Durham University
UCAS Code: VV56 | Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)
Entry requirements
A level
Specific subjects excluded for entry: General Studies and Critical Thinking.
Access to HE Diploma
We require 60 credits with a minimum of 45 credits at level 3 (or equivalent). Applicants may be required to meet additional subject-specific requirements for particular courses at Durham.
Cambridge International Pre-U Certificate - Principal
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
666 in higher level subjects.
Leaving Certificate - Higher Level (Ireland) (first awarded in 2017)
OCR Cambridge Technical Extended Diploma
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
Scottish Advanced Higher
Scottish Higher
Departments will normally make offers based on Advanced Highers. In the absence of 3 Advanced Highers, where these are not offered by the applicant’s school, offers comprising of Advanced Highers and Highers or a number of Highers may be made on a case by case basis.
At Durham we welcome applications from students of outstanding achievement and potential from all educational backgrounds. We will consider applicants studying T level qualifications for entry to many of our courses. Where a course requires subject specific knowledge and this is not covered within the T level being studied, you may need to supplement your T level studies with a suitable qualification to meet this requirement, for example at A level. Where this is needed this will be clearly stated in our entry requirements.
UCAS Tariff
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About this course
Studying Philosophy and Theology allows you to confront and study the big questions concerning human life – questions such as ‘What does a flourishing human life look like?’ and ‘What do people believe about the world and their place in it?’ With numerous areas of overlap, these complementary disciplines are particularly suitable to study alongside each other.
The philosophy element of your degree will equip you with the skills needed to think carefully and deeply about what matters in a good life, and how individual happiness is related to friendships, relationships, family, society, the political system and culture. At Durham, you will also follow one of the widest-ranging philosophy degrees in the country equipping you with expertise in Anglo-American analytical philosophy and continental philosophy.
Within the theology modules, you will study how human beings have always had, and always will have worldviews and fundamental beliefs about the Universe, and their role in it. This part of the human condition will be studied from a range of methodological and disciplinary perspectives. You can also apply to add a placement year or a year abroad to your degree, increasing the course from three years to four.
Philosophy is a new subject for many students, so in your first year you will follow a range of introductory courses, introducing the fundamental philosophical subject areas. You will also take a number of comparable introductory modules in theology.
In your second year, you will further increase your knowledge by taking two core modules in philosophy and theology. You will also have a wide selection of optional modules to choose from for both subjects.
The third year includes a dissertation that allows a deep, independently driven, exploration of a topic of your choice.
Modules
Year 1
Core modules:
Ethics and Values provides a structured introduction to moral philosophy, including applied ethics, by exploring key moral concepts and showing how they influence moral practices and theories. This module lays the foundation for more in-depth learning in the areas of moral theory, issues in contemporary ethics and political philosophy.
Knowledge and Reality introduces philosophical problems in epistemology (the study of knowledge), and metaphysics (the study of reality and ourselves).
Reading Philosophy gives you an understanding of the issues of interpretation and comprehension through a detailed study of four thematically related texts including, for example, Plato's Protagoras, Hume's Of the Standard of Taste, Sartre's Existentialism and Humanism and Murdoch's The Idea of Perfection.
Introduction to Christian Theology will equip you with a comprehensive map of the major figures, ideas and debates which function as a minimal context for intelligent work in Christian theology. The module also introduces the method of thinking theologically, by habituating you in the thoughts of leading theologians.
Introduction to the Bible: Texts, History, Culture introduces important passages and themes in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament and New Testament. This module models some of the ways in which biblical scholars approach texts.
In recent years, optional modules have included:
New Testament Greek
God and Evil
God and the Good: Philosophy of Religion and Ethics
Islam Observed: Ethnographic Accounts of Muslim Practice
Worldview, Faith and Identity
Introduction to the History of Christianity
Year 2
Core modules:
Philosophy of Religion enables you to acquire an understanding of philosophical issues raised in religion including, for example, arguments for the existence of God, the problem of evil, and the relation between reason and faith.
Atheism, Belief and the Edge of Reason introduces key philosophical thinkers from the early modern period to the present and allows you to develop a capacity for philosophical analysis that is theologically sensitive.
In recent years, optional modules have included:
Philosophy of Mind
Language, Logic and Reality
Early Modern Philosophy
Moral Theory
Creation and New Creation: Imaging God
Science and Theology: Exploring the Interface
Early Christian Doctrine: Trinity and Christology
Topics in Christian Ethics
Year 3 (Year 4 if undertaking a placement year or year abroad)
The final year includes a Dissertation on a philosophy or theology topic of your choice in which you research a topic in depth and present your findings and conclusions. The dissertation topic is chosen in consultation with a supervisor, who you will then meet for guidance throughout Year 3.
In recent years, optional modules have included:
Applied Ethics
Issues in Contemporary Ethics
Metaphysics
Issues in Old Testament Studies
The New Testament and Christian Ethics
Religion and Film
Emotion and Identity in Religion
Assessment methods
Modules are assessed by essays, some by an end-of-year examination and some by a combination of the two.
Our curriculum places a strong emphasis on self-directed learning and you will be provided with reading lists, handouts, suggestions for preparation and other online materials to guide you in your independent research.
In your final year, you will submit a dissertation, which gives you the opportunity to engage at an advanced level with creative cutting-edge research at the forefront of the discipline, working on a topic of your choice.
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
Extra funding
We're committed to supporting the best students irrespective of financial circumstances. https://www.durham.ac.uk/study/scholarships/
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.
Philosophy
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)
Theology and religious 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.
Philosophy
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
Although there aren't a lot of jobs around for professional philosophers, philosophy degrees are a relatively popular option, with more than 2,000 students graduating in a philosophy-related subject in 2015 - a little down on previous years, but still healthy. Nearly a quarter of philosophy graduates take a postgraduate qualification, and it's a relatively common subject at both Masters and doctorate level — so if you think academic life might be for you, think ahead about how you might fund further study. For those who go into work, philosophy grads tend to go into teaching, accountancy, consulting, journalism, PR, housing, marketing, human resources and the arts while a few go into the computer industry every year, where their logical training is highly rated.
Theology and religious 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
Theology can actually be a very vocational subject —by far the most common move for theology graduates is to go into the clergy and at the moment we have a serious shortage of people willing to go into what is one of the oldest graduate careers. If you want to study theology but don't want to follow a religious career, then there are plenty of options available. 2015 graduates went into all sorts of jobs requiring a degree, from education and community work, to marketing, HR and financial analysis. Postgraduate study is also popular — a lot of theology graduates train as teachers, or go into Masters or even doctoral study - where philosophy and law are very popular postgraduate subjects of study.
What about your long term prospects?
Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.
Philosophy
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£24k
£31k
£34k
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.
Theology and religious 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.
£24k
£31k
£34k
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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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.
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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
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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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