BA Chinese
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Key information
- Start date
- Duration
- 4 years
- Start of programme
- September 2025
- Attendance mode
- Full-time
- Location
- On Campus
- Fees
-
Home: £9,535
International: £22,870 - Course code
- T100
- Entry requirements
-
ABB
Contextual: BBB
-
See undergraduate entry requirements and English language requirements for international and alternative entry requirements.
Course overview
The Chinese BA programme is suitable for both absolute beginners as well as those with some knowledge of the Chinese language.
You will spend the third year of study in China or Taiwan furthering language proficiency and understanding of the local cultural environment.
Why study Chinese at SOAS?
- We are ranked 12th in the UK for Modern Languages (QS World University Rankings 2023)
- SOAS is home to the largest concentration of Chinese specialists outside of China
- Chinese is a language spoken by a quarter of the world’s population; your command of a language will set you apart from graduates of other universities
- spend your third year in China or Taiwan furthering language and cultural proficiency
- learn not only the essential language skills but also an in-depth understanding of the region’s culture covering subjects (such as literature, history, cinema, etc.)
- flexibly structure your programme using our central options modules to take advantage of the expertise of our other departments
- our students consistently take home top prizes at the prestigious Chinese Bridge competition
Structure
Students take a total of 120 credits each year .
- Year 1: Students normally take 60 credits of language, 45 credits of culture/history modules and 15 credits of academic writing.
- Year 2: Students take a further 30 credits of modern language and are introduced to classical and literary Chinese, and further modules of culture/history.
- Year 3: Students will spend the third year of study in China or Taiwan
- Year 4: Students take a minimum of 90 credits from the department, which includes a compulsory Independent Study Project.
Important notice
The information on the website reflects the intended programme structure against the given academic session. The modules are indicative options of the content students can expect and are/have been previously taught as part of these programmes.
However, this information is published a long time in advance of enrolment and module content and availability is subject to change.
Year 1 - Ch 100 pathway - Core
Year 1 - Ch 200 pathway - Core
Year 1 - Ch 100 pathway - Compulsory
Year 1 - Ch 200 pathway - Compulsory
Year 1 - Ch 100 pathway - Guided options List A
30 credits from List A
Year 1 - Ch 200 pathway - Guided options List A
45 credits from List A
Year 2 - Core
If Ch 200 was completed in Y1, please select Chinese 4.
Year 2 - Compulsory
Year 2 - Guided options - List B
30-60 credits from List B
Year 4 - Compulsory
Year 4 - Guided Options - List C
Minimum of 30 credits from List C
Teaching and learning
All full-time undergraduate programmes consist of 120 credits per year, in modules of 60, 30 or 15 credits. They are taught over 10 or 20 weeks. The programme structure shows which modules are taught over one term or the full year. It also shows which modules are compulsory and which are optional.
Contact hours
As a rough guide, 1 credit equals approximately 10 hours of work. Most of this will be independent study. It will also include class time, which may include lectures, seminars and other classes. Some subjects, such as learning a language, have more class time than others.
Year abroad
Students spend the third year of their BA Chinese degree at Beijing Normal University (BNU) or Taiwan. Single-subject degree students are required to take the following modules:
- Newspaper Reading (baokan 报刊)
- Reading and Writing (duxie 读写)
- Conversation (huihua 会话)
- Listening (tingli 听力)
SOAS Library
SOAS Library is one of the world's most important academic libraries for the study of Africa, Asia and the Middle East, attracting scholars from all over the world. The Library houses over 1.2 million volumes, together with significant archival holdings, special collections and a growing network of electronic resources.
Pre-entry readings
- Ebrey, Patricia: The Cambridge Illustrated History of Chinese Civilization. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1996/2010.
- Mair, Victor H.: The Columbia History of Chinese Literature. New York: Columbia University Press, 2001.
- Shei, Chris: Understanding the Chinese Language. London and New York: Routledge, 2014.
Fees and funding
Fees for 2025/26 entrants per academic year
Programme | Full-time | |
---|---|---|
Home students | Overseas students | |
BA, BSc, LLB | £9,535 | £22,870 |
BA/BSc Language year abroad | £1,385 | £11,430 |
Please note that fees go up each year. For full details see undergraduate fees.
Employment
Graduates from the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures develop competencies in intercultural awareness, analysis and communication. Demand for specialists with advanced proficiency in the languages of China, Japan and Korea has significantly increased in recent years, and graduates with these skills are highly sought after by employers.
Recent graduates have been hired by organisations including:
- Accenture
- Amazon
- Bloomberg LP
- Department for Work and Pensions
- European Alliance for Human Rights in North Korea
- European Commission
- ITN
- Japanese Government
- Korea Trade Centre (KOTRA)
- KPMG
- Mizuho Bank
- Nagahama Board of Education
- Nanjing Museum
- Pinsent Masons LLP
- PwC
- Seoul Metropolitan Government
- Shelterbox
- UNDP
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