University of Wales Trinity Saint David
College Road
Carmarthen
SA31 3EP
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Course contact details
Admissions Office
Email:admissions@uwtsd.ac.uk
Phone:0300 500 5054
Liberal Arts with Distance Foundation Year
- BA (Hons)
- 4 Years
- Distance learning (full-time)
- 1 October 2025
- Undergraduate
- Online
- Awarded by:
- University of Wales Trinity Saint David (Prifysgol Cymru Y Drindod Dewi Sant)
Course summary
The Liberal Arts with Foundation Year degree at UWTSD is designed for students seeking a flexible degree that puts their own personal interests at the heart of their studies. This unique programme encourages you to explore and combine ideas across subjects, building a degree that’s as distinctive as you are. From day one, you’ll have guidance from a personal tutor who helps you choose the right modules to reflect your ambitions and curiosity.
The Distance Foundation Year equips students with essential skills and foundational knowledge for success in the Liberal Arts degree, all while offering the flexibility of remote study. Through modules focused on academic writing, language and culture, and key humanities concepts, students gain confidence in vital areas, ensuring a smooth transition into university life and a solid academic base for their degree.
Liberal Arts is based on interdisciplinary learning, which means you’re not limited to one field. You can select from a broad range of topics across Humanities, Arts and Humanities, and Social Sciences. This bespoke degree approach allows you to cross traditional subject boundaries, so whether you’re interested in history, literature, philosophy, or more, you can create a programme that fits your academic goals. By studying these diverse subjects, you’ll gain global perspectives and develop skills that will be valuable wherever your career takes you.
The degree focuses on building employability skills and real-world impact. Through coursework, projects, and assessments, you’ll strengthen your communication skills and critical thinking. The course encourages creative thinking, so you’re not only learning facts but are also learning how to see and solve complex issues from new angles. Employers in today’s world value graduates who can think across disciplines and bring fresh insights to their work.
At UWTSD, every year of your degree can look different, with options to adapt your module choices as your interests evolve. With a curriculum that offers extensive choice across all humanities subjects, you’ll have the freedom to shape a degree that prepares you for a variety of paths, whether in further study, professional roles, or creative industries.
This programme is ideal if you want the freedom to explore a range of topics while developing the essential skills you’ll need for future success.
Modules
Foundation Year
Compulsory
Academic Skills (20 credits)
The Humanities (20 credits)
Writing for University (20 credits)
Knowledge and Belief (20 credits)
People across time (20 credits)
Language and Culture (20 credits)
Year 2
Compulsory
Exploring the Humanities (20 credits)
Optional - Any 5 x 20 credit modules from across the offer
The Modern World (20 credits)
Hieroglyphs 1 (20 credits)
Into the Field (20 credits)
Death, Burial and the Afterlife (20 credits)
Myths and Mythology: How Stories Shape the World (20 credits)
From Egypt to the Near East: phenomena of the Mediterranean (20 credits)
An Introduction to Ethics (20 credits)
Ancient Philosophy (20 credits)
Crusading in the Middle Ages (20 credits)
Doing History: Past in Practice (20 credits)
Everyday Life in Athens and Rome (20 credits)
Historicising Texts (20 credits)
Introduction to the Craft of Writing (20 credits)
Popular Fiction (20 credits)
The Medieval World (20 credits)
The Study of Literature: Text and Theory (20 credits)
What makes civilisation? (20 credits)
Introduction to Archaeology (20 credits)
Anthropology Today (20 credits)
Approaches to form (20 credits)
Doing Archaeology: The Past in Practice (20 credits)
People's Worlds: Interaction with the Environment (20 credits)
Hieroglyphs 2 (20 credits)
Year 3
Optional - Any 6 x 20 credit modules from across the offer
Ancestors, Death and Burial (20 credits)
Armies and Navies: Studies in Ancient Warfare (20 credits)
The Life and Times of Caesar and Cicero (20 credits)
Hieroglyphs 1 (20 credits)
Thinking With Things (20 credits)
Activism, Protest and Campaigning for Global Justice (20 credits)
Family, Gender and Sexuality (20 credits)
Animals in Archaeology (20 credits)
Excavation and Fieldwork (20 credits)
(Re)presenting and (Re)constructing the Past (20 credits)
Celtic Sanctity and Spirituality: Hagiography and Saints' Cults (20 credits)
Error and Sweet Violence: Shakespeare and Renaissance Comedy and Tragedy (20 credits)
Greek 1 (20 credits)
Please refer to the UWTSD course web page for a full list of module options.
Year 4
Compulsory
Independent Project (40 credits)
Optional - Any 4 x 20 credit modules from across the offer
Celtic Sanctity and Spirituality: Hagiography and Saints' Cults (20 credits)
Error and Sweet Violence: Shakespeare and Renaissance Comedy and Tragedy (20 credits)
Difficult Heritage/ Dark Tourism (20 credits)
Identity and Myth: The Normans and their World (20 credits)
Medicine and Miracles: Health, Illness, and Cure (20 credits)
The Irish Question 1886-1998: from Charles Parnell to the Good Friday Agreement (20 credits)
From Desert Myths to Sheep Tales: The Cistercians in the Middle Ages (20 credits)
Free-Market Environmentalism, Big Business and Global Politics (20 credits)
Ancient Lives in Death (20 credits)
Britain and the Great War (20 credits)
Classical Mythology and Legends in Roman and Medieval Times (20 credits)
Cold war, hot wars. Global perspectives on post-war history (20 credits)
Entanglements: Exploring Interactions between the Aegean and the Near East (20 credits)
Exhibiting the Past: Ancient Egypt, death and modern representation (20 credits)
Green to the very door: Ecocriticism and Romanticism (20 credits)
Gwlad, gwlad: Aspects of Welsh History 1200 to the present (20 credits)
Heritage & Archaeology of Conflict (20 credits)
Households in the ancient world (20 credits)
Please refer to the UWTSD course web page for a full list of module options.
Assessment method
The programme is assessed in a variety of ways and will include several of the following type of assessment: essays of 1,000 to 4,000 words in length, document analysis, book/ journal reviews, short reports and reflective journals, time tests, seen and unseen exams, field journals, posters, group and individual presentations, dissertations of 10,000 words, wikis, commentaries and film evaluations.
Qualified teacher status (QTS)
To work as a teacher at a state school in England or Wales, you will need to achieve qualified teacher status (QTS). This is offered on this course for the following level:
- Course does not award QTS
How to apply
Apply by
29 January
This is the deadline for applications to be completed and sent for this course. If the university or college still has places available you can apply after this date, but your application is not guaranteed to be considered.
Application codes
- Course code:
- LAFD
- Institution code:
- T80
- Campus name:
- Online
- Campus Code:
- O
Points of entry
The following entry points are available for this course:
- Foundation
International applicants
Visa and funding requirements
If you are not from the UK and you do not already have residency here, you may need to apply for a visa.
For courses of more than six months’ duration you will require a Student visa.
International students who require a Student visa should apply for our full-time courses as these qualify for Student visa sponsorship.
For full information read our visa application and guides.
Please note students receiving US Federal Aid are only able to apply for in-person, on-campus programmes which will have no elements of online study.
Entry requirements
UCAS Tariff 96 - 112 points
Grades are important; however, our offers are not solely based on academic results. We are interested in creative people that demonstrate a strong commitment to their chosen subject area and therefore we welcome applications from individuals from a wide range of backgrounds.
To assess student suitability for their chosen course we normally arrange interviews for all applicants at which your skills, achievements and life experience will be considered as well as your qualifications.
Additional entry requirements
- Interview
English language requirements
If English is not your first language or you have not previously studied in English, our usual requirement is the equivalent of an International English Language Testing System (IELTS Academic Test) score of 6.0, with not less than 5.5 in each of the sub-tests. We also accept other English language tests.
Acceptable Evidence of English https://www.uwtsd.ac.uk/apply/international-applications/english-language-requirements
Contextual admissions
Universities and colleges consider more than grades when assessing applications and may make offers based on a range of criteria. Learn more about contextual offers.
We may make you a lower offer based on a range of factors, such as your background, experiences and individual circumstances. This is known as ‘Contextual Admissions’. For specific advice and support you can contact our enquiries team for more information about entry requirements.
Learn more on the University of Wales Trinity Saint David website
Historical entry grades data
This section shows the range of grades students (with UK A-Levels or Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diplomas) who received offers were previously accepted with (learn more). It is designed to support your research but does not guarantee whether you will or won't get a place. Admissions teams consider various factors, including interviews, subject requirements, and entrance tests. Check all course entry requirements for eligibility.
Not enough data available
We are unable to show previous accepted grades for this course. This could be because the course is new, it's a postgraduate course, there isn't enough historical data, or the provider has opted out of sharing their entry grades data for this course - learn more.
Fees and funding
Tuition fees
Per year tuition fees
| Location | Fee | Year |
|---|
Tuition fee status depends on a number of criteria and varies according to where in the UK you will study. For further guidance on the criteria for home or overseas tuition fees, please refer to the UKCISA website.
Additional fee information
The Faculty has estimated on the assumption that students buy new copies of the books. Students may also choose to spend money on printing drafts of work.
Students may spend up to £300 per year on books and additional related materials.
Students are expected to submit two hard copies of their final project, the estimated cost for binding these is £20.
Optional Field trip:
The faculty works to ensure that there are a range of fieldwork and field trip options available both locally and internationally. Thus students can opt to take either more expensive or less expensive placements. The Faculty subsidises these but the cost each year is dependent on airfare, location, and currency exchange rates. Below are the upper end of expected costs based on where students have currently done placements.
Fieldwork (depending on where a student decides to do fieldwork): c. £500 - £1,500
Individual trips: c. £5 - £50
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