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Philosophy and Theology

Entry requirements


A level

A,A,A

Excluding General Studies (if taken)

Access to HE Diploma

D:45

Some Access courses allow students to take one or two A-levels as part of the course. This option is strongly recommended for students who wish to apply to Oxford, especially for those courses which have specific subject requirements. If you would like to discuss the suitability of your Access course for entry to Oxford University, please contact the subject department that you’d like to apply to for further information. (Contact details are at ox.ac.uk/courses)

Cambridge International Pre-U Certificate - Principal

D3,D3,D3

Pre-U subject requirements are the same as those for A-levels.

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme

39

with 6 6 6 at HL

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

H2,H2,H2,H2,H2,H2

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

D*D*D*-DDD

Conditional offers would usually be: Extended Diploma with D*D*D to DDD, depending on the course. Diploma with DD plus an A grade at A-level, possibly with one or two * grades, depending on the course. Subsidiary Diploma with D plus two A grades at A-level, possibly with one or two * grades, depending on the course.

Scottish Advanced Higher

A,A-A,A,B

Conditional offers will usually be for AAB if a student is able to take three Advanced Highers; where this is not possible then a student would be expected to achieve AA in two Advanced Highers, as well as an A grade in an additional Higher course taken in Year 6.

Scottish Higher

A,A,A,A,B-A,A,A,A,A


Supplemented by two or more Advanced Highers.

UCAS Tariff

112-165

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

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About this course


Course option

3years

Full-time | 2024

Subjects

Philosophy

Theology and religious studies

Philosophy and Theology brings together some of the most important approaches to understanding and assessing the intellectual claims of religion.

The study of Philosophy develops analytical rigour and the ability to criticise and reason logically. It allows you to apply these skills to many contemporary and historical schools of thought and individual thinkers, and to questions ranging from how we acquire knowledge and form moral judgements to central questions in the philosophy of religion, including the existence and nature of God and the relevance of religion to human life.

The study of Theology provides an understanding of the intellectual underpinning of religious traditions and of the social and cultural contexts for religious belief and practice. It brings together a wide range of skills and disciplines, historical, textual, linguistic, sociological, literary-critical and philosophical.

Central to this degree is a recognition that parallel study of these related disciplines leads to a deeper understanding of each. For more information on this course please visit ox.ac.uk/ugpt.

The Uni


Course locations:

Keble

Harris Manchester (Mat)

Jesus

St John's

Christ Church

Pembroke

Mansfield

Wycliffe Hall (PPH)

Lady Margaret Hall

Regent's Park (PPH)

Worcester

Trinity

St Peter's

Open Application

Oriel

Department:

Theology and Religion

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.

Philosophy

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?

76%
UK students
24%
International students
53%
Male students
47%
Female students
94%
2:1 or above
3%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

A*
A*
A*

Theology and religious 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?

87%
UK students
13%
International students
48%
Male students
52%
Female students
97%
2:1 or above
3%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

A*
A*
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.

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.

£28,000
high
Average annual salary
96%
med
Employed or in further education
72%
high
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

19%
Business, research and administrative professionals
14%
Business, finance and related associate professionals
11%
Teaching and educational professionals

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.

£24,000
high
Average annual salary
93%
low
Employed or in further education
76%
high
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

30%
Welfare professionals
9%
Sales, marketing and related associate professionals
7%
Teaching and educational professionals

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.

£27k

£27k

£35k

£35k

£42k

£42k

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.

£27k

£27k

£35k

£35k

£42k

£42k

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
Durham University | Durham
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UCAS Points: 144-168
Lower entry requirements
Bangor University | Bangor (Wales)
Philosophy, Ethics and Religion
BA (Hons) 3 Years Full-time 2024
UCAS Points: 96-120

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Teaching Excellence Framework (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.

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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