Anthropology BSc

A Levels

UK applicants qualifications

For entry requirements with other UK qualifications accepted by UCL, choose your qualification from the list below:

International applications

In addition to A level and International Baccalaureate, UCL considers a wide range of international qualifications for entry to its undergraduate degree programmes.

Undergraduate Preparatory Certificates

UCL Undergraduate Preparatory Certificates (UPCs) are intensive one-year foundation courses for international students of high academic potential who are aiming to gain access to undergraduate degree programmes at UCL and other top UK universities.

Typical UPC students will be high achievers in a 12-year school system which does not meet the standard required for direct entry to UCL.

For more information see: ucl.ac.uk/upc.

English language requirements

If your education has not been conducted in the English language, you will be expected to demonstrate evidence of an adequate level of English proficiency. Information about the evidence required, acceptable qualifications and test providers can be found on our English language requirements page.

The English language level for this programme is: Good

A variety of English language programmes are offered at the UCL Centre for Languages & International Education.

• UCL Anthropology is one of the few departments in the country that combines social anthropology, biological anthropology, material culture and medical anthropology to give you a truly broad-based anthropology degree.

• You will also be studying at one of the world’s top universities for the subject (ranked 4th in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2020).

• During your studies you can learn practically by engaging with objects, photographs and films in the UCL Ethnography Collections, hominin and primate specimens in the Biological Anthropology Collection as well as writing for our in-house print magazine and student-run blog, the Anthropolitan.

• Your teaching will draw on our staff's cutting edge research, examining topics such as the cultural consequences of new digital media, social and environmental sustainability, how people and things interact on NASA space missions, and many more.

Subscribe to the StudyUCL YouTube channel to learn more about life and studying at UCL.

In each year of your degree you will take a number of individual modules, normally valued at 15 or 30 credits, adding up to a total of 120 credits for the year. Modules are assessed in the academic year in which they are taken. The balance of compulsory and optional modules varies from programme to programme and year to year. A 30-credit module is considered equivalent to 15 credits in the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS).

In the first year, you take compulsory modules covering the three branches of the programme; biological anthropology, social anthropology and material culture. Biological anthropology focuses on contemporary human-environment interactions and human evolution. Social anthropology explores social and cultural differences and their determinants, from indigenous groups to modern western economies. Material culture studies human, social and environmental relationships through the evidence of people's construction of their material world. Your first year also includes qualitative and quantitative methods training, and a three-day field trip to discover ethnographic research and participant observation in ritual, landscape, and techniques.

Your second year includes compulsory modules Anthropological Research Methods and Being Human, and you can select five optional modules. 

In the third year, you select five optional modules and complete an independent research project for your dissertation.

Upon successful completion of 360 credits, you will be awarded a BSc (Hons) in Anthropology.

Modules

Please note that the list of modules given here is indicative. This information is published a long time in advance of enrolment and module content and availability is subject to change.

The broad range of research methods skills and analytical perspectives offered by the UCL Anthropology programme gives our graduates an unusually wide range of career possibilities, many of them directly related to the discipline's cross-cultural focus and to our blending of the social and biological sciences.

Former graduates work in diverse fields, such as journalism, film-making, TV, law, museums, social work, international development, NGOs and the voluntary sector, police, probation, refugee work, user experience research, advertising, design, PR, marketing, music industry, accountancy, local government, HR, teaching, and as cultural advisors for multinationals.

To find out more about what you can do with an Anthropology degree, how we support you and hear directly from our graduates, check our Careers page on our website.

UCL is committed to helping you get the best start after graduation. Read more about how UCL Careers and UCL Innovation and Enterprise can help you find employment or learn about entrepreneurship.

Tuition fees

The fees indicated are for undergraduate entry in the 2022/23 academic year. The UK fees shown are for the first year of the programme at UCL only. Fees for future years may be subject to an inflationary increase. The Overseas fees shown are the fees that will be charged to 2022/23 entrants for each year of study on the programme, unless otherwise indicated below.

UK students

£9,250 (2022/23)

Overseas students

£29,400 (2022/23)

Full details of UCL's tuition fees, tuition fee policy and potential increases to fees can be found on the UCL Students website: ucl.ac.uk/prospective-students/undergraduate/funding-your-studies.

Additional costs

The optional module ‘ANTH0032 Atapuerca and Human Evolution in Europe’ includes fieldwork in Burgos, Spain; where students need an additional Visa to travel to Spain, its cost will be covered by the student.

A guide including rough estimates for these and other living expenses is included on the UCL Fees and funding pages. If you are concerned by potential additional costs for books, equipment, etc., please get in touch with the relevant departmental contact (details given on this page).

Funding

Various funding options are available, including student loans, scholarships and bursaries. UK students whose household income falls below a certain level may also be eligible for a non-repayable bursary or for certain scholarships. Please see the Fees and funding pages for more details.

Departmental scholarships

Funding opportunities relevant to the department may appear in this section when they are available. Please check carefully or confirm with the programme contact to ensure they apply to this degree programme.

The Scholarships and Funding website lists scholarships and funding schemes available to UCL students. These may be open to all students, or restricted to specific nationalities, regions or academic department.