International Development and Languages (Chinese, French, Spanish)
University of Portsmouth
UCAS Code: LR90 | Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)
University of Portsmouth
UCAS Code: LR90 | Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)
Entry requirements
A level
96-112 points, to include a minimum of 2 A levels.
96-112 Tariff points from the Access to HE Diploma.
Cambridge Pre-U score of 42-46.
GCSE/National 4/National 5
2 GCSEs at grade C/4 or above to include English.
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
25 points from the IB Diploma, to include 3 Higher Level subjects.
Leaving Certificate - Higher Level (Ireland) (first awarded in 2017)
H3,H4,H4,H4,H4-H3,H3,H3,H3,H4
Acceptable when combined with other qualifications.
Acceptable when combined with other qualifications.
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
96-112 Tariff points to include a minimum of 2 Advanced Highers.
Acceptable when combined with other qualifications.
T Level
UCAS Tariff
96-112 points, to include a minimum of 2 A levels, or equivalent.
96-112 points from the Advanced Welsh Baccalaureate including 1 A level, plus the Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate.
About this course
**Overview**
Work towards fluency in a foreign language (or two) while exploring solutions to global social challenges such as poverty and hunger, environmental sustainability, universal education and health care.
On this BA (Hons) International Development and Languages degree course, you'll study one language from beginner's level (French, Spanish, Mandarin Chinese) or post-A level (French, Spanish). As of 2021, these three languages are spoken as first or second languages by 1,930 billion people worldwide. You'll also get the chance to learn a second language: French, Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, Arabic, Japanese, German or British Sign Language (BSL).
You'll get full support to build your language skills to fluency alongside opportunities to apply your learning to work with not-for-profit organisations in developing countries on placement. You'll graduate prepared for a career in organisations around the globe, in roles such as in government, teaching and working with non-government organisations (NGOs).
**Course highlights**
- Explore fields of economics, human geography, politics and international relations to find solutions that could include changing policy at a national level, managing relations between governments and developing budgets for sustained advancement
- Use our professional-grade conference interpreting suite and language labs, where you can manipulate video, sound, text and internet sources
- Immerse yourself in the cultures of the countries where your chosen languages are spoken – in the classroom, in our Global Café and on your work or study placement abroad
- Gain on-the-ground experience of community development and protected area management on an optional field trip to Uganda
- Be taught by staff who are committed to their research in the field, such as Professor Tamsin Bradley whose research is informing schemes to help support women across South Asia in their search for equality
- Learn from professionals working in the sector
- Put your expertise into practice in Model United Nations events, in collaboration with fellow students from International Development and International Relations
**Worried about your grades?**
If you're not sure you meet the entry requirements, or need some help to get uni-ready, then we offer this course with a foundation year to bring you up to speed. When you successfully finish, you'll get a guaranteed place on this course.
**Careers and opportunities**
This course gives you the skills for careers in areas such as:
- international community development
- civil service
- fundraising, campaigning and advocacy
- policy development
- social enterprise
- corporate social responsibility
- project management
What jobs can you do with an international development and languages degree?
Our graduates have gone on to roles such as:
- programme management, support and evaluation roles for international agencies and non-governmental organisations
- fundraising development coordinator
- human rights advocacy
- media and digital content lead
- community development practitioner
- sustainable sourcing specialist for multinational corporations
- teacher
Graduate destinations
Our graduates have worked for non-governmental organisations (NGOs), government departments and companies such as:
- Save the Children
- Street Doctors
- CAFOD
- the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
- the Department or International Development
- Shelterbox
- British Chamber of Commerce
Modules
Year 1
Core modules:
- Critical Thinking and Professional Identity (40 credits)
- Global Development (20 credits)
- The Making of the Global South (20 credits)
Optional modules:
- French Grade 1&2 - General Language (20 credits)
- French Grade 1&2 - Language in Use (20 credits)
- Language Project (French) (20 credits)
- Language Project (Spanish) (20 credits)
- Mandarin Grade 1&2 - General Language (20 credits)
- Mandarin Grade 1&2 - Language in Use (20 credits)
- Spanish Grade 1&2 - General Language (20 credits)
- Spanish Grade 1&2 - Language in Use (20 credits)
- French General Language Grade 3 (20 credits)
- Spanish General Language Grade 3 (20 credits)
Year 2
Core modules:
- Climate Crises (20 credits)
- The Geopolitics and Geo-Economics of Africa (20 credits)
Optional modules:
- Analysing Foreign Policy (20 credits)
- Development and Democracy in Latin America (20 credits)
- East Asian States and Societies (20 credits)
- Empire and Its Afterlives in Britain, Europe, and Africa (20 credits)
- Engaged Citizenship in Humanities and Social Sciences (20 credits)
- French General Language Grade 3 & 4 (Part 1) (20 credits)
- French General Language Grade 3 & 4 (Part 2) (20 credits)
- French General Language Grade 4 (20 credits)
- Gender and Social Justice (20 credits)
- Global Security (20 credits)
- Intercultural Perspectives On Communication (20 credits)
- Introduction to Teaching (20 credits)
- Introduction to Translation (20 credits)
- Language for Professional Communication (French) (20 credits)
- Language for Professional Communication (Spanish) (20 credits)
- Managing Across Cultures (Fheq5) (20 credits)
- Mandarin General Language Grade 3 & 4 (Part 1) (20 credits)
- Mandarin General Language Grade 3 & 4 (Part 2) (20 credits)
- Marketing & Communication (20 credits)
- Modernity and Globalisation (20 credits)
- Nationalism and Migration: Chaos, Crisis and the Everyday (L5) (20 credits)
- News, Discourse, and Media (20 credits)
- Principles of Economic Crime Investigation (20 credits)
- Professional Experience L5 (20 credits)
- Puritans to Postmodernists: American Literature (20 credits)
- Social Enterprise and Entrepreneurship (20 credits)
- Spanish General Language Grade 3 & 4 (Part 1) (20 credits)
- Spanish General Language Grade 3 & 4 (Part 2) (20 credits)
- Spanish General Language Grade 4 (20 credits)
- Transitional Justice & Human Rights (20 credits)
- Wildlife Crime: Threats and Response (20 credits)
- Working With Languages Today (20 credits)
Year abroad
In your third year, you'll spend a year in a country where the main language you're studying is spoken.
Year 4
Optional modules:
- Advanced Language Project (20 credits)
- Decolonial Politics and Theory in International Relations (20 credits)
- French General Language Grade 6 (20 credits)
- Global Capitalism: Past, Present and Future (20 credits)
- Global Health (20 credits)
- Independent Project (International Development) (20 credits)
- Interpreting 1 (20 credits)
- Interpreting 2 (20 credits)
- Mandarin General Language Grade 6 (20 credits)
- Ngos and Social Movements (20 credits)
- Professional Development: Recruiters and Candidates (20 credits)
- Professional Development: Recruiters and Candidates (20 credits)
- Professional Experience L6 (20 credits)
- Race, Rights & Development: Global Perspectives On Inequality & Social Justice (20 credits)
- Religion and Politics in Global Perspective (20 credits)
- Research Project (20 credits)
- Rethinking Aid and Development (20 credits)
- Spanish General Language Grade 6 (20 credits)
- Translation Theory & Practice (20 credits)
- Translation Theory and Practice (Chinese) (20 credits)
Assessment methods
You’ll be assessed through:
examinations
case studies
projects
presentations
book reviews
assignments
You’ll be able to test your skills and knowledge informally before you do assessments that count towards your final mark.
You can get feedback on all practice and formal assessments so you can improve in the future.
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
The Uni
University of Portsmouth
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
What students say
We've crunched the numbers to see if the overall teaching satisfaction score 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.
Others in language and area 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)
Development 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.
Others in language and area 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
This is a broad subject for a variety of European languages. No matter which you take, the general theme is that some graduates go to that country to work, often as English language teachers, some go into further study, often to train as teachers or translators, but most get jobs in the UK in education - most often as language tutors, unsurprisingly, or translators. Modern language grads can also be in demand in business roles where communication and language skills are particularly useful, such as marketing and PR, and in finance or law. But remember — whilst employers say they rate graduates who have graduates who have more than one language, you need to have them as part of a whole package of good skills.
Development 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
This is a newly-classified subject area for this kind of data, and so there are not a lot of stats available for development subjects. About 100 graduates a year take these degrees at the moment and they only attend a handful of universities. It's an emerging field, so if you want a good view of what the degree provides, make sure you get on an open day, talk to course tutors and ask them if they have any stats for their course.
What about your long term prospects?
Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.
Others in language and area 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.
£20k
£24k
£27k
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.
Development 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.
£20k
£26k
£29k
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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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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