BA (Hons) Liberal Arts with a Placement Year
Course options
Key Details
- Attendance
- Full Time
- Award
- Degree of Bachelor of Arts
- UCAS Course Code
- Y00P
- Entry Requirements
- AAB
- Course Length
- 4 years
- Course Start Date
- September 2023
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Why you should choose us
Course Overview
Cross the boundaries of subjects and disciplines and build a unique degree that is aligned with your intellectual interests and career objectives.
Liberal Arts at UEA harnesses the best research-led teaching from across the University, resulting in a radically different, innovative, and unique programme. The course is based in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, but also taught across the Faculty of Social Sciences, and the Faculty of Sciences. This multidisciplinary and multi-Faculty approach means that in all elements of your degree you will benefit from the world-leading expertise alongside the supportive and inclusive teaching techniques of UEA’s academics, whilst retaining a home and core support network within the Liberal Arts team.
Our creative and flexible approach to student-centred learning and strong emphasis on pastoral support encourages you to achieve at the highest level. Liberal Arts at UEA combines academic and intellectual rigour with a supportive community and stimulating atmosphere to ensure an excellent student experience.
By studying Liberal Arts at UEA, you can enjoy the prospect of taking control of your studies while still being supported by a course structure.
This is an innovative and challenging programme aimed at ambitious and versatile students who do not want to be limited by traditional disciplinary boundaries. Our course is ideal if you wish to study more than one subject area while retaining greater flexibility than traditional joint degrees allow. Whichever subjects you choose, you will be learning at the forefront of your chosen disciplines with our stimulating, exciting research-led programme.
The course offers in-depth learning in your chosen field of specialisation, selected from subjects within the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, which will constitute your major. This is then complemented by the study of other subjects alongside it, selected from within the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, the Faculty of Social Sciences, or the Faculty of Science, which will constitute your minor.
Your year in placement will give you first-hand knowledge of your chosen field and generate crucial employer contacts to give you an advantage in the job market. Upon graduation you will be well equipped to follow one of a wide range of public or private sector careers, or use your skills to pursue other graduate opportunities.
If you are looking for the freedom to follow your interests and passions, wherever these might take you, then Liberal Arts at UEA will be for you. This course will equip you with the knowledge, skills and confidence to lead and innovate. Whilst studying Liberal Arts at UEA, you will build an original and unique portfolio of expertise that will make you stand out from the crowd.
Placement Year and Study Abroad
Relevant work experience is an incredibly useful asset in today’s competitive job market, and our Placement Year programme ensures you will graduate one step ahead of other students. You will gain first-hand knowledge, secure valuable contacts, and learn how to put theory into practice, working within time and financial constraints.
You will be expected to seek your own work placement. In the first two weeks of your second year, you’ll write a CV and apply to a range of companies. Not only will this ensure that you work within your preferred field, it will also provide you with the essential job-hunting skills you will require after graduation. We will offer our guidance and support while you are identifying and negotiating placement opportunities.
During this year, you will be supported by a placement adviser from the university. You and your placement adviser will feed back during the placement to ensure that it is progressing well, and your placement adviser will also visit you during the year.
Please note that we cannot guarantee any student a work placement as this decision rests with potential employers.
If you are unable to secure a work placement by the end of your second year, you will have the option to transfer onto the equivalent degree programme without a Placement Year.
Alternatively, you have the option to take a Year Abroad, in Australasia, Canada, United States or Europe, by studying on the BA Liberal Arts with a Year Abroad.
Study and Modules
Structure
On this course, you’ll be exposed to a wide range of disciplinary perspectives, theories and methods that will encourage you not only to explore in detail, but also to use, apply, and combine in analysing and understanding the complexity of the contemporary world.
At the heart of your Liberal Arts degree at UEA will sit a group of broad-based core modules which will facilitate the development of your abilities to learn from, and through, interdisciplinary approaches.
In year one, the core module focuses on methodological theory and practice within the Humanities. In addition to this interdisciplinary module, you will make a wide range of elective choices (selected from within arts and humanities subjects) guided towards a discipline-based major, alongside a minor pathway (with the latter selected from a range of subjects from within the arts and humanities, or social sciences, or sciences).
Compulsory Modules
Optional A Modules
(Min Credits: 60, Max Credits: 100)Optional B Modules
(Min Credits: 0, Max Credits: 40)Optional C Modules
(Min Credits: 0, Max Credits: 40)Whilst the University will make every effort to offer the modules listed, changes may sometimes be made arising from the annual monitoring, review and update of modules. Where this activity leads to significant (but not minor) changes to programmes and their constituent modules, the University will endeavour to consult with students and others. It is also possible that the University may not be able to offer a module for reasons outside of its control, such as the illness of a member of staff. In some cases optional modules can have limited places available and so you may be asked to make additional module choices in the event you do not gain a place on your first choice. Where this is the case, the University will inform students.
Teaching and Learning
Liberal Arts at UEA integrates the latest learning and teaching approaches to give you a varied and stimulating programme. By choosing your own elective modules in each of the years of your BA Liberal Arts degree at UEA, your studies will be unique to you. You will select modules from across different Schools, allowing you to sample different methodologies, approaches and theories throughout your degree. No matter which disciplines you explore during your studies, teaching is led by internationally respected academics at the forefront of research, and will involve a mixture of tailored small group experiences with fellow Liberal Arts students, and opportunities to study alongside other students in your major field and optional modules, through a combination of lectures, seminars, tutorials, practical classes, workshops, one-on-one support, and self-directed learning. Throughout the programme, you will move between different Schools and Faculties across UEA, whilst retaining a home and core support network within the Liberal Arts team.
In first year seminars, you’ll learn how to listen to and critique the ideas of others, as well as how to present and defend your own arguments effectively. In our Liberal Arts core module, you will be taught with an interdisciplinary approach in regular seminars by staff with specialisms from across the Humanities. The teaching within your elective modules will depend on the practice with the School your module is based in. Through all these sessions and your academic modules, you’ll gain the crucial interdisciplinary research skills of uncovering resources and critically assessing sources.
Academic Support
From the outset, you’ll be assigned your own academic adviser who will help you tailor your choices from across the different subject areas, ensuring you create a degree that ignites your passion and crosses conventional disciplinary boundaries. Your academic adviser will follow you closely as you progress through your studies, providing academic advice, encouragement, and offering assistance in any areas where you feel extra support will help you make the most of your time and potential here at UEA.
Assessment
You will be assessed through a variety of methods, which will vary greatly depending on your academic choices. During your first year, assessment methods could include coursework, exams, group work, written reports, or presentations. At the beginning of each module, you will be given detailed information on how and when you will be assessed.
The core module assessment will be a year-long coursework portfolio based on the theoretical ideas that you have explored during your degree so far.
Feedback
Support will be on hand throughout your time as a Liberal Arts student at UEA, and we are committed to providing regular and appropriate feedback on your academic progress and achievement in order to enable you to reflect upon, and plan, your academic and skills development effectively. This will continue into your later years of study.
Structure
In year two, your studies will continue to include a further broad-based module which will allow you to develop practical expertise in the application of multiple disciplinary perspectives when solving significant and increasingly complex problems. The core module will be central to the degree, encouraging you to engage with a range of activities traditionally associated with Liberal Arts training: interdisciplinary work, systems thinking, creativity, innovation, and problem-solving. In this year, you will also have the opportunity to focus on your specific major and minor subject areas and topics, studying them in greater depth and building upon your cross-disciplinary knowledge developed in year one.
Compulsory Modules
Optional A Modules
(Min Credits: 60, Max Credits: 100)Optional B Modules
(Min Credits: 0, Max Credits: 40)Optional C Modules
(Min Credits: 0, Max Credits: 40)Whilst the University will make every effort to offer the modules listed, changes may sometimes be made arising from the annual monitoring, review and update of modules. Where this activity leads to significant (but not minor) changes to programmes and their constituent modules, the University will endeavour to consult with students and others. It is also possible that the University may not be able to offer a module for reasons outside of its control, such as the illness of a member of staff. In some cases optional modules can have limited places available and so you may be asked to make additional module choices in the event you do not gain a place on your first choice. Where this is the case, the University will inform students.
Teaching and Learning
In your second year, you will continue with a core Liberal Arts module in the Autumn Semester, whilst experiencing teaching in different elective modules in disciplines tailored to your specific major and minor pathways. You’ll consolidate your skills of independent and self-motivated learning, thinking and research during this second year of study while also being able to focus on topics which interest you, and find new passions.
In the second year of your degree, there is an option to take a Semester Abroad option in the Spring Semester. If you opt for this, the teaching you experience will be specific to your chosen institution, though the classes you attend will equate to credited modules so that they will align with our own here at UEA.
Assessment
As with year one, you will complete different types of assessment depending on which modules you choose for your major and minor pathways. The types of assessment will build on those you have experienced in your first year, and similarly might include written reports, coursework, exams, work produced within a group setting, or presentations. As you progress into the second year of your degree, you’ll develop as a self-motivated researcher and independent thinker.
Your core module will be assessed through an interdisciplinary practice-based project, deriving from the conclusions drawn during your classes. The assessment will allow you to showcase your practical, problem solving, analytical skills whilst also honing your interdisciplinary knowledge.
Structure
You’ll spend your third year on a placement. You will be responsible for securing the placement, but UEA has well-established connections throughout the UK and beyond and can help you to identify and compete for appropriate placement opportunities. Throughout your placement, you will maintain close contact with your UEA academic adviser and you’ll be supported by a placement adviser. The year will be assessed through a written evaluative report
Compulsory Modules
Whilst the University will make every effort to offer the modules listed, changes may sometimes be made arising from the annual monitoring, review and update of modules. Where this activity leads to significant (but not minor) changes to programmes and their constituent modules, the University will endeavour to consult with students and others. It is also possible that the University may not be able to offer a module for reasons outside of its control, such as the illness of a member of staff. In some cases optional modules can have limited places available and so you may be asked to make additional module choices in the event you do not gain a place on your first choice. Where this is the case, the University will inform students.
Teaching and Learning
Your third year will be spent on your placement, providing you with the opportunity to experience the world of work, whilst applying your interdisciplinary knowledge and skills developed during the first two years of study. During this year, you will be supported by a placement adviser from the university. You and your placement adviser will feed back during the placement to ensure that it is progressing well, and your placement adviser will also visit you during the year.
Assessment
For your placement year, you will be assessed through a final report in which you will reflect upon your experiences.
Structure
In your final year of study, alongside your elective major and minor modules, you will undertake a substantial research project that can reflect your own interests, and will be supervised by an academic working in the same research area.
With guided support from the Liberal Arts team, you will create a degree which is unique to you.
Independent Learning
This course will give you an excellent balance of independent thinking and study skills, helping you grow into a self-motivated learner, an expert researcher, and an analytical thinker.
You will develop accuracy and precision in your written work through organising evidence, and become confident in time management, organisation and self-directed study.
Optional A Modules
(Min Credits: 20, Max Credits: 30)Optional B Modules
(Min Credits: 60, Max Credits: 90)Optional C Modules
(Min Credits: 0, Max Credits: 40)Optional D Modules
(Min Credits: 0, Max Credits: 40)Whilst the University will make every effort to offer the modules listed, changes may sometimes be made arising from the annual monitoring, review and update of modules. Where this activity leads to significant (but not minor) changes to programmes and their constituent modules, the University will endeavour to consult with students and others. It is also possible that the University may not be able to offer a module for reasons outside of its control, such as the illness of a member of staff. In some cases optional modules can have limited places available and so you may be asked to make additional module choices in the event you do not gain a place on your first choice. Where this is the case, the University will inform students.
Teaching and Learning
Assessment
In your final year of your Liberal Arts degree, you’ll choose increasingly more specialised modules, taught by staff who are experts in their field. In turn, your assessments will allow you to focus on the subjects and areas which are of greatest interest to you. You will have the opportunity to undertake an Independent Research Project which aligns with the main topics you have investigated during your degree. This project will bring together the knowledge and expertise that you have acquired through your major and minor pathways.
Entry Requirements
- A Levels
- AAB. If you are taking an EPQ and three A-levels, we may offer you a one grade reduction on our advertised typical offer, if you achieve an A in the EPQ.
- T Levels
- Not accepted
- BTEC
- DDD excluding BTEC Public Services, Uniformed Services and Business Administration
- Scottish Highers
- AAAAA
- Scottish Advanced Highers
- BBC
- Irish Leaving Certificate
- 4 subjects at H2, 2 subjects at H3
- Access to HE Diploma
- Pass Access to HE Diploma with Distinction in 36 credits at Level 3 and Merit in 9 credits at Level 3. Access to Humanities & Social Sciences pathway
- International Baccalaureate
- 33 points
- GCSE
You are required to have Mathematics and English Language at a minimum of Grade C or Grade 4 or above at GCSE.
- English Foreign Language
Applications from students whose first language is not English are welcome. We require evidence of proficiency in English (including writing, speaking, listening and reading):
- IELTS: 6.5 overall (minimum 5.5 in all components) for year 1 entry
- IELTS: 6.5 overall (minimum 6.0 in all components) for year 2 entry
We also accept a number of other English language tests. Review our English Language Equivalencies for a list of example qualifications that we may accept to meet this requirement.
If you do not yet meet the English language requirements for this course, INTO UEA offer a variety of English language programmes which are designed to help you develop the English skills necessary for successful undergraduate study:
- Interviews
Most applicants will not be called for an interview and a decision will be made via UCAS Track. However, for some applicants an interview will be requested. Where an interview is required the Admissions Service will contact you directly to arrange a time.
- Deferred Entry
We welcome applications from students who have already taken or intend to take a gap year. We believe that a year between school and university can be of substantial benefit. You are advised to indicate your reason for wishing to defer entry on your UCAS application.
- Intakes
This course is open to UK and International applicants. The annual intake is in September each year.
Additional Information or Requirements
UEA are committed to ensuring that Higher Education is accessible to all, regardless of their background or experiences. One of the ways we do this is through our contextual admissions schemes.
Selected optional minors in science related subjects may require prerequisite specific Level 3 subject knowledge or experience in that subject. These minors / modules may be unavailable to you if you do not hold evidence of this specific subject knowledge at Level 3 or above. Please see the table below for further details.
| Optional Minor Subject | Subject Knowledge Required @ Level 3 |
|---|---|
| Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning | Mathematics, Computing Science, Digital Technology, Electronics. or Economics |
| Evolutionary Biology | Biology or Human Biology |
| Inorganic Chemistry | Chemistry |
| Mathematics | Mathematics |
| Molecular and Cellular Biology | Biology or Human Biology |
| Organic Chemistry | Chemistry |
| Physical Chemistry | Chemistry |
| Sociology | None |
| Weather and Climate | Geography, Geology, Maths, Economics, Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Science or Physics |
There are no subject-specific prerequisite requirements for the majors and minors in Arts and Humanities subjects: History of Art, Archaeology, Anthropology and Art History, History of Art with Gallery and Museum Studies, Film Studies, Media Studies, American Studies, American History, American Literature, History, Modern History, English Literature, Drama, Drama and Creative Writing, International Relations, Politics, Philosophy, Intercultural Communication and Modern Languages.
We welcome and value a wide range of alternative qualifications. If you have a qualification which is not listed here, please contact us via Admissions Enquiries.
If you do not meet the academic requirements for direct entry, you may be interested in one of our Foundation Year programmes.
Important note
Once enrolled onto your course at UEA, your progression and continuation (which may include your eligibility for study abroad, overseas experience, placement or year in industry opportunities) is contingent on meeting the assessment requirements which are relevant to the course on which you are enrolled.
International Requirements
We accept many international qualifications for entry to this course. View our International Students pages for specific information about your country.
INTO University of East Anglia
If you do not meet the academic and/or English requirements for direct entry our partner, INTO UEA, offers progression on to this undergraduate degree upon successful completion of the following preparation programme:
Fees and Funding
Tuition Fees
View our information for Tuition Fees.
Scholarships and Bursaries
We are committed to ensuring that costs do not act as a barrier to those aspiring to come to a world leading university and have developed a funding package to reward those with excellent qualifications and assist those from lower income backgrounds. View our range of Scholarships for eligibility, details of how to apply and closing dates.
Course Related Costs
You are eligible for reduced fees during your placement year. Further details are available on our Tuition Fees webpages.
There may be extra costs related to items such as travel and accommodation during your placement year, which will vary depending on location.
View our information about Additional Course Fees.
How to Apply
Apply for this course through the Universities and Colleges Admissions Services (UCAS), using UCAS Hub.
UCAS Hub is a secure online application system that allows you to apply for full-time undergraduate courses at universities and colleges in the United Kingdom.
Your application does not have to be completed all at once. Register or sign in to UCAS to get started.
Once you submit your completed application, UCAS will process it and send it to your chosen universities and colleges.
The Institution code for the University of East Anglia is E14.
View our guide to applying through UCAS for useful tips, key dates and further information:
Employability
After the Course
Liberal Arts at UEA will provide you with a competitive edge in today’s jobs market, giving you the transferable skills, breadth of experience and adaptability that employers seek. Liberal Arts graduates are highly employable and especially attractive to employers because of the range of their intellectual skills, their capacity to make creative connections, and their independence of mind.
As a result, Liberal Arts programmes produce world leaders in the arts, culture and media industries, politics, education, business, marketing, advertising, humanitarian work, technology, public service, amongst many other professions in the private and public sectors.
Careers
A degree at UEA will prepare you for a wide variety of careers. We've been ranked 1st for Job Prospects by StudentCrowd in 2022.
Example of careers that you could enter include:
- Consultancy and Management
- Education
- Culture and Media Industries
- Civil Service
- NGOs
- Public Relations and Marketing