Overview

Course overview

  • This degree enables you to study one or two languages chosen from Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian or Spanish
  • You can choose a language you’ve previously studied or start learning a language as a beginner.
  • This is a 4-year degree with an integrated Residence Abroad year. All languages offer the opportunity to complete a study abroad placement. Work or volunteering abroad is an option for students taking French, German, Italian, Portuguese or Spanish.
  • The University of Manchester is a world-leading institution. It is ranked in the top-50 globally across all of Arts and Humanities by  Times Higher Education 2026 and it is in the top-7 in the UK in the QS World University Rankings 2026.
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Study Modern Languages at Manchester

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Courses in related subject areas

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

Entry requirements

A-level

ABB

For single honours/studying one language: single language pathways are available at both Beginners and Advanced level. Applicants offering an A Level in the target language will normally be required to achieve grade B or above and will be placed on the Advanced language pathway. Applicants may enter at Beginners level if they are complete beginners to studying the language, or have studied the target language to GCSE level only.

For joint honours/studying two languages: we require one of the target languages to be taken at A Level and will require grade B or above. Your other language can be studied from either beginners or advanced level.

Applicants taking A Levels are normally expected to offer three full A Levels. If you’re taking more than three A Levels, any offer will be based on three A Levels, and any additional A Levels won’t be included in your offer. Any offer will normally be based on three A Levels taken in the same sitting and based on your qualification portfolio. Your offer will stipulate which subjects and the grades required.

Please check for specific GCSE/IGCSE subject entry requirements below

Duration of A-level study

If you have studied an advanced curriculum, where the examinations are spread over three years or more, please contact the academic School/Department for clarification on acceptability prior to applying. For some courses, offer will normally be based on three A Levels taken in the same sitting (normally within a two-year period).

A-level contextual offer

BBC.

For single honours/studying one language: single language pathways are available at both Beginners and Advanced level. Applicants offering an A Level in the target language will normally be required to achieve grade B or above and will be placed on the Advanced language pathway. Applicants may enter at Beginners level if they are complete beginners to studying the language, or have studied the target language to GCSE level only.

For joint honours/studying two languages: we require one of the target languages to be taken at A Level and will require grade B or above. Your other language can be studied from either beginners or advanced level.

Applicants taking A Levels are normally expected to offer three full A Levels. If you’re taking more than three A Levels, any offer will be based on three A Levels, and any additional A Levels won’t be included in your offer. Any offer will normally be based on three A Levels taken in the same sitting and based on your qualification portfolio. Your offer will stipulate which subjects and the grades required.

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.

UK refugee/care-experienced offer

BBC

For single honours/studying one language: single language pathways are available at both Beginners and Advanced level. Applicants offering an A Level in the target language will normally be required to achieve grade B or above and will be placed on the Advanced language pathway. Applicants may enter at Beginners level if they are complete beginners to studying the language, or have studied the target language to GCSE level only.

For joint honours/studying two languages: we require one of the target languages to be taken at A Level and will require grade B or above. Your other language can be studied from either beginners or advanced level.

Applicants taking A Levels are normally expected to offer three full A Levels. If you’re taking more than three A Levels, any offer will be based on three A Levels, and any additional A Levels won’t be included in your offer. Any offer will normally be based on three A Levels taken in the same sitting and based on your qualification portfolio. Your offer will stipulate which subjects and the grades required.

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.

International Baccalaureate

34 points overall. 6,5,5 in Higher Level subjects. For students wishing to study two languages, we will require one of the target languages at Higher Level.

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.

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/6, or;
  • IELTS Academic or IELTS UKVI 7.0 overall with 6.5 in each component, or;
  • An acceptable equivalent qualification.

Please note we accept in-person IELTS tests taken in official IELTS test centres only. You should review our English Language requirements page for a list of acceptable IELTS tests.

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/Department for clarification.

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 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

Some English Language test results are only valid for two years. Your English Language test report must be valid on the start date of the course.

Fees and funding

Additional expenses

The Residence Abroad year is an integral part of the course and must be completed. Some costs, such as tuition fees, are substantially lower. Other costs can vary and they are not included in the tuition fee. For example, living costs may be higher or lower than the UK, and there are travel-related costs to consider, such as paying for a passport, visa fees, health insurance, and (if needed) vaccinations. Please visit Residence Abroad for more information and indicative costs.

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

We know that student finance can be complicated. The links below provide further information to help guide you.

Learn more about - student finance options for UK students .

Learn more about - fees and finance for international students .

Learn more about your funding support options for Residence Abroad .

Application and selection

How to apply

Apply through UCAS

Home-schooled applicants

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

Course details

Course description

A man smiles, in front of a canal and a row of colourful Germanic houses

One of the many benefits of studying in Manchester is that it is such a diverse city, which is always helpful when learning foreign languages.

Whether it’s by meeting some Spanish people on a night out, or by attending one of the events at the Instituto Cervantes, you’ll be sure to have some opportunities to practice your language skills outside of university.

Zac Mawby / Modern Languages (German and Spanish) student

This 4-year degree, with an integrated Residence Abroad year, enables you to study one or two languages. You can choose a language that is completely new to you and learn it from beginner level, or you can choose a language that you have previously studied.

Your degree title will reflect the language(s) you’ve chosen. For example, BA (Hons) Modern Languages (Italian) or BA (Hons) Modern Languages (Arabic and French)

The options are:

Arabic: Arabic Studies; Arabic and French; Arabic and Spanish.

Chinese: Chinese Studies; French and Chinese; German and Chinese

French: French Studies; French and Arabic; French and Chinese; French and German; French and Italian; French and Japanese; French and Portuguese; French and Russian; French and Spanish.

German: German Studies; German and Chinese; French and German; German and Italian; German and Japanese; German and Russian; German and Spanish

Italian: Italian Studies; French and Italian; Italian and Spanish

Japanese: Japanese Studies

Portuguese: Spanish and Portuguese; Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies

Russian: Russian Studies; French and Russian; Russian and Japanese; Russian and Spanish

Spanish: Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies; Arabic and Spanish; Spanish and Chinese; French and Spanish; German and Spanish; Italian and Spanish; Spanish and Japanese; Spanish and Portuguese; Russian and Spanish

Language Learning
You will join a language learning pathway for your chosen language(s):

The beginner pathway is for students, who do not have any foundation in the language. Some students are complete beginners. Some students may have undertaken some language learning. For example, a UK student who studied a language in Years 7 and 8 at secondary school.

The intermediate pathway is for students, who have a good foundation in the language, and they have the equivalent of an A-level in their chosen language.

The advanced pathway is for students, who are already fluent and proficient in their chosen language.

French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese and Spanish have beginner and intermediate pathways. Arabic has a beginner pathway only. Chinese and Russian have beginner, intermediate, and advanced pathways.

Students that choose two languages can:

  • Take the beginner pathway for one language and the intermediate or advanced pathway for one language
  • Take the intermediate or advanced pathway for each language.

Please note that joining a language pathway is subject to meeting the entry requirements for the pathway.

The language learning course units are designed to develop your skills of reception (reading and listening), production (speaking and writing), and translation. For some languages, you will be learning different alphabets and scripts – Modern Standard Arabic, Cyrillic (Russian), Mandarin (Chinese), and Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji (Japanese).

Class sizes are small and led by academics, who are a mix of native speakers, and English speakers who are fluent in the language. Using your language throughout the week really accelerates your learning and we encourage you to use it socially. For example, by joining student societies that enable you to meet students from different countries, watching world cinema, following social media influencers and media channels for your chosen language(s), and going to language events in Manchester hosted by cultural institutions such as Camões Instituto da Cooperaçāo e da Lingua Portugal, Alliance Française, the Confucius Institute, and Instituto Cervantes.

World Cultures
Alongside your language learning, you’ll also attend lectures and seminars that explore the history, literature, politics, and current affairs of your chosen country or countries.

Our students find that this part of their degree really broadens their understanding of where different languages are spoken and their cultural resonance. For example, Cultures of the Hispanic World covers Amerindian, Chicano, Filipino and Catalan cultures, literatures and histories. Students taking Arabic study the history and politics of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). If Russian is one of your chosen languages, your studies can include Central European and Balkan history and culture.

In the final year of the degree, you can undertake an independent research project, leading to a dissertation of 10,000 words. The topic is chosen by you, with guidance from an academic supervisor. The dissertation is written in English but must draw on primary or secondary sources from your chosen language. Students studying two languages will need to focus their dissertation topic on one of the languages/cultures they’ve studied.

Teaching and learning

Each year you study 120 credits of course units, and your timetable is varied and balanced. If you are learning a language as a beginner, you’ll spend slightly more time on language learning than on learning about the culture of your chosen country/countries.

If you’re learning two languages, your academic credits are divided between each language. In Year 1, students take 60 credits from each language. In Years 2 and 4 some languages can be taken as a minor (40 credits), joint (60 credits) or major (80 credits) subject. The opportunity to flex your study options and put more emphasis on one language than another does vary. For example, if one of your chosen languages requires you to study 60 credits in Years 2 or 4, then the maximum number of credits that can be taken from the other language will also be 60 credits.

Course Units
Please visit the subject guides for more information about each language, and the course units for each year of study.

Residence Abroad
Residence Abroad is Year 3 of the degree and you will live in a country, or for joint languages students, countries where your chosen language(s) are spoken.

A study abroad placement is an option for all languages. Work or volunteering abroad is an option for students taking French, German, Italian, Portuguese or Spanish. Opportunities vary from year to year, and some opportunities are selective. Please note that in 2025/26 study abroad placements for students taking Russian were in Georgia, Kazakhstan and Estonia.

Please see Residence Abroad for information about funding and finance, the support provided to students to find suitable study or work placements, and for videos and blog posts from current students.

Disability support

Practical support and advice for current students and applicants is available from the Disability Advisory and Support Service. Email: dass@manchester.ac.uk

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.