- UCAS course code
- RR23
- UCAS institution code
- M20
Bachelor of Arts (BA)
BA German and Italian
Gain specialist language and culture skills with a focus on Germany and Italy.
- Typical A-level offer: ABB including specific subjects
- Typical contextual A-level offer: BBC including specific subjects
- UK refugee/care-experienced offer: BBC including specific subjects
- Typical International Baccalaureate offer: 34 points overall with 6,5,5 at HL including specific subjects
Overview
Course overview
- Perfect your expertise in two languages and extend your knowledge of two of the most influential European societies and cultures.
- Spend Year 3 studying and/or working in Italy and a German-speaking country.
- Study at a university ranked6thin the UK for Modern Languages (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2024).
Contact details
- School/Faculty
- School of Arts, Languages and Cultures
- Telephone
- +44 (0)161 509 2871
- ug-languages@manchester.ac.uk
- Website
- http://www.alc.manchester.ac.uk/modern-languages/
- School/Faculty overview
-
See: About us
Courses in related subject areas
Use the links below to view lists of courses in related subject areas.
Entry requirements
A-level
ABB including German and/or Italian.
You will be placed in the Advanced stream for your post A Level language(s) (requirement of grade B or above) and the beginners stream if you have not studied the language at A Level. Only one language can be studied at beginners level.
Practical skills are a crucial part of science education and therefore will be a requirement to pass the practical element of any science A Level taken. Where applicants are applying for science and related degrees, this is likely to be made explicit in the offer you will receive.
Applicants taking A Levels are normally expected to offer three full A Levels. If you’re taking more than three A Levels, these won’t be included in your offer. We will only make offers consisting of three A Levels.
A-level contextual offer
BBC including German and/or Italian.
You will be placed in the Advanced stream for your post A Level language(s) (requirement of grade B or above) and the beginners stream if you have not studied the language at A Level. Only one language can be studied at beginners level.
Practical skills are a crucial part of science education and therefore will be a requirement to pass the practical element of any science A Level taken. Where applicants are applying for science and related degrees, this is likely to be made explicit in the offer you will receive.
Applicants taking A Levels are normally expected to offer three full A Levels. If you’re taking more than three A Levels, these won’t be included in your offer. We will only make offers consisting of three A Levels.
Contextual offers are available for applicants who:
- live in the UK and will be under the age of 21 on 1 September of the year they will start their course; and
- live in an area of disadvantage or with low progression into higher education; and
- have attended a UK school or college for their GCSEs or A-levels (or equivalent qualifications) that has performed below the national average over multiple years.
See our contextual admissions page for full details and to check your eligibility.
UK refugee/care-experienced offer
BBC including German and/or Italian.
You will be placed in the Advanced stream for your post A Level language(s) (requirement of grade B or above) and the beginners stream if you have not studied the language at A Level. Only one language can be studied at beginners level.
Practical skills are a crucial part of science education and therefore will be a requirement to pass the practical element of any science A Level taken. Where applicants are applying for science and related degrees, this is likely to be made explicit in the offer you will receive.
Applicants taking A Levels are normally expected to offer three full A Levels. If you’re taking more than three A Levels, these won’t be included in your offer. We will only make offers consisting of three A Levels.
UK refugee/care-experienced offers are available for applicants who:
- have been looked after in care for more than three months; or
- have been granted refugee status by the UK government or have been issued a UK visa under one of the Ukrainian schemes (Homes for Ukraine, Ukraine Family Scheme or Ukraine Extension Scheme).
See our contextual admissions page for full details and to check your eligibility.
International Baccalaureate
34 points overall. 6,5,5 in Higher Level subjects including German or Italian
Applicants studying the International Baccalaureate Career Related Programme (IBCP) should contact the admissions team prior to applying so that their academic profile can be considered.
GCSE/IGCSE
Applicants must demonstrate a broad general education including acceptable levels of Literacy and Numeracy, equivalent to at least Grade 6 or B in GCSE/IGCSE English Language and 4 or C in Mathematics. GCSE/IGCSE English Literature will not be accepted in lieu of GCSE/IGCSE English Language.
Please note that if you hold English as a second language IGCSE qualification, we may also require you to offer one of our acceptable equivalent English Language qualifications or achieve a higher grade in your IGCSE than the one stated above. Please contact the admissions team in your academic School/Department for clarification.
Other entry requirements
Other entry requirements exist for this course. You may view these by selecting from the list below.
Country-specific entry requirements
English language requirements
All applicants to the University (from the UK and Overseas) are required to show evidence of English Language proficiency. The minimum English Language requirement for this course is either:
GCSE/IGCSE English Language grade B or 6, or;
IELTS 7.0 overall with 6.5 in each component, or;
An acceptable equivalent qualification.
Please note that if you hold English as a second language IGCSE qualification, we may also require you to offer one of our acceptable equivalent English Language qualifications or achieve a higher grade in your IGCSE than the one stated above. Please contact the academic School for clarification.
If you need to improve your English language skills to meet the entry requirements for your academic course, the University Centre for Academic English (UCAE) summer pre-sessional courses can help. Check if your academic course offers the option of taking a pre-sessional course on the UCAE page .
The UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) requires that every student requiring a visa to study in the UK must show evidence of a minimum level of English Language (common European Framework (CEFR B2 level) to be granted a Student Route visa (previously known as a Tier 4 visa) to study at undergraduate or postgraduate level.
In addition, our academic Schools/Departments may require applicants to demonstrate English proficiency above the B2 level. Further information about our English Language policy, including a list of some of the English Language qualifications we accept, can be found here .
English language test validity
Fees and funding
Fees
Fees for entry in 2026 have not yet been set. For entry in 2025 the tuition fees were £9,535 per annum for home students, and are expected to increase slightly for 2026 entry.
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
Residence abroad support
We offer dedicated financial support packages of up to £2,000 for residence abroad students, based on household income.
You will be automatically assessed for this, based on your Student Finance financial assessment - you just need to make sure you apply for a financial assessment in the academic year in which your residence abroad will take place.
Scholarships and Bursaries
- Find out more from student finance
- Eligible UK students can apply for bursaries and scholarships
- Funding for EU and international students is on our country-specific pages
- Many students work part-time or complete a student internship
Application and selection
How to apply
Advice to applicants
Mitigating Circumstances
Mitigating circumstances may be personal or family illness, other family circumstances, change of teachers during a course, problems with school facilities or an unusual curriculum followed by your school or college. We recommend that information on mitigating circumstances that have affected or are likely to affect your academic performance should be included in the referee's report.
We cannot usually take into account information that is supplied after an adverse decision has been made on an application by the admitting School. If you encounter mitigating circumstances after you have submitted your application, please inform the admissions staff in the School to which you applied as soon as possible.
Where mitigating circumstances have already been taken into account, for example by the relevant Exam Board, we will not be able to make further allowances.
Home-schooled applicants
Non-standard educational routes
Mature students are some of our most well-equipped learners, bringing skills and attributes gained from work, family and other life experiences. Students come from a whole array of backgrounds, study every kind of course, undertake full-time and part-time learning and are motivated by career intentions as well as personal interest. There is no such thing as a typical mature student at Manchester.
The application process is the same as for other prospective undergraduates. If you require further clarification about the acceptability of the qualifications you hold please contact the academic School(s) you plan to apply to. Further information for mature students can be found here ( http://www.manchester.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/mature-students/ )
How your application is considered
Returning to education
Access courses are acceptable as an entry route to this course - please contact the UG Admissions Team.
Deferrals
Policy for applicants who resit their qualifications
Re-applications
Course details
Course description
BA German and Italian provides a comprehensive grounding in the German and Italian language, culture, linguistics, history and literature. You will be equipped with the skills and expertise needed to thrive in German and Italian-speaking environments.
German
- Our core German language courses (at post A-Level or beginners' level) are complemented by a variety of other subject areas, including linguistics, and a wide range of cultural and historical units that use German-language sources to improve your core language competence, as well as your wider knowledge of German-speaking countries.
- Specialisms in German include historical and contemporary linguistics, literary studies, screen studies, gender and sexuality, modern cultural history, minority cultures and Holocaust studies.
- Year 3 includes a period spent in a German-speaking country. You can choose a work placement, teach English in schools as part of the British Council's assistantship scheme, or study at our prestigious partner institutions in Berlin, Freiburg, Hamburg, Heidelberg, Leipzig, Basel and Innsbruck.
- Our teaching, praised in the Teaching Quality Assessment and by external examiners, is backed up by an innovative Independent Language Learning Programme, enabling you to take control of your own learning experience.
- Enjoy strong links with the Goethe Institute and the Austrian Cultural Forum, which sponsor a varied progre of cultural events.
Italian
- The course units offered combine the study of history, politics, and the literary, linguistic and visual culture of the peninsula, and are taught by specialists in the fields.
- We offer a linguistics pathway through the course for those interested in the history of the Italian language and its dialects.
- Language courses, taught by native speakers at post A-level or beginners' level, involve comprehension, translation, grammar and oral work.
- Our excellence in teaching and learning in Italian has been recognised internally and nationally: our colleagues have won Teaching Excellence Awards, and have secured national funding to develop use of digital resources in teaching by bringing our libraries' special collections into the age of the app.
- You will benefit from extensive interaction with Italian cultural agencies in the North West.
- You will also benefit from the world-class Italian holdings of the Rylands, including one of the largest collections of early Italian printed books in the UK.
Although language units may show here as optional, they are a mandatory part of your modern languages degree and you will take the units relevant to your level of language in each year of study. It is compulsory to study language at all levels of your modern languages degree.
Aims
- Provide you with a comprehensive grounding in the German and Italian language, culture, linguistics, history and literature.
- Equip you with the skills and expertise needed to thrive in German and Italian-speaking environments.
Special features
Residence abroad
You can study and/or work for up to a year in a country or countries relevant to your chosen language(s) to improve your communicative language skills in a native-speaker environment.
Collaborations and partnerships
The University has links with language and cultural institutions across the city, including:
- Instituto Cervantes - a centre for Spanish culture
- HOME - international and contemporary art, theatre and film
- Alliance Francaise - home of French language and culture.
Societies
The University is home to over 30 international and language-related student societies offering a breadth of cultural activities and experiences.
Teaching and learning
You'll learn through a mixture of formal lectures, seminars and tutorials, spending approximately 12 hours a week in formal study sessions.
For every hour of university study, you will be expected to complete a further 2-3 hours of independent study.
You will also need to study during the holiday periods.
The individual study component could be spent reading, producing written work, revising for examinations or working in the University's Language Centre .
Coursework and assessment
You will be assessed in various ways, including:
- written and oral examinations;
- presentations;
- coursework (which may include library research, linguistic fieldwork and data collection, or web-based research);
- in your final year, you will have the option to write a dissertation based on a research topic of your choice.
Assessment methods vary from course unit to course unit - see individual course unit listings for more information.
Course content for year 1
You will study 60 credits from each discipline.
Year 1 equips you with a range of important skills: linguistic expertise; the ability to read and analyse material; and skills in presentation, group work and independent language learning.
German
- You are trained in modern spoken and written German through a core language course in which you work with German texts, write short essays and engage in discussions in German (this language instruction takes place in German and is taught principally by native speakers). At the same time you reinforce your grammar and vocabulary through monitored self-study.
- You are given a detailed introduction to the German-speaking countries: their geography, politics, culture and society. You also get to explore a variety of important issues within these countries, such as the challenges faced by multicultural German society following Germany's reunification.
- Take a set of other broad-based course units designed to give you an essential grounding in key areas of German culture, history and linguistics.
- Most of the teaching on these course units is in English, so that you can focus fully on the new concepts introduced to you.
Italian
- In Year 1 Italian language instruction is divided between complete beginners (ab initio) and post-A-level groups (with the majority of students being beginners).
- Ab initio students have four contact hours per week with their nominated Italian teacher as part of a course specifically designed to build confidence in comprehension, writing, speaking and listening skills.
- Post-A-level students have 3 hours consolidating and building competency on specific language points. All first year students also have an additional linguistics hour, introducing them to the history and structures of the Italian language.
- Culture units from the filmic and literary to the historic and linguistic, all of which reflect academic staff research interests.
- Year 1 is specifically designed to begin furnishing candidates with the tools to enable them to read cultural products with confidence, be they texts, pictures, buildings or linguistic constructions.
You will take only the language units relevant to your level of language in each year of study.
Course units for year 1
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 |
---|---|---|---|
ITAL10300 | 20 | Mandatory | |
GERM10040 | 20 | Optional | |
GERM10350 | 20 | Optional | |
GERM51011 | 20 | Optional | |
GERM51022 | 20 | Optional | |
GERM51030 | 20 | Optional | |
ITAL10500 | 20 | Optional | |
ITAL51011 | 20 | Optional | |
ITAL51022 | 20 | Optional | |
ITAL51030 | 20 | Optional |
Course content for year 2
You may choose to study up to two-thirds of your credits from either discipline or maintain equal weighting.
German
- Year 2 language study prepares you for the linguistic challenges of your year abroad. Within it you can continue with a study of culture and society in Germany and Austria, or take a course in business German (Wirtschaftsdeutsch).
- You also continue your programme of monitored self-study to complement your language classes.
- The other courses available in your second year are more numerous and more specialised than in the first year, allowing you to explore a diverse range of areas including history, Weimar culture, post-1945 German and Austrian culture and film, and German-Turkish and German-Jewish relations.
Italian
- In Year 2, the core language component builds on the grammar topics covered in Year 1, in order to prepare you for the year abroad. Both the post-beginners and post-A-level language modules have three contact hours per week in addition to working on set assignments and undertaking private study.
- Your course units in second year are more specialized than in first year, allowing you to explore a diverse range of subjects and approaches. Current options include the Italian Renaissance and Italian Fascism.
- All our culture units have three contact hours per week and are augmented by materials and content placed in the units' Blackboard virtual learning environment.
- Our modules are assessed by a variety of different coursework assessment types, including essays and commentaries, book reviews, reports, presentations, and innovative digital projects such as group curated exhibitions.
Course units for year 2
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 |
---|---|---|---|
GERM20262 | 20 | Optional | |
GERM20802 | 20 | Optional | |
GERM20901 | 20 | Optional | |
GERM51030 | 20 | Optional | |
GERM51040 | 20 | Optional | |
ITAL20502 | 20 | Optional | |
ITAL21011 | 20 | Optional | |
ITAL21102 | 20 | Optional | |
ITAL51040 | 20 | Optional | |
ITAL51050 | 20 | Optional |
Course content for year 3
Your third year of study is spent abroad under approved conditions.
Course content for year 4
You may divide your studies equally between both languages or study up to two thirds from either language.
German
- In Year 4, take a core language course unit and choose from a wide range of specialised course units. Language study is centred on translation into and out of German, essay writing, and oral work involving discussion of texts, debates and presentations.
- Choose course units that cover topics closely related to the research interests of individual members of staff, covering a broad range of linguistic, literary, historical and cultural topics.
- As part of your final-year work, you can write a dissertation on a theme of your choice related to one of your course units.
Italian
- In Year 4, you build on the linguistic authenticity acquired abroad in the core language unit, and can choose from a range of specialized content course units. The final year language course develops your core skills to an advanced level, including translation into English, writing different kinds of target-language texts, and oral work including discussion of texts, debates, and presentations. The language component of the course comprises three contact hours per week, in addition to working on set assignments and undertaking private study.
- Course units available in final year are closely related to the research interests of individual members of staff, in areas such as romance linguistics, Renaissance Florence, Italy and the Grand Tour, book history, and the political and cultural history of Italy.
- You will also be able to undertake a research-orientated dissertation in Italian (often using the primary sources held in the Rylands Library, which has outstanding Italian holdings), and participate in the Italian department's mentoring and outreach programmes.
Course units for year 4
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 |
---|---|---|---|
GERM51050 | 20 | Mandatory | |
ITAL51060 | 20 | Mandatory | |
GERM30341 | 20 | Optional | |
GERM30482 | 20 | Optional | |
GERM30722 | 20 | Optional | |
ITAL30582 | 20 | Optional | |
ITAL31001 | 20 | Optional | |
ITAL32001 | 20 | Optional | |
LALC30000 | 40 | Optional |
Facilities
The University Language Centre is home to language resources, including a new interpreting suite, purpose-built recording rooms, and resources for more than 70 languages.
The Centre also offers multilingual word processing, language learning software, off-air recording and AV duplication, multilingual terrestrial and satellite TV, and extensive support and advice for learners.
Learn more at facilities
Disability support
Careers
Career opportunities
A degree in Modern Languages and Cultures paves the way for a broad range of careers. You'll develop intercultural awareness and enhanced communication skills - both highly valued by employers.
You'll also acquire transferable expertise at the very heart of language learning, including enhanced powers of perception and interpretation and advanced decision-making and multitasking skills.
You'll develop independence and self-confidence during your residence abroad, and your intercultural communication skills will make you a strong contender for media, journalism and PR roles.
Many of our graduates go straight into business services, marketing, advertising, management, banking or communications.
Others pursue postgraduate study or further vocational training to become accountants, lawyers, teachers (both in the UK and overseas) or to enter the Civil Service.
The University of Manchester has an excellent reputation for employability, and we are the second most targeted universities by the nation's top employers (The Graduate Market in 2024, High Fliers Research).
Employers of our German graduates include PwC, Sandhills East, Lidl, Vodafone, Inghams Travel, Amazon, Egger (Germany), and Mark Warner.
Employers of our Italian graduates include Zalando, Greenpeace, NHS, Barclays, Roblenko, Alfred H Knight, Fresh Direct, P&A Receivables, Connexity Europe, Sane Communications, Benchmark International, Wellocks, Cognolink, and Penguin Random House.
The University has its own dedicated Careers Service that you would have full access to as a student and for two years after you graduate. At Manchester you will have access to a number of opportunities to help boost your employability .
Regulated by the Office for Students
The University of Manchester is regulated by the Office for Students (OfS). The OfS aims to help students succeed in Higher Education by ensuring they receive excellent information and guidance, get high quality education that prepares them for the future and by protecting their interests. More information can be found at the OfS website.
You can find regulations and policies relating to student life at The University of Manchester, including our Degree Regulations and Complaints Procedure, on our regulations website.