English Language and Chinese
UCAS Code: QT31
Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)
Entry requirements
A level
Applicants must have achieved a minimum of GCSE Grade B/6 standard in a Modern Language. This programme is designed for students whose level of Mandarin Chinese at entry ranges from complete beginner to approximately A-level standard. It is not suitable for students whose first language is Chinese. Typical Contextual Offer: Grades BBB. Applicants must have achieved a minimum level of GCSE Grade B/6 in a Modern Foreign Language. This programme is designed for students whose level of Mandarin Chinese at entry ranges from complete beginner to approximately A-level standard. It is not suitable for students whose first language is Chinese.
AS level results are not considered as part of the standard admissions process at The University of Manchester.
We require a QAA-recognised Access to HE Diploma (a minimum of 60 credits overall with at least 45 at Level 3), with merit or distinction in a subject area relevant to the chosen course. You should have a minimum of 30 credits with a Distinction grade, plus 15 credits with a Merit grade, all in a Humanities-related subject. 15 of the Distinction credits should be in the pre-requisite subject required for A-levels. Applicants must also either have GCSEs in both English and Mathematics (at Grade B/6 or higher), or achievement at Level 2 (GCSE-equivalent) by, for example, having six credits each in English and Maths. You must also either have GCSE Grade C/4 or higher in English Language or any language, or be able to demonstrate achievement at Level 2 (GCSE-equivalent) by, for example, having six credits in English Language or any language at Level 2. We also consider other factors such as additional educational achievements, life experience and skills on an individual basis.
Cambridge International Pre-U Certificate - Principal
We consider applicants offering Pre-U Principal Subjects, or a mix of Pre-U and A Level subjects, provided a minimum of three distinct subjects overall is taken. Candidates taking Pre-U principal subjects in conjunction with A levels are expected to achieve a combination of D3,M2,M2 in the Pre-U and ABB at A level in three distinct subjects. If you require further clarification about the acceptability of this qualification please contact the Academic School(s) you plan to apply to.
The University recognises the benefit of the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) and the opportunities it provides for applicants to develop independent study and research skills. We strongly encourage you to provide information about the EPQ in your personal statement and at interview. For this programme, as well as the regular conditions of offer, we may make students who are currently taking or completed the EPQ an alternative offer. For this course it would be ABB at A-level plus the Extended Project at Grade A.
GCSE/National 4/National 5
Applicants must demonstrate a broad general education including acceptable levels of Literacy and Numeracy, equivalent to at least Grade C/4 in GCSE/iGCSE English Language and Mathematics. GCSE/iGCSE English Literature will not be accepted in lieu of GCSE/iGCSE English Language. Please note that if you hold English as a second language iGCSE qualification, we may also require you to offer one of our acceptable equivalent English Language qualifications or achieve a higher grade in your iGCSE than the one stated above. Please contact the academic School for clarification.
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
34 points overall. 6,5,5 in Higher Level subjects.
OCR Cambridge Technical Diploma
We do not require you to have a Language A-level for this programme; however, applicants should have experience of studying a Language (any Modern Foreign Language) to at least GCSE level and should have achieved a good standard in this. We therefore require all applicants to have achieved a minimum of GCSE Grade B/6 (or equivalent) in a Modern Foreign Language. Entry requirements are based on achievement of the full Technical Diploma with Grades DM plus an A Level at Grade A in a Language or an essay-based subject such as English or History.
OCR Cambridge Technical Extended Certificate
We do not require you to have a Language A-level for this programme; however, applicants should have experience of studying a Language (any Modern Foreign Language) to at least GCSE level and should have achieved a good standard in this. We therefore require all applicants to have achieved a minimum of GCSE Grade B/6 (or equivalent) in a Modern Foreign Language. Entry requirements are based on achievement of the full Technical Extended Certificate with Grade D plus two A Levels at Grades BB; at least one of these A-levels should be in a Language or an essay-based subject such as English or History.
OCR Cambridge Technical Extended Diploma
We do not require you to have a Language A-level for this programme; however, applicants should have experience of studying a Language (any Modern Foreign Language) to at least GCSE level and should have achieved a good standard in this. We therefore require all applicants to have achieved a minimum of GCSE Grade B/6 (or equivalent) in a Modern Foreign Language. We consider the Technical Extended Diploma for entry. Entry requirements are based on achievement of the full Technical Extended Diploma with Grades DDM.
OCR Cambridge Technical Foundation Diploma
We do not require you to have a Language A-level for this programme; however, applicants should have experience of studying a Language (any Modern Foreign Language) to at least GCSE level and should have achieved a good standard in this. We therefore require all applicants to have achieved a minimum of GCSE Grade B/6 (or equivalent) in a Modern Foreign Language. Entry requirements are based on achievement of the full Technical Foundation Diploma with Grades DD plus an A-level at min. Grade B in a Language or an essay-based subject (such as English or History) plus an EPQ or AS at Grade B.
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
We do not require you to have a Language A-level for this programme; however, applicants should have experience of studying a Language (any Modern Foreign Language) to at least GCSE level and should have achieved a good standard in this. We therefore require all applicants to have achieved a minimum of GCSE Grade B/6 (or equivalent) in a Modern Foreign Language. We require DD, plus one A-level at Grade B (preferably in either a Language or a Humanities subject).
We do not require you to have a Language A-level for this programme; however, applicants should have experience of studying a Language (any Modern Foreign Language) to at least GCSE level and should have achieved a good standard in this. We therefore require all applicants to have achieved a minimum of GCSE Grade B/6 (or equivalent) in a Modern Foreign Language. We require a D, plus two A-levels at Grades BB (one of these A-levels should preferably be in a Language or a Humanities subject).
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
We do not require you to have a Language A-level for this programme; however, applicants should have experience of studying a Language (any Modern Foreign Language) to at least GCSE level and should have achieved a good standard in this. We therefore require all applicants to have achieved a minimum of GCSE Grade B/6 (or equivalent) in a Modern Foreign Language.
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Foundation Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
We do not require you to have a Language A-level for this programme; however, applicants should have experience of studying a Language (any Modern Foreign Language) to at least GCSE level and should have achieved a good standard in this. We therefore require all applicants to have achieved a minimum of GCSE Grade B/6 (or equivalent) in a Modern Foreign Language. We require a D, plus one A-level at min. Grade B in an essay-based subject (such as English or History) plus an EPQ or AS at Grade B.
Before reading this, please consult the A-level requirements for this programme and note any subject requirements. For applicants who have studied under the new Scottish qualification system, the following will apply. For programmes which have no particular pre-requisite subject, we require the following (in all cases, at least three Highers should be achieved by the end of S5): ABB at A-level: Highers of AAABBB or ABBB plus Advanced Higher at min. Grade B. For applicants who have studied under the old Scottish qualification system, Highers are welcomed but will not be accepted alone. The minimum requirement is three Advanced Highers, the grades of which will be the same as our stated A-level grades for the course in question. Any subjects (or other qualifications) required for A-level will also be required for the Advanced Highers, at the equivalent grade. All applicants must have achieved National 5 English at Grade B.
Before reading this, please consult the A-level requirements for this programme and note any subject requirements. For applicants who have studied under the new Scottish qualification system, the following will apply. For programmes which have no particular pre-requisite subject, we require the following (in all cases, at least three Highers should be achieved by the end of S5): ABB at A-level: Highers of AAABBB or ABBB plus Advanced Higher at min. Grade B. For applicants who have studied under the old Scottish qualification system, Highers are welcomed but will not be accepted alone. The minimum requirement is three Advanced Highers, the grades of which will be the same as our stated A-level grades for the course in question. Any subjects (or other qualifications) required for A-level will also be required for the Advanced Highers, at the equivalent grade. All applicants must have achieved National 5 English at Grade B.
The University welcomes and recognises the value of the Welsh Baccalaureate Advanced Diploma/Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate and usually requires two A Levels or equivalent to be included within this. The minimum grade required will normally be the same as the lowest grade listed in the A Level entry requirements. If you require further clarification about the acceptability of this qualification please contact the academic School(s) you plan to apply to.
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About this course
In this course you will investigate the sounds, words and grammar of the English language. You will discover where English comes from, how it developed over time, how it varies across the UK and further afield, and how it is used in different situations.
You will acquire the skills required for analytical language study alongside the means to apply those skills to the study of historical and present-day English. In addition, you will practise key transferable skills, such as essay writing and how to give a presentation.
The course also aims to provide students with a firm grounding in Mandarin Chinese and in contemporary Chinese culture, society, economy and politics as well as China's changing relations with the West. Students will study Mandarin Chinese throughout the course. The core language teaching in Mandarin Chinese enables you to develop various linguistic skills: speaking and writing accurately; understanding and analysing audio, video and written material; using different registers; speaking to a group with confidence; and translating with appropriate sensitivity.
At the same time, students can choose China-related topics in literature, film, cultural studies, politics, history, linguistics, economics, development studies, and business, drawing on the wide range of research expertise in Chinese Studies across the Faculty of Humanities. In this way, students will be able to tailor the course in keeping with the development of their interests
**Special Features**
- Manchester is an international centre for linguistics and English language, with a range of lively activity.
- BA (Hons) English Language is taught in the Department of Linguistics and English Language, where there is a virtually unique breadth of subject areas and theoretical approaches.
- Particular strengths in the discipline include the linguistics of English (both synchronic and diachronic), endangered languages and field linguistics, phonetics and phonology, morphology, syntax (especially Lexical-Functional Grammar and Construction Grammar), typology, language contact and sociolinguistics, historical linguistics (especially English, Romance and Germanic), semantics and pragmatics, corpus and child language acquisition.
- Chinese is taught by a team of internationally-recognised academic specialists, supported by key resources in the Library and Language Centre. The courses are characterised by their quality, range and flexibility, giving the opportunity to build on existing knowledge of the language or to study it as a beginner.
Tuition fees
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Extra funding
The University is committed to supporting students from low-income households through our financial support packages detailed below. Full-time UK students do not need to apply for Manchester’s bursaries separately but should ensure that they consent to share their financial details with the University when making an application to Student Finance England. http://www.manchester.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/student-finance/2019/
The Uni
University of Manchester
School of Arts, Languages and Cultures

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English language
Teaching and learning
Assessment and feedback
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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.
English 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
What do graduate employment figures really tell you?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
What do graduate employment figures really tell you?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.
English language
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£18k
£23k
£27k
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.
Chinese 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.
£18k
£23k
£27k
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.
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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?
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