Theology and Religion
Durham University
UCAS Code: V614 | Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)
Entry requirements
A level
Specific subjects excluded for entry: General Studies and Critical Thinking. Information: Applicants taking Science A-levels that include a practical component will be required to take and pass this as a condition of entry. This refers only to English A Levels.
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. Please contact departments for further information.
Cambridge International Pre-U Certificate - Principal
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
General information on subjects/grades required for entry: Seventeen points (6, 6, 5) from Higher Level subjects required.
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.
UCAS Tariff
We've calculated how many Ucas points you'll need for this course.
About this course
**What do people believe about the world and their place in it? How do those beliefs shape society and culture? Can those beliefs be critically examined, scrutinised and tested?**
At the Department of Theology and Religion, the answer to the final question is 'Yes'. We teach you how to use the tools of philosophy, social science, history, literature and language to understand human beliefs and worldviews, past and present. We do this both from within, seeking to test our own beliefs for clarity and coherence, and from without, as critical observers. We have a historic strength in the study of Christian thought, history, practice, and texts, while offering strong provision in other areas such as politics, ethics, non-Christian faith traditions, humanism and atheism (which are also belief systems).
**Study Abroad**
Durham University currently has over 240 student exchange agreements across the world as part of our International Exchange programmes. Our partner institutions are spread across the globe from Austria to New Zealand. Students apply for this opportunity during their first two years and (if successful) spend a year, between their second and third years at Durham in one of our overseas partner institutions.
For more information on this course, please see our website.
Modules
Year 1
Four compulsory modules are taken in the first year, as follows:
Worldview, Faith and Identity (world religions)
Introduction to Biblical Studies (scriptural studies)
Christianity in Context (historical studies)
Introduction to Christian Theology (philosophical studies)
and two optional modules from a list which in the past has included:
Islam Observed
God and Evil
Biblical Hebrew
God and the Good: Philosophy of Religion and Ethics
New Testament Greek
A module from another department (such as Arabic, or Ethics and Values).
One of these optional modules may be taken in your second year.
Year 2
Beyond the first year, you have the opportunity to either develop your expertise in all of these areas, or to specialise in one or more according to your interests. Here are some examples of modules that have previously been offered in the second year:
Atheism, Belief, and the Edge of Reason
Science and Theology: Exploring the Interface
Literature and Theology of the Old Testament
Sacred India: Land, Politics, and Identity
Faith, Identity and Power in Latin America
Jewish Religion in Antiquity: Belief Systems, Ethics, Political Conflicts
Philosophy and the Christian Tradition 100–1300
Imaging God
The Making of Modern Christianity: Medieval and Reformation Europe
Religion in Contemporary Britain
Myth and Meaning
New Testament Theology: Exploring Paul and John
Death, Ritual and Belief
Catholic Identity in the Modern World.
In your second year you may also take up to two modules in other departments.
Year 3
In your final year, you will submit a double dissertation which allows you to explore in depth a topic of your choice which is of special interest to you. In the third year you can also take optional modules, selecting from a list which in the past has included:
Jesus Christ in the Twentieth Century
Competing Gospels: Jesus Inside and Outside the Canon
Issues in Old Testament Studies
Religious Diversity in African Context
The Sociology of Conservative Protestantism
Theology, Nature, Environment
The Thought of St Thomas Aquinas
The First Urban Churches
Biblical Theology
Religion and Film
Emotion, Religion and Identity
Christian Tradition and the Practice of Politics.
The Postmodern God.
If not taken in the second year (see above), you may also take up to two Finals modules (in total) in another department.
Please note that the list of optional modules available in any year will vary depending on available teaching staff. The lists above provide an example of the type of modules which may be offered.
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
The Uni
Josephine Butler College
St Aidan's College
Collingwood College
St Cuthbert's Society
John Snow College
Van Mildert College
South College
College of St Hild and St Bede
St Chad's College
University College
Stephenson College
St John's College
St Mary's College
No college preference
Trevelyan College
Grey College
Hatfield College
Theology and Religion
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.
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.
Theology & 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 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.
£23k
£29k
£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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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.
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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.
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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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