Immerse yourself in the English language and explore how English shapes human communication, thought, and experience. This degree introduces you to the scientific study of language, showing how people produce, understand, and use English in everyday life and global contexts. You will apply linguistic theory to real-world communication challenges and learn from world-leading research in English language, linguistics, psychology, education, and culture. Graduates develop as independent scholars, critical thinkers, and effective communicators.
Our BA in English Language and Linguistics offers a systematic and in-depth study of language with a strong focus on English. You will analyse the structure of English - its sounds, grammar, and meaning - and examine how people use English to communicate, construct knowledge, and shape social life.
You will explore the history of English, tracing its development from regional dialects to a global language of international communication, and investigate how the English language continues to evolve today. The course examines written and spoken English, discourse, and communication across different contexts. You will also study how babies acquire language, and how English and other languages are learned and taught.
You will gain expertise in the core domains of linguistics, analysing language structure and meaning while uncovering the cognitive and physiological processes that enable human communication. A strong emphasis on applied linguistics means you will work with real-world language and communication data, developing skills in research, analysis, and persuasive communication from the start of your degree.
The course offers flexibility, particularly in your final year, allowing you to tailor your studies to your academic interests and career goals. You will join a supportive and intellectually rigorous learning community and graduate with highly transferable skills for careers in marketing, media, publishing, teaching English internationally, and other communication-focused professions. Many graduates also progress to further study in areas such as speech and language therapy, forensic linguistics, or computational linguistics.
Entry requirements
A level typical offer
AAB
A level contextual offer
We welcome applications from candidates who meet the contextual eligibility criteria and whose predicted grades are close to, or slightly below, the contextual offer level. The typical contextual offer is ABB. See if you're eligible.
We advise that you also check the English Language requirements for your course which may specify a higher GCSE English requirement. Please find the information about this below.
International Baccalaureate (IB) typical offer
34
International Baccalaureate (IB) contextual offer
We welcome applications from candidates who meet the contextual eligibility criteria and whose predicted grades are close to, or slightly below, the contextual offer level. The typical contextual offer is 32. See if you're eligible.
We advise that you also check the English Language requirements for your course which may specify a higher GCSE English requirement. Please find the information about this below.
BTEC
We welcome applications from students taking BTECs.
Scotland Advanced Highers
AA in two Advanced Highers where you have achieved ABB/BBB in three further Highers subjects.
AB in two Advanced Highers where you have achieved AAB in three further Highers subjects.
Welsh Baccalaureate
ABB in three subjects at A level plus grade C in the Advanced Skills Baccalaureate Wales.
Access to Higher Education Diplomas
We will consider applicants returning to study who are presenting a QAA-recognised Access to Higher Education Diploma on a case-by-case basis.
Typically, we require 45 Credits at Level 3, including Distinction in 33 Level 3 credits and Merit in 12 Level 3 Credits. We may also require subject specific credits or an A level to be studied alongside the Access to Higher Education Diploma to fulfil essential subject requirements.
We advise that you also check the English Language requirements for your course which may specify a higher GCSE English requirement. Please find the information about this below.
Warwick may make differential offers to students in certain circumstances, such as those who have participated in a Widening Participation programme or who meet the University’s contextual data criteria. These offers are usually one or two grades below Warwick’s standard offer.
Do you offer foundation programmes?
All students who successfully complete the Warwick International Foundation Programme (IFP) and apply to Warwick through UCAS will receive a guaranteed conditional offer for a related undergraduate programme, for selected courses only. Further details are available in the standard offer and conditions for the IFP.
Can I take a gap year before starting my course?
Yes, Warwick welcomes applications for deferred (gap year) entry.
Will I need to interview for this course?
Warwick does not typically interview applicants. Offers are made based on the UCAS application, including predicted and achieved grades, the personal statement, and the school reference.
Year Two: 105 CATS of core and 15 CATS of optional modules.
Final Year: 45 CATS of core and 75 CATS of optional modules.
You will be automatically enrolled on the four-year course, which includes an optional intercalated year in the third year. If you do not wish to have an intercalated year, you can move to the three-year course. If you choose to complete an intercalated year, you may pursue a study abroad programme or a work placement (subject to meeting departmental academic requirements).
Note that the module catalogue is subject to change for future years of study, as we evolve our courses in response to the latest developments in academia and industry. If optional modules are listed below, these can vary from year to year.
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
Additional Modules
Optional modules can vary from year to year. Example optional modules may include:
Fees and funding
Tuition fee
£9,790
On 26 November 2025, the UK government announced that the tuition fee cap for UK undergraduate students for the 2026-27 academic year would increase to £9,790 from the 2025-26 rate of at £9,535.
Students who qualify for government-regulated fees are classed as ‘Home’ students for fees purposes. In future years, fees for continuing students may be subject to an increase in fees in line with any inflationary uplift as determined by the UK Government (if permitted by law or government policy).
We carry out an initial fee status assessment based on the information you provide in your application. Students will be classified as Home or Overseas fee status. Your fee status determines tuition fees, and what financial support and scholarships may be available. If you receive an offer, your fee status will be clearly stated alongside the tuition fee information.
If you believe that your fee status has been classified incorrectly, you can complete a fee status assessment questionnaire. Please follow the instructions in your offer information and provide the documents needed to reassess your status.
You will repay your loan or loans gradually once you are working and earning above a certain amount. For students starting their course after 1 August 2023 (on Student Finance England’s Plan 5), you will repay when your income is over £25,000 a year.
Repayments will be taken directly from your salary if you are an employee. If your income falls below the earnings threshold or you stop working, your repayments will stop until your income goes back up above this figure.
Access thousands of part-time opportunities through our agency UnitempsLink opens in a new window (such as office work, retail jobs or helping at events)
Choose to apply for a job as one of our Student Ambassadors to share your own experience at events like Open Days
There are many different funding routes available, including a number of bursaries and scholarships for full-time undergraduates. If you struggle to meet your essential living costs, our Student Funding team will be on hand to offer advice and support.
Provides additional financial support for qualifying Home students from lower income families of up to £2,500 for eligible students
This bursary is paid directly into your bank account in three equal termly instalments to help with the costs of studying
There is no application for this bursary as your details will be provided directly from the student support awarding bodies (Student Finance England, Student Finance Northern Ireland, and Student Awards Agency Scotland)
A number of scholarship opportunities are open to full-time undergraduate students. These include sporting and musical bursaries, and scholarships offered by commercial organisations.
If you experience financial difficulties during your studies, you may be eligible for Hardship Funding from the University, in the form of an Emergency Loan and/or a non-repayable award
There are no Departmental scholarships available for our Undergraduate courses, however there are other scholarships which you may be eligible for. Please see our scholarships web pages for more information.
Tuition fee
If you are an overseas student enrolling in 2026-27, your annual tuition fees will be as follows:
Band 1 – £27,870 per year (classroom-based courses, including Humanities and most Social Science courses)
Band 2 – £35,530 per year (laboratory-based courses, plus Mathematics, Statistics, Theatre and Performance Studies, Economics, and courses provided by Warwick Business School, with exceptions)
Overseas Tuition fees for 2027-28 academic year have not been set. In future years, fees for continuing students may be subject to an increase in fees in line with an inflationary uplift. Please check our website for updates about 2027-28 fee rates before you apply.
If you are an EU student and eligible for student finance, you may be able to get a Tuition Fee Loan to cover your fees, please visit our Student Funding webpage for guidance for students ordinarily resident outside of England.
We carry out an initial fee status assessment based on the information you provide in your application. Students will be classified as Home or Overseas fee status. Your fee status determines tuition fees, and what financial support and scholarships may be available. If you receive an offer, your fee status will be clearly stated alongside the tuition fee information.
If you believe that your fee status has been classified incorrectly, you can complete a fee status assessment questionnaire. Please follow the instructions in your offer information and provide the documents needed to reassess your status.
Eligibility for student finance will depend on certain criteria, such as your nationality, residency status, course, and previous level of study. The information below is based on the package of financial support available to students starting their course in 2026.
Eligible European Union (EU) Undergraduates can apply for a loan to help with the cost of Tuition Fees. Eligible EU students who meet additional residency criteria may also be eligible for a loan to assist with living costs.For more information please see Student Finance for Undergraduates - EU StudentsLink opens in a new window.
Access thousands of part-time opportunities through our agency UnitempsLink opens in a new window (such as office work, retail jobs or helping at events)
Choose to apply for a job as one of our Student Ambassadors to share your own experience at events like Open Days
If you are an international student, you may be eligible for financial help from your own government, from the British Council or from other funding agencies. You can usually request information on scholarships from the Ministry of Education in your home country, or from the local British Council office.
A number of scholarship opportunities are open to full-time undergraduate students. These include sporting and musical bursaries, and scholarships offered by commercial organisations.
If you experience financial difficulties during your studies, you may be eligible for Hardship Funding from the University, in the form of an Emergency Loan and/or a non-repayable award.
As well as tuition fees and living expenses, some courses may require you to cover the cost of field trips or costs associated with travel abroad.
Associated costs can be found on the Study tab for each module listed in the Module Catalogue (please note most of the module content applies to 2025/26 year of study). Information about module specific costs should be considered in conjunction with the more general costs below:
Core text books
Printer credits
Dissertation binding
Robe hire for your degree ceremony
Are there any course specific costs?
For departmental specific costs, please see the list of core and optional core modules with hyperlinks to our Module Catalogue, where module-related costs are detailed.
Teaching and learning
You will study six to seven modules per year. Most modules are comprised of the equivalent of a weekly two-hour lecture and one-hour small-group seminar. You will spend independent study time preparing for classes, reading primary texts, and completing practical exercises. Practical exercises emphasise student-led research projects.
Most modules meet on-campus for about three hours per week. Meetings include lectures, conversation and listening practice, seminars, workshops, laboratories, and tutorials. On-campus meetings are dynamic and emphasise practical engagement with learning materials and consolidation of concepts.
You will also study independently. Self-directed learning will include engaging with recorded learning materials, reading primary texts, completing practical exercises, and working with peers. Your independent engagement with these activities will provide you a foundation from the best knowledge about course concepts in the world.
Large-group meetings vary depending on the module. Small-group meetings are typically around 15 students.
You will have about 12 hours per week timetabled for large- and small-group meetings with your lecturers. You will also spend substantial time each week in independent learning.
Assessment will normally take the form of 50% coursework and 50% examination. The final degree classification is determined by your second and final year marks, and each contributes 50%.
You may choose to study abroad in your third year, extending your degree to four years. Study abroad allows you to enhance your understanding of English, language, and communication in an international setting at one of Warwick’s partner universities. We offer dedicated departmental support from our Study Abroad Co-ordinator and the university’s Student Mobility Team to support you throughout the process. Eligibility for study abroad is dependent on you meeting academic requirements.
Careers
Graduates from these courses are working in:
Global PR
Consultancies
Multinational companies
Higher education
Further study (Speech Language Therapy courses, and masters and doctoral programmes)
Our department has a dedicated professionally qualified Senior Careers Consultant to support you. They offer impartial advice and guidance, together with workshops and events throughout the year. Previous examples of workshops and events include:
Finding experience to boost your CV in Year One and Two
Explore the career journeys of Warwick Social Sciences alumni. See how their university experience opened doors across industries and imagine where a degree from Warwick could take you.
Our Student Opportunity (Careers) department offer a wide range of workshops, from developing confidence and interview techniques to learning how to articulate what you have to offer in order to impress potential employers. Online resources are also available, including training in drafting CVs and covering letters, practice aptitude and psychometric tests, practice online interviews, and other resources to help you research job opportunities. The myAdvantage databaseLink opens in a new window also advertises job, placement and internship vacancies that are from employers who are targeting Warwick students for their recruitment.
You may decide to make use of the optional intercalated third year by organising a work placement. The University Careers Office can advise on potential work placement opportunities; however, it will be entirely your responsibility to find and apply for a work placement.
Life at Warwick
This is where your journey begins. Our campus is the heart of it all. It’s more than just a campus - it's the places you visit, the people you meet, the fun that you have; the experiences you have here will be transformative.
Within a close-knit community of staff and students from all over the world, discover a campus alive with possibilities.
Our campus is where all the elements of your student experience come together in one place. You won't be short of ways to spend your time on campus - whether it's visiting Warwick Arts Centre, using our incredible sports facilities, socialising in our bars, nightclub and cafés, or enjoying an open-air event. Or if you need some peace and quiet, you can explore lakes, woodland and green spaces just a few minutes’ walk from central campus
Follow our students around campus on our social channels to see their experiences first-hand.
Teaching facilities
Our campus is designed to cater for all of your learning needs. You will benefit from a variety of flexible, well-equipped study spaces and teaching facilities across the University.
Oculus, our outstanding learning hub, houses state-of-the-art lecture theatres and innovative social learning and network areas
Different study spaces offering you flexible individual and group study spaces, computers, printing and scanning facilities, multimedia resources and more
Supporting you
Our continuous support network is here to help you adjust to student life and to ensure you can easily access advice on many different issues. These may include managing your finances and workload, and settling into shared accommodation. We also have specialist disability and mental health support teams.
Whether you live in a campus residence or in partnership accommodation off campus, you’ll be part of a community to get the most from your experience at Warwick.
Societies and sports play a huge part in community life at Warwick. With over 300 to choose from, getting involved is one of the easiest ways to make friends and share in experiences. Whether you’re into films, martial arts, astronomy, gaming or musical theatre, you can instantly connect with people with similar interests.
Your university experience is defined by far more than your course or the career path you follow. At Warwick, it’s where you discover who you could become.
74th
Warwick is ranked 74th in the world and top 10 in all major UK league tables
Our alumni community still call Warwick home. From a few hundred in 1965 to more than 310,000 alumni, and it's ever-growing.
As Warwick graduates, our students have access to employability support for two years after graduation, including access to careers appointments, job vacancies and professional networks.
Find meaningful solutions to real-world problems. We want you to become empowered, vocal, opinionated and bold. Our close-knit learning community will make it easy for you to speak up and discuss your learning with your fellow students and enthusiastic academics.
As a Linguistics student you will have your own facilities, with a dedicated common room which acts as a social hub for our students and staff.
Our academic staff are located in the Social Sciences building, right in the heart of campus next to the Library, Arts Centre, and near to the main lecture theatres.
This information is applicable for 2027 entry. Given the interval between the publication of courses and enrolment, some of the information may change. It is important to check our website before you apply. Please read our web page 'Important information to consider before making an application' in advance of applying to Warwick.
Next steps
Experience campus at an Open Day. Can't visit? Receive regular email updates or ask current students and staff questions about life at Warwick.
