Chinese and Linguistics
Entry requirements
A level
Required subjects: A Levels: no specific A Level subjects required. GCSEs: a language other than English at A or 7 and English at C or 4.
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
34 points with 655 at HL. Required subjects: HL: no specific subjects required. SL: a language other than English at 6 and English at 5.
Scottish Higher
ABBB by end of S5 or AABB/ABBBB by end of S6. BBB must be achieved in one year of S4-S6. Required subjects: Highers: no specific Higher subjects required. National 5s: a language other than English at A and English at C.
UCAS Tariff
We've calculated how many Ucas points you'll need for this course.
About this course
As the world's second most spoken language, Mandarin Chinese and its associated cultures have helped to shape the contemporary world in many ways.
This joint honours programme gives you the opportunity to study Chinese while developing your social scientific understanding of language.
Chinese and Linguistics make an excellent joint honours choice by combining the study of:
* a language in its cultural, historical and political context
* the expression and creation of meaning
Linguistics courses of particular relevance to language students cover:
* the speech sounds of the world's languages
* variation in the languages of the world
* the structure and history of world languages
**Chinese**
Edinburgh is the only university in Scotland to offer both single and joint honours undergraduate programmes in Chinese.
While we specialise in teaching students with little or no prior knowledge of the language, we can also accommodate students who already have some experience of studying Chinese.
Study with us, and you will develop advanced competency in modern standard Chinese. You will gain the skills needed to use the language daily in social and professional settings, focusing on:
* reading
* writing
* speaking
* listening
* translation
You will spend Year 3 using and honing these skills studying in China or Taiwan.
As well as language skills, you will also gain specialist knowledge on mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and associated diasporas in pre-modern, modern and contemporary contexts.
Our courses explore:
* history
* literature
* culture
* politics
* international relations
You can also opt to learn to read Classical Chinese.
**Linguistics**
Linguistics examines how language works, describing how sounds, words, sentences and conversations combine to express and create meaning.
You will also study:
* the uses of language in everyday life
* the ways in which language varies across society and evolves over time
* how language is mastered by children
As you progress through the programme, you will have the opportunity to plan and test scientific hypotheses about linguistic phenomena using specialist linguistics and phonetics equipment.
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
The Uni
Central area campus
School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures
What students say
We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.
How do students rate their degree experience?
The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Linguistics
Teaching and learning
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
Asian studies
Teaching and learning
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
After graduation
The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Linguistics
What are graduates doing after six months?
This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.
Top job areas of graduates
This is not a particularly common subject at first degree level and most of the degrees that fall in this category are offered by the University of Durham. If you fancy one of these broad degrees, it is probably best to speak directly to tutors to find out what your options on your degree might be and what they can lead to,
Asian studies
What are graduates doing after six months?
This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.
Top job areas of graduates
China plays an important role in world economics and politics, and business can be very interested in graduates with good Chinese language skills. In 2015, just over 180 degrees were awarded in this subject to UK graduates, so it is still an unusual and specialist degree to take - take that into consideration before drawing definitive conclusions from the data. About one in five graduates went on to further study (mostly at Masters level) and of those who were working, a quarter went to work abroad. Most of the rest were working in the UK after six months, mainly in London. But remember — whilst employers say they rate graduates who have more than one language, you need to have them as part of a whole package of good skills, even if that language is rare and valuable to business.
What about your long term prospects?
Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.
Linguistics
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£20k
£23k
£32k
Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.
Asian studies
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£21k
£29k
£33k
Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.
Explore these similar courses...
This is what the university has told Ucas about the criteria they expect applicants to satisfy; some may be compulsory, others may be preferable.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
This is the percentage of applicants to this course who received an offer last year, through Ucas.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
Course location and department:
This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):
We've received this information from the Department for Education, via Ucas. This is how the university as a whole has been rated for its quality of teaching: gold silver or bronze. Note, not all universities have taken part in the TEF.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).
This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for undergraduate students only.
You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
Post-six month graduation stats:
This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.
It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
Graduate field commentary:
The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.
While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?
Have a question about this info? Learn more here