BA Liberal Arts

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

• School of Arts, Languages and Cultures
• Philosophy

AAA including one essay based/humanities subject.

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.

Please check for specific GCSE/IGCSE subject entry requirements below

ABB including one essay based/humanities subject.

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.

Please check for specific GCSE/IGCSE subject entry requirements below

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.

BBB including one essay based/humanities subject.

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.

Please check for specific GCSE/IGCSE subject entry requirements below

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.

36 points overall. 6,6,6 in Higher Level subjects

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.

Applicants must demonstrate a broad general education including acceptable levels of Literacy and Numeracy, equivalent to at least Grade B or 6 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.

We accept a range of qualifications from different countries. For these and general requirements including English language, see accepted entry qualifications from your country .

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/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 .

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.

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).

• 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
  

If you have followed a non-standard educational route and have been, for example, educated at home, your application will be considered against the standard entry criteria of the course to which you applied.

You will be required to demonstrate that you meet the academic entry requirements as specified for the course.

We will also require a reference which should be written by somebody who knows you well enough, in an official capacity, to write about you and your suitability for higher education.

Please refer to UCAS for further information: UCAS reference guidelines

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 on our How to apply page.

We read the personal statements and references of all applicants and assess in a holistic way, paying particular attention to your achieved grades/predicted grades and your personal interests.

We welcome applicants who are looking to return to study and value their contribution to the departmental culture and social life.

Access courses are acceptable as an entry route to this course - please contact the UG Admissions Team.

Applications for deferred entry are considered equally to other applications up to the point of confirmation.

Deferred entry is granted on the discretion of admissions staff, and is normally granted for one year only and two years at the maximum.

Some English Language test results, such as IELTS or TOEFL are only valid for two years from the test date.

If you have re-sat individual modules to improve your grades, we will consider your application according to the standard selection process.

If you are planning to re-sit the final Year 13 examinations, or have already done so, the University will consider your application, but we may require further information in order to make an informed judgment on your application.

If you applied in the previous year and your application was not successful you may apply again.

Your application will be considered against the standard course entry criteria for that year of entry.

In your new application you should demonstrate how your application has improved.

We may draw upon all information from your previous applications or any previous registrations at the University as a student when assessing your suitability for your chosen course.

If you are applying for a place for the same year of entry through UCAS Extra, you should provide additional evidence of your suitability for the course.

If you are applying through clearing you are required to meet the clearing requirements. In both UCAS Extra and clearing the places will be subject to availability.

A series of core Liberal Arts course units covering the history of humanities, rhetoric, ethics, and social responsibility provides students with the intellectual foundations required to uncover, contextualise and approach our responses to contemporary global issues.

Students will have the opportunity to complement this knowledge by taking a language, and/or distributing their studies across different interdisciplinary thematic clusters.

Core course units in your first year will begin by introducing you to the field of the humanities and the role that the arts have played in shaping cultures from ancient civilisations through to the present day, and even to the future.

You will encounter intellectual 'Giants' from a range of different cultures and contexts, and you will be trained to critically explore what makes someone a key thinker.

You will use cutting-edge research to question how we think about the value of knowledge, and how we communicate it with academic and non-academic audiences.

You will analyse and discuss the relationship between the arts and the sciences in understanding and shaping humans and our environments - a topic at the forefront of current academic research.

This content will give you a foundation - a map, if you like - on which you can locate ideas from different disciplines that you will encounter throughout your course.

Beyond this, you will be able to choose course units from across the arts and beyond and pursue your interests in a range of disciplines.

You will have the opportunity to take a language unit, or you can cast your net wider to suit your interests.

You will have an academic advisor to help you as you select your course units.

View the full list of available course units to take on the Liberal Arts website .

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

In your second year, core Liberal Arts course units will help you to build on ideas about interdisciplinarity from Year 1 by exploring how interdisciplinary research might be applied to Manchester.

Taking Manchester as a 'laboratory' for thinking about Liberal Arts, you will learn about how research across the arts and humanities connects with issues in urban environments.

You will be able to focus on, and critique, the communication of ideas through an emphasis on 'impact', which is about social engagement, and rhetoric, which is about persuasive speech and writing.

You will work with institutions such as the Manchester Museum and the Whitworth Art Gallery to explore and evaluate pathways to impact and the role of creativity in communicating research to different audiences.

You will also hear from a range of experts in fields from classical history to business studies to psychology about strategies for persuading others using ideas, and the ethics of it in a range of political and social contexts.

In addition to core course units, you will be able to continue to develop your interests in a range of disciplines from across the University, boasting the choice than any other degree course.

View the full list of available course units to take on the Liberal Arts website .

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

Course units in your final year will give you a chance to demonstrate and continue to develop your skills from previous years.

The Creative Manchester engagement project will give you an opportunity to work with an organisation in Manchester that helps you to combine internship or volunteering experience with your studies.

You will be trained to write a report that has an agenda for impact and social responsibility, and you will be able to present this work to academic and non-academic audiences.

These outputs directly draw on ideas about communication and impact from Year 2, and ideas about intellectual history from Year 1.

You will also be able to reflect on your studies and synthesise your course units in order to get a better understanding of the personal impact of your Liberal Arts degree.

You can supplement your learning by choosing to write a long essay on a topic of your choice with tailored supervisory support, andtaking a range of course units in the arts and beyond.

View the full list of available course units to take on the Liberal Arts website .

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