BA (Hons) Italian and Spanish (with a year abroad)

Course content

During your degree, you will study mainly modules in languages and cultures. You can add modules in linguistics, choose from a range of elective modules across the university, including a third language.

Your linguistics modules will help you understand the nature of language itself: how it is structured, how it has evolved, and how we use and understand it within our society. These modules will enable you to think critically and approach your studies from an analytical point of view.

You’ll go abroad in your third year. You can choose a work placement, internship or studying at one of our partner universities. Our internship students have been to a wide range of organisations including in schools, the heritage sector, the media, translation, marketing and finance sectors around the world. Your plans will be supported by our departmental year abroad coordinators.

Throughout your programme, you can tailor your degree to your interests. You can:

• focus on studying Italian and Spanish in equal terms in Years 2 and 3.
• choose to study either Italian or Spanish predominantly in Years 2 and/or 3.
• choose to add linguistics modules throughout your degree.
• add elective modules, including a third language, or interdisciplinary modules.

Study Italian from scratch

You will study Italian ab initio, meaning you don't need to have any knowledge of the language before you arrive. In your first year, you will make rapid progress in your language skills. You will also develop your understanding of Italian society and culture in order to be prepared for more advanced studies from your second year onward.

Our modules may change to reflect the latest academic thinking and expertise of our staff, and in line with Department/School academic planning.

Fees and funding

The fees and funding information here is for students starting in the 2026/27 academic year.

If you take a year abroad or year in industry you'll pay a reduced rate of fees for that year.

Annual tuition fees

The UK government has announced its intention to increase tuition fees from £9,535 to £9,790 for the 2026/27 academic year. We expect this to apply to new UK (home) undergraduate students starting their studies in September 2026.

UK (home) or international fees?

The level of fee that you will be asked to pay depends on whether you're classed as a UK (home) or international student. Check your fee status.

Fees for subsequent years

• UK (home) fees may increase within the government fee cap in subsequent academic years. We will notify you of any increase as soon as we can.
• International fees are subject to increase in subsequent years in line with the prevailing Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation rate (up to a maximum of 10%).

More information

For more information about tuition fees, any reduced fees for study abroad and work placement years, scholarships, tuition fee loans, maintenance loans and living costs see undergraduate fees and funding.

Additional costs

Set texts are available from the Library or online, but you may wish to buy your own copy for some modules. These typically cost between £10 and £30. For ab-initio languages you may need to buy books with a total cost of £50 to £60. Second hand books are often available more cheaply.

Funding

We'll confirm more funding opportunities for students joining us in 2026/27 throughout the year.

• UK government loans
• UK scholarships and bursaries
• International scholarships
• Country-specific funding
• US loans

Departmental funding

Find out more about funding specific to Languages and Linguistics.

Teaching and assessment

You’ll study and learn with academics who are active researchers, experts in their field and have a passion for their subjects. Our approach to teaching will provide you with the knowledge, opportunities, and support you need to grow and succeed in a global workplace. Find out more about our approach to teaching and learning.

Teaching format

We offer you extra study support in several ways. Our Peer Assisted Learning programme gives you the opportunity to work with other students.

Italian and Spanish

Our focus at York is on effective communication in Italian and Spanish. That is why:

• we are unique in teaching our core modules in their language of study
• we teach mainly in small seminars
• classroom interactions and assessments are in Italian and Spanish
• we emphasise issues of cultures and society, allowing you to develop a high level of transcultural awareness to underpin your language skills
• many of our staff are native-speakers of the languages we teach

Contact hours

In the first year of the degree, you will typically have 11 hours of contact time per week per semester, most of which is organised as seminars or workshops. Contact hours in the second and final year can vary depending on individual module choices.

In the UK, full-time students are expected to spend 1,200 hours a year learning. That's about 40 hours of classes and independent study each week during semesters. Everyone learns at a different rate, so the number of hours you spend on independent study will be different to other students on your course.

Facilities

We have our own e-Lab for teaching. Here, you'll have access to a variety of resources, including specialist linguistics software and online language-learning materials.

Teaching location

You will be based in the Language and Linguistic Science buildings on Campus West.

About our campus

Our beautiful green campus offers a student-friendly setting in which to live and study, within easy reach of the action in the city centre. It's easy to get around - everything is within walking or pedalling distance, or you can use the fast and frequent bus service. Take a campus tour.

Assessment and feedback

You'll be assessed in a variety of ways, including essays, projects, written, oral and listening exams. Assessments include formative work which will help you practice or develop skills, but will not count towards your final degree mark. 

Instructors provide you with feedback in a variety of forms, for example: written feedback, in-class discussion of common problems, model answers, one-on-one discussion of research projects, or online responses to questions posted on the module discussion board.

Your year abroad is assessed. All students must complete two assessments in their language of study. If you are studying at a university, you must attend courses and sit the exams. If you are on a work or teaching placement, you must satisfactorily complete the duties set out in the placement agreement. However, your marks on the year abroad assessments do not contribute towards your overall degree mark.

Disability information

We can make reasonable adjustments to assessment procedures for students with disabilities. However, if you have dyslexia please note that it is not possible to make adjustments in the marking of work written in a closed language exam. This is because accurate spelling is one of the assessment objectives for language exams. Closed exams make up only a proportion of the assessment types used for languages. There are other assessment types such as coursework and oral presentations which are also used. As a student with dyslexia you could apply for extra time in closed exams, if this would be of assistance. See the University's disability support pages for further details.

Entry requirements

Additional requirements

You can only take the Italian language part of this programme ab initio (from scratch, or with a qualification at AS level or below). It is not suitable for those who already have an A level in this language.

Our language programmes are designed to develop fluency. For this reason we do not normally offer places to native or near-native speakers who wish to study their own language.

Alternative offers

Meeting the following additional criteria may qualify you for an alternative offer.

English language

If English isn't your first language you may need to provide evidence of your English language ability. We accept the following qualifications:

For more information see our undergraduate English language requirements.