Overview
- Degree awarded
- Master of Science
- Duration
- 1 year full-time or 2 years part-time
- Entry requirements
-
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.
- How to apply
- Apply online
Course options
| Full-time | Part-time | Full-time distance learning | Part-time distance learning | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MSc | Y | Y | N | N |
Course overview
• Gain a thorough understanding of natural language processing technologies and the data-driven study of language;
• Develop the necessary skills to build and understand a range of systems for the understanding of language, including large language models and their applications;
• Learn to use corpus data to develop and test hypotheses in areas such as language variation, language change and psycholinguistics;
• Apply these skills in a research project suited to your interests supervised by area experts;
• Prepare for a career in data-driven linguistic research in academia or industry.
Open days
Fees
For entry in the academic year beginning September 2025, the tuition fees are as follows:
-
MSc (full-time)
UK students (per annum): £14,000
International, including EU, students (per annum): £31,000 -
MSc (part-time)
UK students (per annum): £7,000
International, including EU, students (per annum): £15,500
Further information for EU students can be found on our dedicated EU page.
Policy on additional costs
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).
Scholarships/sponsorships
Contact details
- School/Faculty
- School of Arts, Languages and Cultures
- School/Faculty
-
See: About us
Courses in related subject areas
Use the links below to view lists of courses in related subject areas.
Entry requirements
Academic entry qualification overview
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.
English language
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.
English language test validity
Application and selection
How to apply
How your application is considered
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.
Overseas (non-UK) applicants
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.
Course details
Course description
Our MSc Computational and Corpus Linguistics provides a thorough training in natural language processing technologies and the data-driven study of language.
You will learn about areas such as:
- Machine learning models for the classification, understanding and generation of texts.
- Natural language applications such as dialogue systems and machine translation.
- Corpus-driven approaches to linguistic questions in areas such as syntax, semantics and pragmatics, phonology and phonetics, historical, socio and psycholinguistics.
You will acquire programming skills in Python and statistical analysis skills in R. You will learn how to use high performance computing facilities, and how to document and present your work.
Aims
Students will learn the theoretical foundations of computer natural language processing, a field of artificial intelligence, and of the data-intensive study of language. They will also acquire constitutive techniques in computer programming, statistics, and research design, and reflect on the ethical implications of these applications.
The course will particularly suit those with undergraduate degrees in Linguistics (or related disciplines) who want to develop quantitative and computational skills, and those with some quantitative skills who are seeking training in linguistics and computation.
Teaching and learning
You will learn on the programme through a variety of methods including lectures, computer-lab based workshops and independent research. The teaching team have interdisciplinary expertise across linguistics (including cross-linguistic research), psychology and computer science.
Coursework and assessment
Course content for year 1
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.
Course unit list
The course unit details given below are subject to change, and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.
| Title | Code | Credit rating | Mandatory/optional |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corpus Linguistics | LELA60112 | 15 | Mandatory |
| Computational Linguistics 1 | LELA60331 | 15 | Mandatory |
| Computational Linguistics 2 | LELA60332 | 15 | Mandatory |
| Research Methods in Computational and Corpus Linguistics 1 | LELA60341 | 15 | Mandatory |
| Research Methods in Computational and Corpus Linguistics 2 | LELA60342 | 15 | Mandatory |
| Dissertation - Computational and Corpus Linguistics | LELA71000 | 60 | Mandatory |
| Psycholinguistics | LELA60082 | 15 | Optional |
| Describing Language | LELA60121 | 15 | Optional |
| Foundational statistics with R | LELA60141 | 15 | Optional |
| Experimental Phonetics | LELA60222 | 15 | Optional |
| Displaying 10 of 18 course units | |||
| Display all course units | |||
Scholarships and bursaries
For information on available funding, please visit the School's funding pages or search the University's postgraduate funding database .