MSc Computational and Corpus Linguistics

Use the links below to view lists of courses in related subject areas.

• Linguistics and English Language

We normally expect students to have a First or Upper Second class honours degree or its overseas equivalent. Typically this will be a degree that in some way involved the study of language, including linguistics or a specific language.

Strong applicants with degrees in other areas (e.g. philosophy) will be considered.

The application form includes a personal statement section in which you must demonstrate your knowledge of and interest in the subject. Please be explicit as to how your academic background and experience to date prepare you for this course. 

We will only consider a minimum overall grade of 7.0 in IELTS with 7.0 in writing and no skill below 6.5 or 100+ in the TOEFL iBT with a minimum writing score of 25 and no skill below 22.

If you have obtained a different qualification, please check our English language requirements to ensure that it is accepted and equivalent to the required standard.

For entry in the academic year beginning September 2026, the tuition fees are as follows:

• MSc (full-time)
  UK students (per annum): £14,700
  International, including EU, students (per annum): £32,600
• MSc (part-time)
  UK students (per annum): £7,350
  International, including EU, students (per annum): £16,300

Further information for EU students can be found on our dedicated EU page.

All students should normally be able to complete their programme of study without incurring additional study costs over and above the tuition fee for that programme. Any unavoidable additional compulsory costs totalling more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee per annum, regardless of whether the programme in question is undergraduate or postgraduate taught, will be made clear to you at the point of application. Further information can be found in the University's Policy on additional costs incurred by students on undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes (PDF document, 91KB).

• Information on university funding, loans, and scholarships available on the Masters student funding page;
• The Faculty of Humanities offered a range of scholarship opportunities for eligible applicants starting in September 2025. Please check back to confirm availability for September 2026 start;
• Please visit the school funding page for more information on subject funding available;
• Other funding for EU and international students is on our country-specific pages .

Applications are mainly considered on the basis of an assessment of past and predicted academic achievements, the academic reference(s), the personal statement and any other supplementary evidence that supports the application.

Once we have an application that is ready for a decision, the admissions tutor (often the Programme Director) will relay the decision to the admissions team, who will send you this decision.

Please note that your application is usually received by the School 24 to 48 hours after the time you submit it. If you have not provided documentation that allows the admissions tutor to make a decision, we will contact you.

We accept a range of qualifications from different countries that equate to a UK 2.1. For these and general requirements including English language see entry requirements from your country .

If English is not your first language, please provide us with evidence of:

• an overall grade 7.0 (with a minimum writing score of 7) in IELTS; or 100+ in the IBT Internet-based TOEFL).

The other language tests we accept can be found here .

Exceptions to needing a language test (if English is NOT your first language) are:

• if you have successfully completed an academic qualification deemed by UK NARIC as equivalent to at least a UK Bachelors Degree or higher from one of the following countries:

Antigua & Barbuda; Australia; Bahamas; Barbados; Belize; Dominica; Grenada; Guyana; Ireland; Jamaica; New Zealand; St Kitts and Nevis; St Lucia; St Vincent and the Grenadines; Trinidad and Tobago; UK; USA.

All students will take six core units:

- Computational Linguistics 1

- Computational Linguistics 2

- Foundational Statistics

- Corpus Linguistics

- Research Methods in Computational and Corpus Linguistics 1

- Research Methods in Computational and Corpus Linguistics 2

Students without a first degree in Linguistics will also take Describing Language, a foundational module that will provide the linguistic knowledge required for the other components of the course.

Subject to guidance and approval of the programme coordinator, students will also be able to take modules from our general MA in Linguistics such as:

- Forensic Linguistics

- Topics in Language Acquisition

- Topics in the Study of Meaning

- Experimental Phonetics

- Discourse as Social Practice

Finally students undertake an independent research project under the guidance of an area expert. The department is able to offer supervision for projects focusing on a diverse range of languages, including (in addition to English) Spanish, French, Italian, Chinese, Japanese and Arabic, as well as lesser studied languages.

The course unit details given below are subject to change, and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.