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Chinese and English Language

Entry requirements


A level

B,C,C-B,B,C

GCE A Level: including a Humanities-based essay writing subject such as English Literature, English Language, English Language & Literature, Philosophy, Religious Studies, History or Classical Civilisation. Plus a modern foreign language at GCSE level, grade C or above.

Access to HE Diploma (must include a relevant Humanities subject at Level 3), to include 45 credits at level 3, 30 of which must be at Merit

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme

26

including 5 in HL English

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

H3,H3,H3,H3,H4

including H3 in English Language

BTEC Extended Diploma/Diploma: merit/distinction profile plus one of the GCE A Level subjects listed above plus a modern foreign language at GCSE level, grade C or above.

Scottish Higher

B,B,B,B

Grades BBBB including English

UCAS Tariff

112

About this course


Course option

4years

Full-time | 2024

Subjects

English language

Chinese studies

A Combined Honours degree at Chester gives you the opportunity to study two subjects. You will spend a fairly even amount of time studying each subject area, with possible opportunities to declare a major – minor towards the end of your studies.

**Chinese**
Immerse yourself in the fascinating culture, history and language of one of the world's most powerful countries.

Whether you start as an absolute beginner or with a Pre-U, this course will give you the opportunity to develop all your language skills to a very high level, as well as studying a range of cultural and historical contexts. You will have the chance to undertake exciting placements in China, and to gain invaluable knowledge and experience of contemporary China.

Studying Chinese at the University of Chester offers you the unique opportunity to undertake two placements as part of your degree, allowing you to split your study experience between the UK and China.

Your first placement will be for six to eight weeks at the end of Year 2, and the second placement will be either a semester or full academic year in China. By the end of the course you may have made friends for life from across the world. Alternatively, you have the opportunity to stay in Chester and take a Cambridge CELTA qualifying module in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages.

Our Languages For All programme allows you to also study one of eleven languages at a range of levels in addition to your degree. Fees are fully reimbursed on completion of the course.

Develop strong communication and presentation skills, the ability to work autonomously and in groups, analytical and critical discernment and the resilience developed during placements abroad.

**English Language**
Unlock the power of words through investigation and analysis of the fundamental structures and theoretical principles of English language and linguistics.

During this course, you will study the fundamental structures and theoretical principles of English and language in general, and use them to understand and analyse spoken and written English discourse in context. This may include investigating sounds, word meanings, sentence structures, discourse analytical principles, child language acquisition, and language variation and change. You will be offered a variety of assessment types, including standard essays, presentations, data collection projects, exercises, transcriptions, dissertation and even blogs. This will equip you with the academic experiences you need to make the most of employment opportunities following your undergraduate degree and/or postgraduate study.

Established first as a Combined Honours course in 2009, English Language at Chester has been repeatedly praised by external examiners, who have noted the unusually broad range of expertise provided by the teaching team, which covers some of the most cutting-edge subjects in English language and linguistics, such as Corpus Linguistics (computer-assisted discourse analysis) and Cognitive Stylistics (how readers' minds process literary and non-literary discourse). Staff also have considerable expertise in the areas of sociolinguistics, historical linguistics, child language acquisition, models of grammar, critical discourse analysis, dialectology and comparative linguistics.

NSS 2019 results have placed the English Language course high above the sector average in terms of lecturers' ability to explain things (100%), opportunities to explore concepts in depth (97%), and advice and guidance offered by staff (96%). Students comment positively upon how approachable the teaching staff are (100%), and how they feel that staff value students’ opinions (96%).

As part of a Combined Honours course, English Language can be combined very fruitfully with numerous other subjects across the University, including education, psychology, journalism, modern languages, politics, religious studies, and many more.

Modules

For the latest example of curriculum availability on this degree programme please refer to the University of Chester's Website.

Assessment methods

For Chinese, you will be assessed in all four language skills: reading, writing, listening and speaking, as well as your ability to research and analyse. You will do this in a variety of formats: essays, role-plays, presentations, summaries, debates, portfolios, discussion papers, translations, projects, dissertation and exams.

For English Language, assessment varies widely to reflect different topics and skill sets. This includes on-line blog entries, seminar presentations, conversation and phonetic transcriptions, data collection, research and analysis, syntax trees, and short answer exercises. There are also traditional discussion essays and some formal written examinations.

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
£9,250
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£9,250
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

The Uni


Course location:

Chester

Department:

Languages and Cultures

Read full university profile

What students say


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.

English language

Sorry, no information to show

This is usually because there were too few respondents in the data we receive to be able to provide results about the subject at this university.


Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

94%
UK students
6%
International students
17%
Male students
83%
Female students
80%
2:1 or above
10%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

C
C
C

Asian studies

Sorry, no information to show

This is usually because there were too few respondents in the data we receive to be able to provide results about the subject at this university.


Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

96%
UK students
4%
International students
23%
Male students
77%
Female students
96%
2:1 or above
9%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

C
D
C

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 language

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.

£16,500
low
Average annual salary
95%
med
Employed or in further education

Top job areas of graduates

17%
Sales assistants and retail cashiers
12%
Sales, marketing and related associate professionals
10%
Other elementary services occupations

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.

£18,000
med
Average annual salary
97%
med
Employed or in further education

Top job areas of graduates

21%
Teaching and educational professionals
15%
Other elementary services occupations
14%
Sales assistants and retail cashiers

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.

£16k

£16k

£22k

£22k

£23k

£23k

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.

Asian 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

£18k

£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.

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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.

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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?

Have a question about this info? Learn more here