Understanding our programme changes

The study of languages and cultures transforms lives. As a School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures (LLC), we are justifiably proud that our students can choose from an exceptional range of subjects and languages. Every year, we are even prouder that they leave us as independent-minded problem-solvers, effective communicators and experts in intercultural understanding.  

To ensure our academic provision remains of the highest quality, and that our graduates remain ready for the changing demands of a complex and interdependent world, we review our degree programmes regularly. This year, for 2027 entry to the University of Edinburgh. we are embarking on our most adventurous reimagination of our curriculum for a generation. 

Our undergraduate student numbers are buoyant: every year for the past decade, we have enrolled around 400 students onto our language degrees, and each year we offer hundreds of other students across the University the chance to learn a new language. 

The British Academy has drawn attention to developing 'cold spots' in arts and humanities provision: we are a ‘hot spot’ for the study of languages, and one of only six UK Universities to offer degree-level study of Scotland’s literatures, languages and cultures. But in common with other institutions, we face some challenges. 

It is widely known that the UK Higher Education sector is under pressure. The Scottish Government’s recent 'Future Framework' report highlighted a shortfall in funding of around £200 million per year. Writing in The Herald, the Principal of the University of Edinburgh has highlighted that institutions are ‘in a fragile position, with little resilience to withstand further shocks’. 

Read more about the University’s response to shaping our university's future

For LLC, one of our distinctive strengths – the breadth of our provision – also presents us with challenges. We are committed to making changes in order to maintain aspects of our education which we value the most – that our students study in a multilingual context in which major world languages and cultures sit alongside minoritised languages and forms of cultural expression. We are also committed to continuing to offer an excellent student experience, but we know that some students currently find our programmes difficult to navigate. 

As part of a wider Academic Size and Shape project in the University's College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, we are adapting our portfolio of courses and programmes. We expect to maintain the same breadth of choice, and the flexibility for students to combine the study of languages with a wide range of other subjects: from law or history to politics and business. By streamlining our programmes we will offer greater consistency of student experience, and enhance students’ ability to combine courses from different areas.  

Our first step has been to reduce the number of separate entry points: named degree programmes or combinations to which students apply. After careful consideration and review we have taken the decision to phase out some of the specific programmes and combined degrees that we offer which have historically attracted low numbers of students: across these 48 programmes we have enrolled fewer than 30 students a year in total. Students currently enrolled on these programmes will be able to continue and complete their studies as planned. 

We will continue to offer programmes in all of our subject areas and we will continue to offer an incredible range of choice. For 2027 entry, there will remain nearly 100 programmes available in the School. 

Browse undergraduate programmes for 2027 entry in:

• Asian Studies
• European Languages and Cultures
• Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies

We are making similar choices in reinventing what it means to study Scotland’s rich cultural heritage.  

The College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Edinburgh is home to the greatest concentration of researchers and scholars of Scotland’s history, languages, cultures and society in the world. We deliver courses on these topics to more than 1,000 students every year, and very many of those students study these topics within LLC.  

We are proud to play a central role in the study and teaching of Scotland’s past and present, fostering critical understanding and sustaining tradition. We are passionate about the power and importance of critical reflection on the ways in which the past informs the present state and future prospects for Scotland.  

Subjects adapt as the world around them changes: this is how practitioners ensure that ways of knowing don’t merely survive, but thrive. We are adapting our programmes to reflect the growing importance of multidisciplinary understanding of social phenomena and forms of cultural expression. Our students will have greater opportunities to take courses in different parts of the College, making the most of the breadth and strength of our research and teaching in these fields. 

We will stress the significance of comparative study, and of the ways in which inclusive study of Scotland’s histories, cultures and society can be achieved through use of a range of subject perspectives. We are making change in the present in order to continue to preserve the past and to ensure our students can fully contribute to the imagination of alternative futures. 

Browse undergraduate programmes for 2027 entry in:

• Celtic and Scottish Studies
• English and Scottish Literature