Chinese and Russian Studies
Entry requirements
A level
Required subjects: A Levels: Chinese or Russian at B. GCSEs: English at C or 4.
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
34 points with 655 at HL. Required subjects: HL: Chinese or Russian at 5. SL: English at 5.
Scottish Higher
ABBB by end of S5 or AABB/ABBBB by end of S6. BBB must be achieved in one year of S4-S6. Required subjects: Highers: Cantonese or Mandarin at B. National 5s: English at C.
UCAS Tariff
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About this course
This joint honours programme enables you to study the languages, literatures and cultures of two of the world's largest countries, both of whom play an important role in contemporary global politics.
Together, Chinese and Russian have around 1.5 billion native speakers. They are your gateway to cultures and career opportunities in many parts of:
* Europe
* East and Central Asia
* North America
There are large communities of Russian speakers in China.
**Skills development**
Study with us, and you will develop advanced competency in modern standard Chinese and in Russian. You will gain the skills needed to use your languages in social and professional settings, focusing on:
* reading and writing (including translation)
* speaking and listening
Our courses explore Chinese, East Asian, Russian and Russian-speaking (Russophone):
* literature and cinema
* political history and international relations
* social and cultural movements
You will have the opportunity to study Russia's transnational mobility and to learn about Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and associated Chinese diasporas.
**Why Edinburgh**
As a world-leading festival and capital city, Edinburgh is a fantastic place to study global languages in their cultural context.
We are the only university in Scotland to offer both single and joint honours undergraduate programmes in Chinese. While we specialise in teaching students with little or no prior knowledge of the language, we can also accommodate students who already have some experience of studying Chinese.
Studying over four years enables you to choose courses that match your own interests, expertise and employability needs. We build immersive study abroad into the programme in Year 3, which you will spend in either China or Taiwan and in a country where Russian is spoken.
Employers recognise the importance of both languages and the benefits of a broad intercultural education. Our graduates are valued for their capability to act as bridges of understanding between Chinese, Russian and British cultures.
Tuition fees
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The Uni
Central area campus
School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures
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.
Slavic 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)
Asian 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.
Slavic 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
Most graduates studying a Russian and East European course studied Russian, and with Russia playing an important part in world business and politics, graduates are in demand. This is an elite group — 200 UK graduates got degrees in this subject in 2015, and they usually have amongst the best average starting salaries of all language graduates. London was by far the most likely place for Russian graduates to work in the UK and naturally, a reasonable proportion - about a fifth - went overseas to work. Postgraduate study (usually in law or languages) is also quite common — this is a growing area for the UK.
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.
Top job areas of graduates
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.
Slavic 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.
£21k
£29k
£33k
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.
£21k
£29k
£33k
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?
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