levels with Extended Project Qualification
If you are taking an EPQ in addition to 3 A levels, you will receive the following offer in addition to the standard A level offer:
ABB including English Literature or a related subject* and grade A in the EPQ
A-levels contextual offer
We are committed to ensuring that all applicants with the potential to succeed, regardless of their background, are encouraged to apply to study with us. The additional information gained through contextual data allows us to recognise an applicant's potential to succeed in the context of their background and experience.
Applicants who are highlighted in this way will be made an offer which is lower than the typical offer for that programme, as follows:
ABB including English Literature or a related subject*
International Baccalaureate Diploma
Pass, with 34 points overall with 17 points at Higher Level, including 5 at Higher Level in English Literature or a related subject*
International Baccalaureate Diploma additional information
*Related subject includes History, English Language and Literature, English Language or Drama and Theatre Studies.
International Baccalaureate contextual offer
We are committed to ensuring that all learners with the potential to succeed, regardless of their background, are encouraged to apply to study with us. The additional information gained through contextual data allows us to recognise a learner’s potential to succeed in the context of their background and experience. Applicants who are highlighted in this way will be made an offer which is lower than the typical offer for that programme.
International Baccalaureate Career Programme (IBCP) statement
Offers will be made on the individual Diploma Course subject(s) and the career-related study qualification. The CP core will not form part of the offer. Where there is a subject pre-requisite(s), applicants will be required to study the subject(s) at Higher Level in the Diploma course subject and/or take a specified unit in the career-related study qualification. Applicants may also be asked to achieve a specific grade in those elements.
Please see the University of Southampton International Baccalaureate Career-Related Programme (IBCP) Statement for further information. Applicants are advised to contact their Faculty Admissions Office for more information.
BTEC
Distinction, Distinction in the BTEC Extended Diploma plus A in A level English Literature or a related subject*.
or
Distinction, Distinction in the BTEC Diploma plus A in A level English Literature or a related subject*
or
Distinction in the BTEC Subsidiary Diploma plus A in A level English Literature or a related subject* and A in one further A level
BTEC additional information
*Related subject includes History, English Language and Literature, English Language or Drama and Theatre Studies.
Access to HE Diploma
60 credits with a minimum of 45 credits at Level 3, of which 39 must be at Distinction and 6 credits at Merit, to include 6 Distinctions in English Literature or a related subject*
Access to HE additional information
*Related subject includes History, English Language and Literature, English Language or Drama and Theatre Studies.
Irish Leaving Certificate
Irish Leaving Certificate (first awarded 2017)
H1 H2 H2 H2 H2 H2 including English Literature or a related subject*
Irish Leaving Certificate (first awarded 2016)
A2 A2 A2 B1 B1 B1 including English or a related subject*
Irish certificate additional information
*Related subject includes History, English Language and Literature, English Language or Drama and Theatre Studies.
Scottish Qualification
Offers will be based on exams being taken at the end of S6. Subjects taken and qualifications achieved in S5 will be reviewed. Careful consideration will be given to an individual’s academic achievement, taking in to account the context and circumstances of their pre-university education.
Please see the University of Southampton’s Curriculum for Excellence Scotland Statement (PDF) for further information. Applicants are advised to contact their Faculty Admissions Office for more information.
Cambridge Pre-U
D3 D3 M2 in three principal subjects including English Literature or a related subject*
Cambridge Pre-U additional information
*Related subject includes History, English Language and Literature, English Language or Drama and Theatre Studies.
Welsh Baccalaureate
AAB from 3 A levels including English Literature or a related subject*
or
AA from two A levels including English Literature or a related subject* and B from the Advanced Welsh Baccalaureate Skills Challenge Certificate
Welsh Baccalaureate additional information
Offers typically exclude General Studies and Critical Thinking. *Related subject includes History, English Language and Literature, English Language or Drama and Theatre Studies.
Welsh Baccalaureate contextual offer
We are committed to ensuring that all learners with the potential to succeed, regardless of their background, are encouraged to apply to study with us. The additional information gained through contextual data allows us to recognise a learner’s potential to succeed in the context of their background and experience. Applicants who are highlighted in this way will be made an offer which is lower than the typical offer for that programme.
European Baccalaureate
80% overall including grade 8 in English Literature or a related subject*
Other requirements
GCSE requirements
Applicants must hold GCSE English language (or GCSE English) (minimum grade 4/C) and mathematics (minimum grade 4/C)
Find the equivalent international qualifications for our entry requirements.
English language requirements
If English isn't your first language, you'll need to complete an International English Language Testing System (IELTS) to demonstrate your competence in English. You'll need all of the following scores as a minimum:
IELTS score requirements
- overall score
- 6.5
- reading
- 6.0
- writing
- 6.0
- speaking
- 6.0
- listening
- 6.0
We accept other English language tests. Find out which English language tests we accept.
You might meet our criteria in other ways if you do not have the qualifications we need. Find out more about:
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our Access to Southampton scheme for students living permanently in the UK (including residential summer school, application support and scholarship)
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skills you might have gained through work or other life experiences (otherwise known as recognition of prior learning)
Find out more about our Admissions Policy.
Got a question?
Please contact our enquiries team if you're not sure that you have the right experience or qualifications to get onto this course.
Email: enquiries@southampton.ac.uk
Tel: +44(0)23 8059 5000
Course structure
COVID-19: we've made some changes to the structure of the course for this academic year. Download the programme specification addendum in 'About this course' to learn more.
This course takes an interdisciplinary approach to studying poetry, prose, drama and film. You can complement your degree in English with modules in other subject areas, including modern languages and history. Your personal academic tutor can help you plan your course.
You can also enrich your course with informal learning. You can:
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write for one of the university’s many student-run magazines
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learn media skills with our student radio society
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join a performing arts group
Year 1 overview
You’ll gain a foundation in critical thinking, essay writing and joint research. This will help you develop your own views and approaches to studying literature.
You’ll take 8 modules, on topics including:
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poetic language
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the novel
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the act of the essay
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a group research project, on topics such as city writing in the Nineteenth Century, literature to save the planet, or decadence and decay at the fin de siècle
Year 2 overview
You’ll be able to choose from any of our year 2 modules. You can decide what to study based on your interests and the skills you want to develop. There are modules on key periods in literature, like the Renaissance, Romanticism and Modernism.
Topics include:
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African worlds
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Victorian feelings
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world literature and visual culture after globalisation
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images of women
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film adaptation
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scriptwriting
Year 3 overview
You’ll write a dissertation on a research topic of your choice. Recent topics have included Shakespeare in Russia, modernising fairytales and Edinburgh in the 1960s.
You’ll also choose modules on topics such as:
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Jane Austen and the Regency world
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sex and the city in Stuart drama
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utopias and dystopias
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Chaucer and his world
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animal forms: poetry and the non-human
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literatures of islands and oceans
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narrative non-fiction
You can also take a module on creative writing in schools, which includes a voluntary placement.
Want more detail? See all the modules in the course.
Modules
For entry in Academic Year 2021-22
Year 1 modules
You must study the following modules in year 1:
English has always been on the move. As a literary language, it has not only travelled from and back to England; lines of influence between texts, authors, publishers, editors, book technologies, and readers traverse the globe in multiple directions, bet...
How do we read poems, and what language can we use to describe our readings? This module will provide a detailed introduction to the particular qualities your ear, eye and brain will need to read poetry more effectively. You will study key features of poe...
This module focuses upon the essay as a critical practice and a literary form. The essay is fundamental to literary criticism, and basic to assessment across your degree. But the essay is also a literary and popular-cultural genre in its own right, a form...
‘A novel does not assert anything; a novel searches and poses questions’. The contemporary novelist Milan Kundera describes the novel as an exploratory and engaging form, a way of telling stories that involves readers both in its searches and in the quest...
You must also choose from the following modules in year 1:
This module both challenges and enriches the idea of ‘the human’ as an idea for ‘the humanities’. You will reflect upon ‘the human’ as a concept that exceeds the individual person in literary, artistic, historical and political texts. Taking this challe...
Why have some stories gripped the imagination of writers, musicians, and artists across cultures and centuries? And what does the emergence and constant re-emergence of such stories tell us about ourselves and others, past and present? What do readers and...
Both individuals and society attach great importance and value to certain works of art, including poems, novels, films, plays, symphonies, and paintings. Most of us spend a considerable amount of our limited time and resources acquiring, creating, experie...
The module asks big questions. What do we do when we interpret literature and culture, and how can we analyse our practices of interpretation? Can anything be a text, and if so what do we understand by ‘literature’? How does literature shape our identity,...
In this module, you will learn how to approach dramatic texts in a way that takes into consideration their place in the world as a complex political, economic, and cultural network. We will focus on questions such as: • What is the difference between r...
Year 2 modules
You must choose your modules from the following modules in year 2:
You might watch a stunning film, hear a delightful song, enjoy a beautiful sunset, read a dreadful poem, attend an elegant dance, or see a garish building. Experiences like this can stimulate thoughts and feelings of great depth, and provide pleasure or d...
Africa has produced some of the world's outstanding literary texts, yet its literatures, cultures and people are often placed in opposition to the rest of the world. The module engages with the literary fictions by and about Africans, in order to ask: how...
The figures of King Arthur, Guinevere, his knights and court have exercised a powerful hold over the minds of readers for many centuries. But have you ever wondered about where this legend came from, how it developed, and about the enduring nature of its ...
Many writers begin with the short story. Through writing short stories they are able to experiment, learn the fundamentals of narrative composition, and have the satisfaction of completing something to a high standard in a relatively short period of time....
Children's literature is a rather slippery term encompassing a variety of genres, child/adult concerns, engagement with historical/contextual issues on, for example, gender; class; nonsense; the nature of time; slavery. Other issues addressed are subject...
What happens when writing positions itself against communication or expression? How can the form and content of a literary text be determined by chance, constraint or the operations of the unconscious? Can a text ‘perform’ on the page? How might oral perf...
Literary history is often told in epochs. In particular, it can be useful to understand the world in relation to some or other idea of “modernity”: for example, English literary studies is often organised through conceptions of the early modern, the mode...
This module presents a history of post-war multicultural Britain through the lens of British film and television, considering how our attitudes to 'race', sexuality and British identity more generally have been defined, challenged and changed by film and...
How will the arts get working again after Covid-19? This is a critically important question for everyone who cares about them, artists and audiences alike. If you’re a student considering a career in the arts you’ll want to know where fresh opportunities ...
Cultural representations of women shed important light on notions of female subjectivity, sexuality and racial identity in the modern world. Medical discourses on gender, mental pathology and the rise of modern feminism are just some of the pivotal histor...
In 1831 the philosopher John Stuart Mill struggled to define the ‘Spirit’ of the nineteenth century. ‘It is’, he wrote, ‘an age of transition. Mankind have outgrown old institutions and old doctrines, and have not yet acquired new ones.’ If the nineteenth...
What does it mean to make literature new? Why create a revolution of the word? In this module you will study the revolutionary literary transformations of modernism. Modernism responded to the advent of modernity: urbanisation, imperialism, mechanisation,...
Early modern England is a period associated with Elizabeth I and the Tudor court, the plays of Shakespeare, blood and violence on the Jacobean stage, the discovery of new worlds, and the persecution of witches and heretics. The diversity and vitality of t...
What can the voices and narratives of sex workers and asylum seekers depicted in world literature and visual culture tell us about the conditions and pressures of life in the contemporary world? How might considerations of narrative technique, genre, and ...
In this module, students will explore a wealth of different texts and different discourses, from the literary to the scientific, on humanity and the human body in the early modern period. Starting with a glimpse of ancient and modern visions of the body, ...
Blood, violence, terror, raids, pirates, rape and pillage are just some of the words associated with the Vikings in both the medieval and modern imagination. Their fearsome reputation is underlined by nicknames such as ‘Blood Axe' and ‘Skull-splitter', bu...
This module will introduce you to German metropolitan culture and politics in the 20th century with particular reference to Vienna and Berlin, using a wide range of sources which will include literature, film and architecture.
The period 1770-1830 was a pivotal time in the history of women’s writing in Britain. Reacting against slavery and responding to the French Revolution, women assumed a prominent role in debates that would shape the modern world, and lead to modern feminis...
Year 3 modules
You must study the following module in year 3:
Undertaking independent research into an aspect of literature or creative writing which particularly interests you is a cornerstone of your degree. A dissertation gives you the opportunity to study a subject in much greater depth than usual and, with gui...
You must also choose from the following modules in year 3:
What constitutes the experience of being American, or of America itself? This module will explore these questions by examining the aesthetic, social, and political ideas of modern and contemporary American dramatists. The theorist Jean Baudrillard saw Ame...
What can animals teach us about the human and non-human? What do the creative forms we use to describe them show us about human form and the other? In this module, you will read a range of poetic and critical material which explores the porous boundaries ...
John Milton was a man so famous in his own time that French and Italian tourists tracked down his childhood home to see the chamber in which he had been born. He was even more famous after his death; indeed, his teeth, hair, fingers, and one of leg bones ...
Fantasy film and fiction spans a wide range of texts, from Gothic 'classics' and feminist fairy tales, to Utopian literature and musicals. Analysing fantasy texts alongside psychoanalytic and cultural theories will enable you to engage with questions conc...
The turbulent history of Austrian and German Jews during the twentieth century was accompanied by the production of a diverse and influential body of German-language literature by Jewish authors. Prior to World War Two, Jews played a crucial role in the c...
How has the Holocaust been represented? We will examine a range of responses to the Holocaust from the 1940s to the present day, including memoirs of camp survivors and experimental texts. Focusing on the limits of representation we will approach question...
How will the arts get working again after Covid-19? This is a critically important question for everyone who cares about them, artists and audiences alike. If you’re a student considering a career in the arts you’ll want to know where fresh opportunities ...
This new module studies writing and visual representation in the early years of the republic of the United States. Focusing on the period from shortly before the American Revolution to the early years of the nineteenth century, this module will introduce ...
One of the socially and culturally most significant consequences of transnational mobility is that urban populations in particular are increasingly multilingual: in global cities such as London, New York and Berlin there are speakers of hundreds of differ...
We tend to assume our world is shaped by the geographies of continents and nation-states. This module allows us to grasp the significance of other spaces. Exploring how islands and oceans, ports and ships, deep water and coastal zones have been imagined, ...
Germany has had a long tradition of immigration and is one of the most multi-cultural countries in Europe today. We will examine the impact of diverse immigration movements on recent German history and notions of German identity. This includes examining b...
The 1790s was a decade of revolutions abroad and of chaos and state paranoia at home. Britain began its longest continuous war in 1792. In a letter years afterwards to Byron, Percy Shelley declared that the French Revolution was ‘the master theme of the e...
Has Shakespeare aged well? From the boys in wigs on the Elizabethan stage to the digital wizardry of the twenty-first century, the technology as well as the ideology that informs Shakespearean performance keeps evolving—sometimes in unexpected ways. This ...
From Plato’s Republic and Thomas More’s Utopia to Margaret Atwood’s Handmaid’s Tale and Philip Roth’s The Plot Against America, utopias have always been haunted by the spectre of the dystopian. If utopias imagine alternative ways of organizing society, dy...
The essential elements of writing a novel include crafting beginnings and endings, constructing characters, manipulating structure and plot, and developing an intimate relationship with language. Writing exercises and discussions of work in progress will ...
Learning and assessment
The learning activities for this course include the following:
- lectures
- classes and tutorials
- coursework
- individual and group projects
- independent learning (studying on your own)
Course time
How you'll spend your course time:
Year 1
Study time
Your scheduled learning, teaching and independent study for year 1:
How we'll assess you
- blogs
- creative projects
- dissertations
- essays
- individual and group projects
- module journals
- portfolios
- self-assessment
- teamwork
- written exams
Your assessment breakdown
Year 1:
Year 2
Study time
Your scheduled learning, teaching and independent study for year 2:
How we'll assess you
- blogs
- creative projects
- dissertations
- essays
- individual and group projects
- module journals
- portfolios
- self-assessment
- teamwork
- written exams
Your assessment breakdown
Year 2:
Year 3
Study time
Your scheduled learning, teaching and independent study for year 3:
How we'll assess you
- blogs
- creative projects
- dissertations
- essays
- individual and group projects
- module journals
- portfolios
- self-assessment
- teamwork
- written exams
Your assessment breakdown
Year 3:
Academic support
You’ll be supported by a personal academic tutor and have access to a senior tutor.
Course leader
Mary Hammond is the course leader.
Careers
English at Southampton gives you a strong foundation in:
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research
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presentation skills
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project management
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critical thinking
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writing
You’ll learn how to tell a story - a crucial skill whether you want to write a press release or funding application, or edit a book or podcast.
Our English graduates have progressed to careers including:
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administration
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advertising
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business
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creative writing
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government, including the civil service
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journalism
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marketing
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media
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publishing
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public relations
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teaching
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translation
We offer a series of lectures and seminars given by experts, employers and alumni, which take you through career planning. These are designed for humanities students and cover:
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careers opportunities for graduates, including digital jobs
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entrepreneurial and start-up options
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skills self-assessment to help you discover hidden talents
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writing CVs and applications
Your personal academic tutor can write a reference based on knowledge of you as a student over the 3 years.
Careers services at Southampton
We are a top 20 UK university for employability (QS Graduate Employability Rankings 2019). Our Careers and Employability Service will support you throughout your time as a student and for up to 5 years after graduation. This support includes:
work experience schemes
CV and interview skills and workshops
networking events
careers fairs attended by top employers
a wealth of volunteering opportunities
study abroad and summer school opportunities
We have a vibrant entrepreneurship culture and our dedicated start-up supporter, Futureworlds, is open to every student.
Work in industry
You can take work placements through our Excel internship scheme or Year in Employment scheme. Placements include art galleries, publishing houses, schools and performing arts organisations. We can help you get placements and employment with local, national and international employers.
Fees, costs and funding
Tuition fees
Fees for a year's study:
- UK students pay £9,250.
- EU and international students pay £18,520.
What your fees pay for
Your tuition fees pay for the full cost of tuition and all examinations.
Find out how to:
Accommodation and living costs, such as travel and food, are not included in your tuition fees. Explore:
Bursaries, scholarships and other funding
If you're a UK or EU student and your household income is under £25,000 a year, you may be able to get a University of Southampton bursary to help with your living costs. Find out about bursaries and other funding we offer at Southampton.
If you're a care leaver or estranged from your parents, you may be able to get a specific bursary.
Get in touch for advice about student money matters.
Scholarships and grants
You may be able to get a scholarship or grant that's linked to your chosen subject area.
We award scholarships and grants for travel, academic excellence, or to students from underrepresented backgrounds.
Support during your course
The Student Services Centre offers support and advice on money to students. You may be able to access our Student Support fund and other sources of financial support during your course.
Funding for EU and international students
Find out about funding you could get as an international student.
How to apply
When you apply use:
- UCAS course code: Q300
- UCAS institution code: S27
What happens after you apply?
We will assess your application on the strength of your:
- predicted grades
- academic achievements
- personal statement
- academic reference
We aim to respond to you within 2 to 6 weeks with a decision about your application.
Equality and diversity
We treat and select everyone in line with our Equality and Diversity Statement.
Got a question?
Please contact our enquiries team if you're not sure that you have the right experience or qualifications to get onto this course.
Email: enquiries@southampton.ac.uk
Tel: +44(0)23 8059 5000
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