Psychology and Linguistics

BA Hons

  • UCAS code CQ81
  • Entry year 2026 or 2025
  • A level requirements AAB
  • Duration Full time 3 years
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We welcome applications from the United States of America

We've put together information and resources to guide your application journey as a student from the United States of America.

Overview

Top reasons to study with us

  • 3

    3rd for Linguistics

    The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide (2025)

  • Our Psychology Employability Programme (PEP) works with organisations to provide voluntary work experience to enhance your skills

  • We care about your future. BEE offers workshops, advice, and opportunities to develop your employability skills through real-world experience and expert career guidance.

Psychology and linguistics is the study of the human mind and language expression. There are many overlapping questions such as ‘what is the relationship between language and the mind?’. By studying these disciplines, we can learn how the social world and the human mind shapes language (and vice versa). This degree is accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS) which is essential if you want to take on a career in professional psychology in the UK.

Learn about the main themes of psychology and linguistics

  • Brain and behaviour: how the biological functioning of our brain underlies our minds and behaviour
  • Cognitive psychology: how we think, including perception, memory, attention and decision making
  • Developmental psychology: how we develop throughout our lives and how growing up and ageing affect our experiences and behaviour
  • Language and mind: how the language we speak shapes our experiences and understanding of the world
  • Language acquisition: how children learn language, how we learn second languages and how language learning can be impaired
  • Social psychology: how our thoughts, emotions and behaviours are influenced by others
  • Individual differences: how our brains and our environments work together to create a wide diversity of people and languages

What to expect

Our three-year BA Hons Psychology and Linguistics degree starts with a broad overview of the main themes where you will explore theories, evaluate scientific research, and learn to construct formal arguments. Alongside this you will develop practical skills to support research in psychology such as experimental design, data analysis and report writing. In Linguistics you’ll analyse the structures, sounds and variations in language and how patterns in language connect with larger patterns in society. You will also learn about research methods and how linguistics can be applied to areas such as forensic science, computer science, and literacy.

Year 2 is about advancing your knowledge of the main study themes, covering the criteria required to become a BPS accredited psychologist. You will expand your knowledge of research methods and statistics which help us to explore how we investigate and study psychological questions. You will gain fluency in your oral and written language skills through specialised modules. In Linguistics you’ll build on the study of the sounds and structures of the world’s languages.

Your final year provides more freedom with a range of psychology and linguistics topics for you to choose from, all carefully designed and curated by researchers at the cutting-edge of their field. You will also complete your own independent research project.

Personal Development

In addition to subject knowledge, you will develop valuable transferable skills that make you desirable to future employers. Through both independent and collaborative research opportunities, you will gain a variety of communication tools and learn how to design studies, analyse data, and present your findings through different means. These skills, alongside your ability to analyse language variations and patterns, will enable you to work in a range of environments and research settings.

3 things our Psychology students want you to know:

  • The Psychology Employability Programme (PEP) is one of the best things about studying here. It really shows you how your studies link to the workplace and what your future might look like. It gives you a sense of feeling prepared for your next step. There’s also the Belong, Engage and Employ (BEE) programme which boosts other skills, knowledge and employability
  • The University is home to the internationally-leading Infant and Child Development Lab, The Levy Lab, Virtual Reality Suite, Eye Tracking Labs, and EEG Labs so you can gain hands-on research experience in state-of-the-art facilities. Studying psychology and linguistics here gives you a continuous understanding of how your learning can be a driver for positive change in real-world environments
  • We’re well supported by a group of lecturers who are world-leading researchers in their fields. Working within this close knit-community really boosts your learning

Course accreditation

British Psychological Society logo

Accreditation through partnership and collaboration is the process by which the BPS works with education providers to ensure quality standards in education and training are met. All programmes that are accredited by the society have met rigorous criteria. This means if you graduate from a BPS accredited undergraduate degree or postgraduate conversion course, you will be eligible for Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (GBC) of the society.

Learn more about the British Psychological Society accreditation

Careers

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.

Entry requirements

These are the typical grades that you will need to study this course. You may need to have qualifications in relevant subjects. In some cases we may also ask you to attend an interview or submit a portfolio. You must also meet our English language requirements.

Find more about these qualifications and others not shown here

Learn about how we will assess your application

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Contact Admissions

If you are thinking of applying to Lancaster and you would like to ask us a question, please complete our enquiry form and one of our team will get back to you.

International foundation programmes

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

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.

Course structure

Enhancing our curriculum

We continually review and enhance our curriculum to ensure we are delivering the best possible learning experience, and to make sure that the subject knowledge and transferable skills you develop will prepare you for your future.

We will publish more detailed information about the structure of this degree course for 2026-entry in June 2025, ahead of our summer undergraduate open days. This will include overviews of the core modules you will take and examples of optional modules which may be available to you.

Fees and funding

We set our fees on an annual basis and the 2026/27 entry fees have not yet been set.

As a guide, our fees in 2025/26 were:

Home International
£9,535 £27,260

Fees and funding information

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Scholarships and bursaries

Details of our scholarships and bursaries for students starting in 2026 are not yet available.

You can use our scholarships for 2025-entry applicants as guidance.

Important information

The information on this site relates primarily to 2026/2027 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.

Our Students’ Charter

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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