We welcome students from across the United States to join our thriving department and make the application process as easy as possible.
We accept a range of qualifications including APs, Honors/Advanced or College-level classes.
Apply now to make the most of your grades at a Top 10 UK university, with guaranteed accommodation in your first year.
2nd for Linguistics
The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide (2024)
Our graduates have successful careers in a wide range of sectors
World top three for Linguistics (QS World University Subject Rankings 2024)
We are one of the largest departments for the study of language in the country and one of the most highly rated in the world (3rd for Linguistics in the QS World Rankings, 2024).
Our degrees are accredited by the British Psychological Society and provide the Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership with the Society.
How does a child learn language? How does language relate to thought? You’ll discover there are many overlapping questions between linguistics and psychology.
You’ll start your degree studying the core modules of Linguistics, Investigating Psychology and Understanding Psychology. In your second year you’ll discover more about the sounds and structures of the world’s languages. In Psychology, you’ll discover more about experimental and research methods.
In your third year, you’ll specialise even further. Choices include Psycholinguistics and Language and Social Identities. You could also choose to write a dissertation in a topic you would like to cover in-depth.
Your degree will stand you in good stead for careers involving analysis, assessment and the weighing-up of arguments, as you will be able to develop linguistic, analytical and investigative skills that are valued by employers such as law firms, management consultancies and the media. Linguistic awareness is a real boost when working for international and multicultural companies and organisations.
During this degree you will have the opportunity to develop both specialist and transferable skills that are valued by employers, such as communication, critical thinking, numeracy and self-management. This programme will also support you in developing an advanced level of analytical skills. From research analysts to retail managers, a good grasp of human behavioural patterns, the science of the mind, and an understanding of language make linguistics and psychology graduates attractive to a wide range of employers.
You will be well-placed to apply for jobs such as a chartered psychologist, specialising in clinical, educational, occupational, forensic, health or sports psychology, or jobs in Speech and Language Therapy, Teaching, Journalism, Media, or Speech Technology.
Alternatively you might be interested in new and emerging areas such as neuropsychology, environmental psychology, consumer psychology and animal psychology. It is a fiercely competitive field, which needs a strong academic background, lots of relevant work experience, determination and resilience.
There are various options for postgraduate study too, should you wish to gain chartered status to practice in specialist areas such as clinical, educational, forensic or occupational psychology. Some psychology and linguistics graduates choose postgraduate study in a different area such as advertising, marketing or teaching.
A Level AAB
GCSE Mathematics grade B or 6 (Applicants with a GCSE Maths C or 5 considered on a case-by-case basis)
IELTS 6.5 overall with at least 5.5 in each component. For other English language qualifications we accept, please see our English language requirements webpages.
International Baccalaureate 35 points overall with 16 points from the best 3 Higher Level subjects
BTEC Distinction, Distinction, Distinction
We welcome applications from students with a range of alternative UK and international qualifications, including combinations of qualification. Further guidance on admission to the University, including other qualifications that we accept, frequently asked questions and information on applying, can be found on our general admissions webpages.
Contact Admissions Team + 44 (0) 1524 592028 or via ugadmissions@lancaster.ac.uk
Delivered in partnership with INTO Lancaster University, our one-year tailored foundation pathways are designed to improve your subject knowledge and English language skills to the level required by a range of Lancaster University degrees. Visit the INTO Lancaster University website for more details and a list of eligible degrees you can progress onto.
Contextual admissions could help you gain a place at university if you have faced additional challenges during your education which might have impacted your results. Visit our contextual admissions page to find out about how this works and whether you could be eligible.
Lancaster University offers a range of programmes, some of which follow a structured study programme, and some which offer the chance for you to devise a more flexible programme to complement your main specialism.
Information contained on the website with respect to modules is correct at the time of publication, and the University will make every reasonable effort to offer modules as advertised. In some cases changes may be necessary and may result in some combinations being unavailable, for example as a result of student feedback, timetabling, Professional Statutory and Regulatory Bodies' (PSRB) requirements, staff changes and new research. Not all optional modules are available every year.
Developing transferable study and employability skills are both important aspects for studying a degree and securing employment. This module is tailored to the psychology discipline and provides you with an essential foundation to successfully build your degree, as well as equipping you with practical employability skills.
This 100% coursework module allows you to develop key transferable study skills to increase your employability to work in a range of industries. Key topics of study include understanding assessment and feedback, critical thinking and forming an academic argument, writing CVs and cover letters, and effective methods of communication. These skills are combined with developing knowledge of finding and securing voluntary and paid work experience, placements and jobs.
On completing this module you will be equipped with skills to; write essays and lab reports, critically appraise information from a range of resources, produce a CV and cover letter for a prospective employer, present psychological information with confidence and clarity, and be able to find psychology-related opportunities, placements, and jobs, with an understanding of how to secure them.
Cognition is the mental process of acquiring and using knowledge; it underpins our ability to perceive the world around us. This module will equip you with a firm foundation of the conceptual knowledge and terminologies used in cognitive psychology.
You will be introduced to key topics in cognitive psychology, such as attention, perception, categorisation, language, memory, problem-solving, and decision-making. These core topics will be explored using key theories, classic paradigms, and experimental approaches, looking into both past and current research.
Once the module is complete, you will be able to describe key theories and processes, as well as illustrate classic paradigms and experimental approaches used in cognitive psychology. This will provide a foundation for those continuing with psychological studies in Part II.
Developmental psychology is a scientific discipline that explains how humans develop across their lifespan. You will study topics including Piagetian and Vygotskian theoretical frameworks, the nature vs. nurture debate, and children’s development of crucial abilities to engage in the social world. You will develop a strong understanding of the relationships between psychological theory and experimental evidence, drawing upon classic and state-of-the-art scientific literature, including current cutting-edge investigative research going on in our Psychology Department.
By the end of the module, you will have gained understanding of several foundational topics in developmental psychology, be able to discuss related research in an informed and critical manner, and be able to able to search, synthesise, and evaluate relevant scientific literature. You will also be equipped with an excellent foundation of knowledge for continuing your study of developmental psychology in Part II.
Within our flexible Part I system, this 40-credit module runs over the course of the year and introduces students to the field of Linguistics. It is organised into six units that cover:
Structures of Language
This unit focusses on the core areas of linguistic description: phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics and pragmatics. The unit introduces students to the structure and meanings of words and sentences as well as the way words and sentences are understood in specific contexts of use.
Language Beginnings and Endings
This unit explores the evolution of language in our species, the way children acquire language and the way second languages are learned as children and adults. It also considers how language can be impaired and how and why languages die out.
Language and Society
This unit considers how languages differ according to social variables like class, gender and region. It also considers the relationship between language and politics and language and culture. The implications of multilingualism and issues of language policy and planning are also addressed.
Language Variation and Change
This unit explores different modalities of language including writing systems and sign language. It also explores the relationships between different languages and the way languages can change over time. Diversity in the world’s languages and the effect language may have on the way people think are also addressed.
Applied Linguistics
In this unit, students are introduced to some of the areas where knowledge and methods from linguistics are applied. You’ll explore the contributions that linguistics has made to areas like forensic science, computer science, health communication, education and literacy.
Methods of Linguistics
In this unit you’ll be introduced to some of the research methods relied on in linguistics, including both qualitative and quantitative methods. You’ll explore the different ways that data is collected and analysed in linguistics through ethnography, corpus linguistics, surveys and experiments.
How do we determine what is true in science? How do we know which theories are well supported by evidence, and which ones are not? This module focuses on the research process, particularly drawing upon how to identify and avoid questionable practices, in favour of those that are open, transparent, and reproducible.
You will build upon your knowledge of the research process developed in Research Integrity and Open Science 1. Looking at some of the problems faced by researchers, and how research findings are assessed in light of these issues, you will develop tools to help overcome and prevent future issues.
Topics of study include the problem of false-positive findings, questionable research practices, researcher degrees of freedom, fraud, detecting errors and meta-analysis. These topics will allow you to understand how to embed open, transparent and reproducible research methods into your own practices, supporting your ability to plan a research study and provide clear, accurate descriptions of proposed methods and planned analyses.
Once you have completed this module, you will have a deeper understanding of the research process, from concept and design to post-publication. You will have advanced knowledge of the reproducibility crisis and be equipped with practical skills to conduct your own research using a ‘reproducibility toolkit’. You will learn to critically evaluate psychological theory and research in order to identify and avoid questionable research practices and to ensure your own practices are open, transparent and reproducible.
Psychologists engage in the scientific process of developing and testing theories that explain and understand human psychology and behaviour. This module introduces you to the scientific processes and practices surrounding the development and testing of psychological and behavioural theories.
In this module, you will develop an understanding of the importance of transparent and high-quality psychological research and will assess the utility and reproducibility of current studies. You will study the relationship between theory, testing and evaluation and will develop practical skills to conduct your own research.
On completing this module, you will have gained a well-rounded understanding of the research process and an awareness of the importance of reproducibility, and you will have learned how to critically engage with research and its coverage in the media. You will learn key transferable skills, including data management, evaluation of primary and secondary sources, and knowledge of the relationship between theories, concepts and research methods.
Whether we want to understand ourselves or the world around us, social psychology can offer valuable insights. This module will present theories and findings, demonstrating how the principles of this field are relevant to our everyday lives, and it will help to develop a range of knowledge and skills that you will be able to apply to your studies as they progress throughout your degree, as well as approaches that you will find helpful for applying psychological knowledge in practice.
The module will equip you with knowledge of basic issues in social psychology, as well as applied psychology. You will be exposed to classic studies as well as cutting-edge research. Lectures will introduce a range of core topics including attitudes, attraction and the self.
In addition, this module will explore how the topics covered are being updated in relation to the modern digital age and how this affects our social world. The module will help you in understanding the main theoretical ideas and traditions of social psychology and relating individual psychological
Psychology is an evidence-based discipline, and understanding how to carry out psychological enquiry through statistical analysis of data plays a key part in research. This module is designed to equip you with a strong understanding of how data is used to inform decisions about the validity of psychological theories.
You will learn theoretical principles behind introductory statistical analysis techniques in psychological research, developing an understanding of scientific research methods to perform your own statistical analysis using numerical data. You will learn basic skills in data processing, visualisation, and inferential statistical analysis.
By the end of this module, you will understand which statistical methods are appropriate for a given research design, and will have developed some basic skills in data analysis to competently handle numerical data in order to calculate statistical analyses and answer research questions.
Psychology is an evidence-based discipline, and understanding how to carry out psychological enquiry through statistical analysis of data plays a key part in research. This module builds on the knowledge acquired during Statistics for Psychologists 1, allowing you to broaden your skills and develop a deeper understanding of statistical analysis techniques in psychological research.
You will expand your knowledge of statistical tests and continue to practise the implementation of these with data relating to psychological theories. On completing this module, you will have taken your statistical analysis skills to the next level, with an ability to calculate a range of statistics including correlation and chi-square, important tests for psychology but also for workplace data analysis more generally.
This module concerns the study of basic mental processes, such as memory, attention, learning, and categorisation. You will explore the current issues, debates and approaches in many key areas of cognitive psychology. We will see how research has evolved in these fields, both in terms of the practical challenges, and the development of psychological theories. We will also investigate how basic findings in cognitive psychology can have a wider application to society, such as in treatments for psychological disorders, or in the influence of misinformation in belief formation.
By the end of the module, you will understand more about these core topics, and will be able to show a critical appreciation of research methods, approaches and outcomes in cognitive psychology. You will develop skills to write about a topic in cognitive psychology in an informed and reflective way.
Whilst aiming to expand on your knowledge and skills on research methods acquired in the Part I modules, this module aims to develop knowledge and skills on experimental research methods employed across the different topics in psychology, such as social, developmental, and cognitive approaches. This will involve learning about how to plan, conduct and report research and how to evaluate research studies. You will learn conventions in writing and presentation styles in psychology, and your writing and method skills will address the complexities and confounds in experimental studies.
This module will develop your ability to be clear, accurate, complete, and concise in writing up research. You will build these skills as an individual, but also through collaborative work. You will develop the ability to generate and explore hypotheses and research questions, and will carry out empirical studies drawing on a variety of psychological methods. Additionally, you are required to plan, conduct and report empirical research including defining a research problem, formulating testable predictions, choosing appropriate methods, planning and conducting data gathering, demonstrate evaluation of data, and producing a professional report. You will employ evidence-based reasoning when presenting, interpreting and evaluating psychological research, and will use some psychological tools such as experimental software and computer packages including at least one statistical package.
This module provides you with an introduction to questionnaire design and qualitative methods by which psychological research is conducted, data collected and analysed, whilst also addressing the ethical issues relevant to a range of experimental and non-experimental methods. You will undertake blocks of exercises in which you will design, report and evaluate different forms of psychological research through questionnaires and surveys, in addition to interviewing and qualitative analysis.
Working in small groups, you will design and implement research projects on a given topic, followed by independent analyses and interpretation of the results, which are then written up in the research reports. You will also engage with the various ethical issues affecting psychological research on human participants and the strategies for addressing those issues in conducting psychological research with integrity. The module will support further your abilities to be clear, accurate, complete, and concise in writing up research. You will also develop the ability to use appropriate software and online resources in the generation and analysis of qualitative as well as quantitative data.
Expanding on the knowledge gained in Part I, you will further develop your knowledge of theory and research in a number of core areas in this field. Starting with the history of social psychology, you will explore topics such as social beliefs and judgements, intergroup relations, and applying social psychology to everyday life.
The lectures will cover contemporary and empirical developments in the key areas of social psychology, and the accompanying seminar programme will help develop a range of your academic and transferable skills in relation to social psychological subject matters, including the use of technical language, integrating knowledge, analytic skills, argument construction, and presentation.
In this module you will learn to produce, describe, and transcribe all the sounds in the World's languages. We will describe the physiology of how different sounds are produced and will look at the acoustic characteristics of particular sounds. You will practise transcribing all sounds within the International Phonetic Alphabet, and will learn examples of where sounds are used. For example, we spend time looking at the occurrence of click sounds in South African languages and at how pitch variation is used in tone languages. Seminars will cover the practical aspects to sound production, and we will also spend some time learning how to use computers for speech analysis.
In this module, you will gain the knowledge and skills to understand how psychological research findings reported in journals and textbooks have been obtained; carry out your own analysis of data collected during practical classes and report the results; and analyse and report the results of your own research project.
You will come to identify the appropriate form of analysis for different data types, and will use the statistical package R to conduct the analysis of variance (ANOVA) appropriate for different research designs.
Building on learning from your first-year statistics modules, we move into more complex forms of regression (linear and non-linear), moderation and mediation. The classes in this module extend your knowledge and understanding of correlation and simple regression to the area of multiple regression. We consider more than one influence on a behaviour and when thinking about how those influences may work together, and possibly how they are ordered in time, whether we can say that the influence “causes” a behaviour. We also consider alternative forms of analysis for data that do not fit the methods learned so far that are needed for considering causes of behaviour.
The practical sessions in this module take a further step in growing your independence for writing and performing your own statistical analyses. By solving problems across many different datasets, we prepare you for working with your own data and analysis for your third-year project.
On successful completion of the module, you will have broadened your skills and understanding of statistics such that you can choose from among a range of methods which best suits a research question and its dataset. Also, you will have developed skills so that you can interpret the results of studies with confidence and express how general these results are likely to be across different samples and populations.
This module will cover central concepts around word order, case marking, agreement, alignment, animacy, definiteness and valency changes and teach you to analyse new data from the world’s languages in terms of these topics. You will learn to critically evaluate the extent to which the structures of the world’s languages are shaped by cognition and communication. You will also learn how linguists provide explanations for why languages are structured the way they are, given the functions they serve. It is expected that you will acquire a better understanding of the structure of English as a result of seeing how English differs from other languages.
The module seeks to provide a closer look at selected aspects of language structure and how they are analysed within various theoretical frameworks. It aims to develop a critical awareness of theoretical constructs and the extent to which they influence not only analyses but also the choice of data to be analysed. Students will also be taught to evaluate the appropriateness of specific analyses for individual languages or facets of language. By the end of the module, you should have a good knowledge of the basic principles, notions and structures of Cognitive Linguistics, particularly of Cognitive Grammar.
In addition, you should develop:
The module covers human development from foetus to the end of adolescence, covering changes in cognitive, social, language and emotional abilities over this time span, as well as how these changes can be explained: it is important to ask not just what changes, but also why such changes occur and how the course of development is shaped by multiple interacting factors.
The course provides a foundation for understanding developmental psychology as a discipline from different theoretical and methodological perspectives. The lectures cover a variety of key topics in developmental science, from prenatal to later childhood development and adolescence, spanning motor, perceptual, cognitive, communicative, social, emotional and cultural aspects.
The fundamental questions of development: what capacities make infants able to learn so much about the world, by what mechanisms are capacities acquired, and how development can take an atypical trajectory, are addressed on the course together with the theoretical debates that have surrounded these questions.
The module will introduce you to the fundamental neuronal principles underlying cognition and behaviour, with particular emphasis on perceptual, cognitive, emotional and language processes. You will be provided with basic knowledge about the anatomy, physiology, and functions of the central and peripheral nervous systems.
You will become acquainted with a range of theories and research methods in cognitive neuroscience and explore how knowledge of neural and physiological processes can aid our understanding of a wide range of human behaviour. The module provides you with the essential preparation for neuroscience-related advanced modules in your third year.
The project is a piece of empirical work that will be completed under the guidance of a member of the lecturing staff. Exploring a topic of your choice, you will gain significant knowledge and understanding of how to develop and conduct psychological research, and will learn how to operationalise a manageable research problem.
In collaboration with a supervisor, you will develop the ability to formulate specific research hypotheses and carry out and write up an independent piece of research. This will equip you with in-depth and specialised expertise in a specific area of psychological inquiry, and transferable skills in project management, data skills, and reviewing literature.
This module investigates some of the theoretical aspects to speech production and sound structure across the World's languages. We will spend time discussing and evaluating different frameworks for modelling phonetics and phonology, for example generative and usage-based approaches. Then, we will examine some case-study areas which challenge existing theories, for example intonational phonology and the study of historical sound change. This module aims to contribute to questions such as 'How are groups of sounds structured so that we can understand language?' or 'How are sounds stored and processed in the mind?'
This module focuses on the contemporary field of English Language Studies. In particular, it will look at corpus linguistics - a research specialism at Lancaster University - and its application to areas such as the description of English grammar.
The module's programme of lectures will begin with a detailed introduction to the method before moving on, later in the term, to discuss the applications and implications of the method. Meanwhile, lab-based seminars will allow students to acquire and exercise practical skills with the computational tools (such as concordance software) required by the area of study.
The module will cover the two main sub-areas of the field, i.e. forensic phonetics and forensic linguistics more generally. Following a general introduction on the nature and history of forensic linguistics, lectures will focus on the two main questions forensic linguists concern themselves with: what does a text say, and who is (are) its author(s)? The issues of trademarks and lie detection do not fit into either of these, but will be covered as well. All aspects of the field will be illustrated with reference to specific (court) cases, which will also help shed light on the evolving status of forensic linguistic evidence in courts of law.
This module is about sociolinguistics, and in particular about how language relates to identities at different levels. This includes how individuals use language to signal their membership of particular social groups, and how different kinds of social groupings, such as peer groups, communities and nations, identify themselves through language.
The module will focus on three important areas of variation in language within society: gender, ethnicity and class. It will discuss the key research in each of these. Both theoretical and applied aspects of topics will be covered. The notion of ‘Identity’ provides the course with a unifying theme.
This module aims to broaden and deepen your capacity for language analysis applied to real social issues and problems and to encourage you to evaluate research critically and undertake your own data collection and analysis.
This module investigates how English varies at any given time and how it changes over time. It introduces you to the (socio)linguistic dimensions along which the language can vary and to the (extra)linguistic processes accounting for the ways in which it has changed. Attention is paid: to all domains of English, ranging from its sounds and structures to its usage; to the methods used by linguists to study variation and change in the language; and in particular to the close relationship between linguistic variation and change. The module covers key theoretical research in the field but also encourages you, especially in the seminars, to undertake your own data collection and to critically apply models and concepts presented in the lectures.
Psycholinguistics is the study of the psychology of language, which is one of the abilities that makes humans unique. It can cover topics in social psychology, developmental psychology, cognitive psychology and neuropsychology. The exact topics we cover vary each year depending on who is teaching on the module, but we aim to balance these areas and include topics on how children learn language and to read, how language is used in social interaction, how adults process sounds, words and sentences, and what happens when children fail to learn language normally or when adults suffer from brain damage.
We set our fees on an annual basis and the 2025/26 entry fees have not yet been set.
As a guide, our fees in 2024/25 were:
Home | International |
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£9,250 | £26,213 |
There may be extra costs related to your course for items such as books, stationery, printing, photocopying, binding and general subsistence on trips and visits. Following graduation, you may need to pay a subscription to a professional body for some chosen careers.
Specific additional costs for studying at Lancaster are listed below.
Lancaster is proud to be one of only a handful of UK universities to have a collegiate system. Every student belongs to a college, and all students pay a small college membership fee which supports the running of college events and activities. Students on some distance-learning courses are not liable to pay a college fee.
For students starting in 2024, the fee is £40 for undergraduates and research students and £15 for students on one-year courses. Fees for students starting in 2025 have not yet been set.
To support your studies, you will also require access to a computer, along with reliable internet access. You will be able to access a range of software and services from a Windows, Mac, Chromebook or Linux device. For certain degree programmes, you may need a specific device, or we may provide you with a laptop and appropriate software - details of which will be available on relevant programme pages. A dedicated IT support helpdesk is available in the event of any problems.
The University provides limited financial support to assist students who do not have the required IT equipment or broadband support in place.
In addition to travel and accommodation costs, while you are studying abroad, you will need to have a passport and, depending on the country, there may be other costs such as travel documents (e.g. VISA or work permit) and any tests and vaccines that are required at the time of travel. Some countries may require proof of funds.
In addition to possible commuting costs during your placement, you may need to buy clothing that is suitable for your workplace and you may have accommodation costs. Depending on the employer and your job, you may have other costs such as copies of personal documents required by your employer for example.
The fee that you pay will depend on whether you are considered to be a home or international student. Read more about how we assign your fee status.
Home fees are subject to annual review, and may be liable to rise each year in line with UK government policy. International fees (including EU) are reviewed annually and are not fixed for the duration of your studies. Read more about fees in subsequent years.
We will charge tuition fees to Home undergraduate students on full-year study abroad/work placements in line with the maximum amounts permitted by the Department for Education. The current maximum levels are:
International students on full-year study abroad/work placements will be charged the same percentages as the standard International fee.
Please note that the maximum levels chargeable in future years may be subject to changes in Government policy.
Details of our scholarships and bursaries for students starting in 2025 are not yet available. You can use our scholarships for 2024-entry applicants as guidance.
The information on this site relates primarily to 2025/2026 entry to the University and every effort has been taken to ensure the information is correct at the time of publication.
The University will use all reasonable effort to deliver the courses as described, but the University reserves the right to make changes to advertised courses. In exceptional circumstances that are beyond the University’s reasonable control (Force Majeure Events), we may need to amend the programmes and provision advertised. In this event, the University will take reasonable steps to minimise the disruption to your studies. If a course is withdrawn or if there are any fundamental changes to your course, we will give you reasonable notice and you will be entitled to request that you are considered for an alternative course or withdraw your application. You are advised to revisit our website for up-to-date course information before you submit your application.
More information on limits to the University’s liability can be found in our legal information.
We believe in the importance of a strong and productive partnership between our students and staff. In order to ensure your time at Lancaster is a positive experience we have worked with the Students’ Union to articulate this relationship and the standards to which the University and its students aspire. View our Charter and other policies.
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