• Taught by experts – You will study alongside some of the finest minds in both fields. Times Higher Education ranked the Department of Philosophy 2nd in the country for its performance in the latest Research Excellence Framework exercise, with 83% of its research rated as 'world leading' or 'internationally excellent'.
• Excellent student experience – Our Classics students gave their course an overall satisfaction rating of 94% in the National Student Survey 2018.
• Friendly and relaxed atmosphere – Staff in both Departments will know you by name and are always happy to provide additional feedback on academic performance.
• Flexibility – The variety of modules on offer will allow you to specialise more as you progress so that you can study areas of the discipline which interest you the most. Almost all of our assessments are now based on coursework.
• Be part of an exciting department – Both Departments provide a diverse range of opportunities to enrich your student experience. For example, students have been involved in the Classics in the Community project, working with teachers on developing new ways of telling ancient stories. Meanwhile, Philosophy has a thriving student society to get involved with.

Hear from our students

Open day talks

Three full videos on YouTube of recent open day talks relevant to this course:

• Classics at Birmingham, June 2016
• Undergraduate Philosophy at Birmingham, June 2018
• Joint honours at Birmingham, June 2018

Please note: The modules listed on the website for this programme are regularly reviewed to ensure they are up-to-date and informed by the latest research and teaching methods. Unless indicated otherwise, the modules listed for this programme are for students starting in 2019. On rare occasions, we may need to make unexpected changes to compulsory modules; in this event we will contact offer holders as soon as possible to inform or consult them as appropriate.

In this programme, your first year of study is split equally between Classical Literature and Civilisation and Philosophy (60 credits in each subject). Following this, you have flexible options to alter your balance of study, meaning that you could take for example 80 credits in one subject and 40 in the other in either or both of years 2 and 3, or stay with the 60/60 balance. 

First year

Classical Literature and Civilisation: In your first year, you will study the literature and history of the Greco-Roman world by taking two compulsory modules: Introduction to Greek Literature and Introduction to Roman Literature. You will also take EITHER 40 credits of beginners? ancient language OR Project A, Group Research (Classical), and a further 20 credits of options to study the cultures of Greece, Rome, Egypt and Ancient Western Asia, or Byzantium.

• See our first year Classical Literature and Civilisation module descriptions (compulsory and optional)

Philosophy:

Philosophy's first year modules will provide you with a thorough grounding in mainly mainstream western philosophy. You will take our compulsory modules, Problems of Philosophy, Reasoning and Logic, as well as 20 credits of optional modules.

See our first year Philosophy module descriptions (compulsory and optional)

Second year

Classical Literature and Civilisation: Our compulsory modules, The Age of Cicero and Archaic to Classical, will take you to the heart of the cultures of Greece and Rome. If you take more than 40 credits, you will also be able to choose from our unique range of options in literature, culture, language, myth, religion, art, philosophy, archaeology and history.

• See our second year Classical Literature and Civilisation module descriptions (compulsory and optional)

Philosophy

In second year, there are no compulsory Philosophy modules and you can pursue the topics and questions that interest you the most. Depending on your chosen balance of study, you chose 40, 60 or 80 credits from our range of optional modules.

See our second year Philosophy module descriptions

Year abroad

You can apply to study abroad for a year in an approved university around the world. If you achieve a grade of 2.1 or above in your first year then you will be invited to apply for a Year Abroad in your second year. If your application is successful, you will go abroad in your third year and return to us for your final year. Find out more.

Final year

Classical Literature and Civilisation: In your final year, you will take a seminar as a compulsory module and then you will have the opportunity to do a dissertation: a substantial research project, developed in collaboration with your supervisor, on a subject of special interest to you. You can choose to this in Classical Literature and Civilisation or your other subject. Depending on which Department you choose to do your dissertation in and your balance of study, you can also choose modules from our wide range of options.

• See our final year Classical Literature and Civilisation module descriptions (compulsory and optional)

Philosophy

As in second year, there are no compulsory Philosophy modules in your final year however, you will be expected to undertake an independent research project. Joint Honours Philosophy students can chose to do this in either of their two disciplines. If you do a project in your other discipline, you are not obliged to do another in Philosophy.

See our final year Philosophy module descriptions

 

Joint Honours Flexibility

Every degree programme at the University is divided into 120 credits of study for each year of the programme. In the first year of a Joint Honours programme, you will study 60 credits in each subject as you learn the core elements of the disciplines. We recognise that students on Joint Honours programmes might come to favour one subject slightly more than another. To account for this, we have added more flexibility into the second and final years of our programmes. In the second year, you can stick with the 60-60 split between the two subjects or shift to a 80-40 credit weighting, effectively a major/ minor combination. You can either go back to 60-60 in the final year, maintain the same 80-40 split or reverse the major and the minor and go to a 40-80 weighting.

For UK students beginning their studies in September 2019, the University of Birmingham will charge the maximum approved tuition fee per year. The fees for your first year of study will therefore be £9,250. Visit our tuition fees page for more information.

Fees for 2019/20 are as follows:

• Home / EU: £9,250
• Overseas: £17,640

Eligibility for Home/EU or Overseas fees can be verified with Admissions. Learn more about fees for international students.

For further information on tuition fees, living costs and available financial support, please see our pages on undergraduate fees and funding.

Tuition fees when studying abroad

For those spending a whole academic year abroad (where available):

• Students who are classed as home/EU for fees purposes are required to pay 15% of their normal annual tuition fee
• Students who are classed as overseas for fee purposes are required to pay 50% of their normal annual tuition fee

For those studying abroad for just one semester (where available), normal annual tuition fees apply.

Note - Study abroad opportunities vary between courses; please see the course description for details of study abroad options offered.

Number of A levels required:

3

Typical offer:

ABB

Required subjects and grades:

ABB

Additional information:

IB Diploma:
6,5,5 in Higher level subjects plus 32 points overall.

BTEC qualifications:

• BTEC Extended Diploma: DDD.
• BTEC Diploma: DD, plus B at A-level.
• BTEC Subsidiary Diploma: D, plus AB at A-level.

Other qualifications are considered - learn more about entry requirements.

International students:

We welcome applications from international students and invite you to join our vibrant community of over 4500 international students who represent 150 different countries. We accept a range of qualifications, our country pages show you what qualifications we accept from your country.

Depending on your chosen course of study, you may also be interested in one of our foundation pathways, which offer specially structured programmes for international students whose qualifications are not accepted for direct entry to UK universities. Further details can be found on Birmingham International Academy web pages.

• Apply through UCAS at www.ucas.com.
• Learn more about applying.

Key Information Sets (KIS) are comparable sets of information about full- or part-time undergraduate courses and are designed to meet the information needs of prospective students.

All KIS information has been published on the Unistats website and can also be accessed via the small advert, or ‘widget’, below. On the Unistats website you are able to compare all the KIS data for each course with data for other courses.

The development of Key Information Sets (KIS) formed part of HEFCE’s work to enhance the information that is available about higher education. They give you access to reliable and comparable information in order to help you make informed decisions about what and where to study.

The KIS contains information which prospective students have identified as useful, such as student satisfaction, graduate outcomes, learning and teaching activities, assessment methods, tuition fees and student finance, accommodation and professional accreditation.

Assessments - you will be assessed in a variety of ways to help you transition to a new style of learning. At the beginning of each module, you will be given information on how and when you will be assessed. Assessments methods will vary with each module and could include:

• coursework, such as essays
• group and individual presentations
• and formal exams

Feedback - you will receive feedback on each assessment within four weeks, so you can learn from each assignment. You will also be given feedback on any exams that you take. If you should fail an exam, we will ensure that particularly detailed feedback is provided to help you prepare for future exams.