Liberal Arts

The world’s most pressing challenges require creative thinkers. With a Liberal Arts degree from Birmingham, you’ll forge connections between the social sciences, arts, humanities, and law, tackling contemporary issues by thinking outside the box. Let your passion take the lead as you explore our diverse range of disciplines, gaining expertise and transferable skills in the subjects that interest you most.

BA Liberal Arts empowers you to shape your degree, transforming your curiosity into expertise and your interests into your career. You’ll craft a programme unique to you and develop the interdisciplinary skills needed to make real-world impact throughout your degree and beyond.

The flexibility of a BA Liberal Arts allows you to immerse yourself in combinations of disciplines curated by you. How can international law inform the future of the music industry? How does an understanding of social policy enrich careers in creative writing? Reaching across the arts, humanities, social sciences, and law, you'll join the next generation of arts and humanities graduates using their unique interdisciplinary perspectives to tackle the world’s wicked problems.

Our core modules invite you to search for creative answers; encourage you to connect with community; and embolden you to make an impact. Degree flexibility is enhanced by a dedicated 80-100 credits per year for optional modules, hand-picked by you to explore your interests across the social sciences, arts, humanities and law. You will take modules from across disciplines and have the core modules as a space to explore the connections between disciplinary norms and traditions. Through it all, you'll develop a range of skills and perspectives on the programme crucial to gaining success in a dynamic future employment market.

Want more opportunities to study science disciplines alongside the arts and humanities? Check out our BASc Arts and Sciences. Or, are you solely science-focused? Explore our BSc Natural Sciences.

Why study this course?

A Liberal Arts degree is right for you if you want to...

Break down barriers - Liberal Arts is guided by an innovative, student-focused approach. You’ll have the freedom to explore across the arts, humanities, law, and social science disciplines at a world top 100 university.

Prepare for an uncharted future - Our programme will equip you with skills across disciplines making you a resilient, adaptable, and creative thinker, ready to thrive in any professional setting.

Access unique resources and support - Birmingham will help you improve your academic writing, and offers student forums, alumni networking events and wellbeing activities throughout the year. We have excellent library facilities, including the Cadbury Research Library which is home to the University of Birmingham’s historic collections of rare books, manuscripts, archives, photographs, and associated artefacts.

Connect with community and industry - Our extensive links with community and industry provide invaluable real-world experience. Engage in credit-bearing initiatives or opt for year-long experiences where you'll tackle real-world challenges and seize opportunities head-on.

Make the second city your second home - Birmingham is home to internationally leading museums, galleries, and cultural events. You’ll be front and centre to experience the city’s numerous literature and theatre festivals, exciting arts scene, and more.

Join a vibrant community - Birmingham is where collaboration flourishes. Our dedicated liberal arts spaces foster a unique connection among world leading scholars, likeminded students, and dedicated support staff, nurturing a thriving academic environment.

#1 UK university targeted by the country’s leading graduate employers (2024 High Fliers report)

250+ destinations to consider for your Year Abroad

First-year modules cover a broad base of the subject and are designed to introduce you to ways of studying at university. By the final year the modules you take will become more specialised and reflect the research expertise of the academic staff. More detailed module information can be found on the ‘Course detail’ tab on the University of Birmingham’s coursefinder web pages.