Undergraduate study | Chinese

• You’ll complete a four-year Master of Arts (MA) honours degree. You can take Chinese as a single honours degree, or jointly with one of a range of other subjects. 
• As well as learning to read and write modern standard Chinese using both simplified and traditional form characters, most programmes involve learning to read classical Chinese and developing translation skills.
• In addition, you will have the opportunity to learn about China's modern and pre-modern history, its politics, society and culture, such as literature and film, and its place within East Asia. 

Years 1 & 2

Our programmes are very flexible. In your first two years, you'll likely get to choose option courses from a wide range of subjects alongside Chinese and any partner subject. This may enable you to change the focus of your degree going into your final two (honours) years, which is when you start to specialise.

Years 3 & 4

• Your third year will typically spent in full, or in part, in either mainland China or Taiwan. Our graduates have told us how much the Year Abroad has benefitted their broader life experience and skills, as well as their understanding of China and East Asia.
• You will learn how to undertake your own research to the level of completing a dissertation or long essay in your final year. This is your chance to focus on a topic, period or discipline that’s of particular interest to you. We have an extensive range of honours courses to choose from.

Teaching and learning

• Our approach to learning and teaching is active, inclusive and question driven to help you gain skills for life after university.
• Across your courses, you’ll typically be taught in a combination of lectures, tutorials (including language classes) and seminars. On some courses, you will have seminars instead of lectures, especially in your honours years.
• You will also be expected to study independently and in small groups, and to read widely.

Assessment and support

• You’ll be assessed through a combination of coursework and exams. 
• Coursework may take a range of forms to give you the opportunity to practice different skills. 
• Exams will include oral exams to test your spoken language skills.
• Depending on where you go and what you do on your Year Abroad, Year 3 may include being assessed, in part, by a host university.

• As well as the teaching and other staff you will meet day-to-day, there are lots of ways to get help with your learning, including through the University’s Institute for Academic Development and Edinburgh University Students' Association.

  Learning Chinese has given me lots of opportunities, from working part-time as a translator, to competing in the UK semi-finals of the Chinese Bridge competition. Without studying Chinese, not only would I not have had these great opportunities, but I wouldn't have met so many wonderful friends from all around the world.

In the 2025 to 2026 academic year, you can take Chinese as a single honours degree, or study any of the following joint honours degree combinations...

* Please note that this degree combination does not have the same structure as all the others, though it is still a four-year degree with a study abroad element.

If you’d like to study on any of our undergraduate programmes, you must apply through UCAS, the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service. 

The UCAS site will show you if any of our Chinese degree programmes remain open for application for 2025 entry.

Search the UCAS website for our Chinese programmes

If you have applied to start studying Chinese with us in September 2025, check out our applicant website for 2025 entry.

Visit the applicant website for Chinese

Keen to get a head start for 2026?

There’s lots of information about our undergraduate Chinese programmes on the University of Edinburgh Degree Finder. 

For example, you can find out about:

• the courses you will take each year
• how you will be taught and assessed
• the support we offer
• entrance requirements
• English language requirements
• fees and funding opportunities
• student societies and living in Edinburgh

Browse our Chinese programmes on Degree Finder 2026

Applications for 2026 entry open in September 2025.

Skills and experience

Studying one or more languages to degree level demonstrates that you're a good communicator, and someone open to other cultures and new ideas – what employers value as Intercultural Competence.

Beyond the language skills you'll develop on our programmes, and the nuanced understanding you will gain of other cultures and societies, graduating with a four-year honours degree from the University of Edinburgh shows intellectual maturity, resilience, and flexibility.

The skills you will be able to demonstrate to employers when you graduate include the ability to:

• understand, analyse and articulate complex issues and concepts
• manage your time to meet deadlines on different types of projects
• work independently and as part of a group

Opportunities across sectors

Our programmes are an excellent primer for a range of careers, especially those that place a premium on thinking that is both disciplined and imaginative.

Within the private, public, not-for-profit, and for-benefit sectors, previous graduates have gone on to work in:

• business, finance, commerce and tech
• communications, marketing, advertising and public relations
• education, outreach, advocacy and training
• journalism, broadcasting and media
• leisure, tourism and travel
• politics, policy work, diplomacy, civil service and law
• publishing, culture, heritage and the arts
• research, development, consultancy and venture acceleration
• translating and interpreting

Local and global opportunities

With increasing migration in response to changing global dynamics, there is demand for our graduates in Scotland, the UK and abroad.

Wherever you are based in the world, the ability to communicate in another major language, and to understand the cultures to which it opens doors, will make you stand out.

If you are keen to work abroad, it’s good to know that over one billion people worldwide speak Modern Standard Chinese and many countries, including Scotland, have strategic links with China. Increasing numbers of Chinese-speaking graduates are recruited by companies based in East Asia, a powerful player in the global economy.

Further study

The enhanced research skills you will develop on a four-year programme, particularly in your honours years, are a valuable asset if you wish to continue studying at postgraduate level. 

At the University of Edinburgh, we typically offer a Masters by Research degree in Chinese and taught masters programmes in:

• East Asian Studies (with the option to specialise in Chinese Studies)
• Comparative Literature
• Intermediality
• Translation Studies

Any of our masters degrees, whether research-based or taught, is a good foundation for a PhD, but is equally of value as a stand-alone qualification.

Find out more about LLC alumni and futures