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Language & Linguistics and Sociology

Entry requirements


A level

B,B,B

For First Year Entry a minimum of 3 A Levels at BBB. For Second Year Entry a minimum of an A in the subject selected for Single Honours plus BB, or AB in the subjects selected for Joint Honours plus a further B. GCSE in English or English Language is also required.

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme

32

For entry into First Year, a minimum of 32 points required, including at least 5,5,5 at HL. For entry into Second Year, a minimum of 36 points, including at 6, 6, 6 at Higher level in subject(s) selected. English at a minimum of Standard level required.

Leaving Certificate - Higher Level (Ireland) (first awarded in 2017)

H2,H2,H2,H3,H3

A minimum of 5H with 3 at H2 AND 2 at H3 OR AAABB, obtained in a single sitting. (The grading within band B must be at B2 or above). Also required: O in English or English Language

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)

DDM

Minimum entry requirement: DDM in related subjects.

Scottish Advanced Higher

A,B,B

Second year entry may be possible in most school based subjects. A minimum of ABB overall in Adv Higher is required. Adv Higher at A in the subject selected for Single Honours or AB in the subject selected for Joint Honours.

Scottish Higher

A,A,B,B

Applicants who achieve AABB or better over S4 and S5 are likely to be made an offer of admission. This may be unconditional or it may be conditional, dependent upon academic profile. Good performance in additional Highers / Advanced Highers may be required. Note: we do not double count a Higher and Advanced Higher in the same subject, but we do consider that a B at Adv Higher is equivalent to an A grade at Higher. National 5 English at minimum grade C

UCAS Tariff

120-152

We've calculated how many Ucas points you'll need for this course.

About this course


Course option

4years

Full-time | 2024

Subjects

Linguistics

Sociology

Language and Linguistics is the fascinating exploration of human language and Sociology looks at how societies have developed, both look at challenges now and in the future. Language & Linguistics will introduce you to, among other things, how human language and speech may have evolved, the complex functions and structures of language in its role as a bridge between sound and meaning, the ways in which we acquire languages as children and adults, the ways in which languages vary and the mechanisms by which they change over time.

Language is the very essence of what makes us human, setting us apart from all other species. Linguistics helps us analyse, discuss and model this fascinating human attribute so that we understand ourselves and human societies more fully. You will explore how languages evolve over time, how the brain processes speech and language, social factors and different dialects of English, how we learn second languages and much more. This is a fast-moving field. Our understanding of language grows all the time with new discoveries in neuroscience, animal behaviour, archaeology and palaeontology, sociology and psychology and new applications of linguistics theory in industry, medicine, and forensic science emerge year on year.

Sociology at Aberdeen explores the issues and challenges of modern societies and how they have developed through time until the present day. You will gain a deep understanding of how society influences people and explore a range of different themes, including social awareness. You will study topics as wide-ranging as sociology of the family, work-life balance, crime, religion and the state. And you will become skilled in the social research methods used to gather the evidence to better understand aspects of society – which could be observation, interviews, large-scale surveys or analysing the content of documents and videos.

**Sociology at Aberdeen is rated 4th in Scotland in the Complete University Guide 2023.
Sociology at Aberdeen is ranked 10th in the UK and 2nd in Scotland by The Guardian’s Best UK Universities, 2021.**

Modules

View all modules on the programme page to find out more about what you will be studying and when. University of Aberdeen modules are designed to give you breadth and depth to your degree. The range of modules you study will allow you to become proficient in all subjects which are directly relevant to your degree giving you greater career options.

Assessment methods

Students are assessed by any combination of three assessment methods: Coursework such as essays and reports completed throughout the course; Practical assessments of the skills and competencies they learn on the course; Written examinations at the end of each course. The exact mix of these methods differs between subject areas, years of study and individual courses.

Honours projects are typically assessed on the basis of a written dissertation.

Tuition fees

Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:

Channel Islands
£9,250
per year
England
£9,250
per year
EU
£20,800
per year
International
£20,800
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Republic of Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£1,820
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

Extra funding

View the University of Aberdeen Online Prospectus programme page to find out about any scholarships and funding you may be able to apply for.

The Uni


Course location:

University of Aberdeen

Department:

School of Language, Literature, Music and Visual Culture

Read full university profile

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.

92%
Linguistics
86%
Sociology

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

88%
Staff make the subject interesting
100%
Staff are good at explaining things
80%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
70%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

88%
Library resources
89%
IT resources
82%
Course specific equipment and facilities
85%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

68%
UK students
32%
International students
29%
Male students
71%
Female students
88%
2:1 or above
6%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

C
B
B

Sociology

Teaching and learning

86%
Staff make the subject interesting
89%
Staff are good at explaining things
89%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
75%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

78%
Library resources
96%
IT resources
82%
Course specific equipment and facilities
81%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

87%
UK students
13%
International students
26%
Male students
74%
Female students
86%
2:1 or above
7%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

C
B
A

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.

£18,000
med
Average annual salary
95%
med
Employed or in further education

Top job areas of graduates

16%
Other elementary services occupations
12%
Teaching and educational professionals
9%
Sales, marketing and related associate professionals

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,

Sociology

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.

£19,283
med
Average annual salary
99%
high
Employed or in further education
32%
low
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

16%
Other elementary services occupations
13%
Public services and other associate professionals
10%
Sales assistants and retail cashiers

We have quite a lot of sociology graduates, although numbers fell last year. But graduates still do pretty well. Most sociology graduates go straight into work when they complete their degrees, and a lot of graduates go into jobs in social professions such as recruitment, education, community and youth work, and housing. An important option for a sociology graduate is social work - and we're short of people willing to take this challenging but rewarding career. Sociology is a flexible degree and you can find graduates from the subject in pretty much every reasonable job — obviously, you don't find many doctors or engineers, but you do find them in finance, the media, healthcare, marketing and even IT. Sociology graduates taking further study often branch out into other qualifications, like teaching, law, psychology, HR and even maths, so don’t think a sociology degree restricts you to just one set of options.

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.

£18k

£18k

£19k

£19k

£25k

£25k

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.

Sociology

The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.

£16k

£16k

£23k

£23k

£25k

£25k

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...

Higher entry requirements
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UCAS Points: 152-165
Lower entry requirements
The University of Edinburgh | Edinburgh
Russian Studies and Linguistics
MA (Hons) 4 Years Full-time 2024
UCAS Points: 114-136
Nearby University
Robert Gordon University | Aberdeen
Applied Sociology
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UCAS Points: 102-104

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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.

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Course location and department:

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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.

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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