Particularly fantastic less-conventional undergrad degree courses

[Delphigirl]

I would be really interested in hearing what people think are really interesting and perhaps less considered degree courses available to undergrads at UK universities. I don’t really mean a list of unis that people thinks are great for chemistry, but rather those slightly niche courses run in fantastic departments that maybe people don’t generally know even exist, or in any event are outside the usual A level departments.

So I’m thinking of, for example, War Studies at Kings College London - internationally renowned, different to what you might think of from the name, highly attractive to employers.
I would add Landscape Architecture at Sheffield - the best course in the UK, probably in Europe, a jewel of a department with fabulous teaching and cameraderie, extremely high employment rates, probably not thought about by kids who re attracted by architecture but arguably can lead to a better paid and more fulfilling career.
Also Oceanography at Southampton - world-leading and world-respected, broad ranging multidisciplinary science/geography/ and environmental degree leading to a number of different careers, becoming more topical by the day re climate change.

Or

I’m sure there are lots of others - what degrees/departments can you recommend which are out of the ordinary run of things, for our kids to think about? Particularly hearing from employers who hire out of particular courses - what makes those kids so employable?

I don’t think that’s the case for everyone on that course. DD looked at it very closely. They was some years ago now but at that time 3/4 of the students plus were from EU and multilingual. You could choose one MFL but there seemed to be an assumption that lots of applicants were from the EU. DD couldn’t have gone to SP I. Year1. It’s possibly now a different course but few British students could access the French learning in y1.

Looking at the current setup of the course, the only Sciences Po campus where the only language of instruction is French is Paris and the minimum level of competence required is C1. No prior knowledge of the two language majprs available at that campus is required, as they are both taught ab initio.

English is an option at all the others where the course is offered.

www.ucl.ac.uk/european-international-social-political-studies/sites/european_international_social_political_studies/files/sciences_po-ucl_language_requirements.pdf

I also quite fancy a course in building conservation - York and Portsmouth offer post grad degrees - or some of the hands on skills at West Dean College.

West Dean has some great on-line and residential short courses if you fancy learning printmaking, tapestry weaving, silver smithing, ceramics, basket making, black smithing, bookbinding and loads more.

www.westdean.org.uk/study/short-courses/courses?type=short&category=

All the computer games design-type courses at Abertay (there's a suite of them, with slightly different art vs tech vs programming slants, which many students move between).

Mind you, not everyone completes their courses there, as they also have excellent support for students who develop something with commercial potential and end up taking time out from their course to set up companies and develop their games for the market....

www.abertay.ac.uk/schools/school-of-design-and-informatics/computer-games-courses/

Yes - Abertay looks great (& I see they won best in Europe for video games recently). It's just a bit too far away (expense as much as distance) for us, plus they require Maths A level for the course DS wants. We are looking at Staffs and Teesside which also have a good reputation in this area & full on games geek culture.

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@Orangesandlemons77

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A PhD in Cloaking Technology?

In the 90s I had an offer to do a BA in Architectural Stained Glass at Swansea College of Art. Pretty niche. Just had a look and it still exists. Ended up doing Jewellery Design elsewhere instead.

These are going up in the Sixth Form, thanks for the thread OP!

@GalacticDragonfly

I almost applied for Ergonomics at Loughborough. I’m not sure if it’s more widely offered now, but at the time that was the only place offering it. That was decades ago and I still wonder whether the course would have been as interesting as the description suggested.

I have an ergonomics postgrad degree from almost 20 yrs ago. It was really interesting and useful. I still rely on stuff I learnt there in my daily work (software design/service design)

Outing but I did Timber Technology at Buckinghamshire College. Amazing course, ahead of it’s time. Everything you want to know about trees, timber and wood. Field trips to Papua New Guinea and Canada and HMS Victory. Everyone came out and worked in the timber trade a few have their own import and export businesses.

BA Modelmaking at Arts University Bournemouth

Interesting, very varied, practical and a lovely passionate team of academics.

@AmperoBlue, did you go to the Plywood exhibition at the V&A a few years ago? Quite fascinating. I found myself looking at our collection pf dilapidated secondhand chairs with a new respect.

@MarchingFrogs Sadly no. Sounds amazing though.

[quote AmperoBlue]**@MarchingFrogs Sadly no. Sounds amazing though.[/quote]
www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/plywood-material-of-the-modern-world

Another of my favourites - what's not to like about a man who helped design a des res for penguins?
www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/engineering-the-world
(Apologies for the little side-track here).

Bumping for those Y12 mums.

What a brilliant thread! Thanks op!

Great thread. DD is looking at food technology, lots of diverse courses out there, difficult to know where to start, she’s only 15 so plenty of time to work it out I guess.

No idea why I didn't think about this one earlier but there is a well-renowned course in violin-making at Newark which is now accredited by Lincoln College. The guy who does our instrument repairs went there and one of DD1's friends went back in 2017. I think they do all sorts of other instruments too.

I've been discovering the amazing range if music degrees available. Royal Holloway does a briliant sounding Music for film and tv degree.

Not straight from school - but one of the London conservatoires (Guildhall) offers an MA in Opera Making and Writing, in association with the Royal Opera House. Only six students per year, and it’s a second Master’s for many successful applicants. Ferociously challenging course, I gather, and entrants are pretty much self selecting - they need a first degree in either composition or writing and / or (increasingly), considerable standing in their field before applying.

I have a DD doing joint honours Classical Civilisation with Mandarin Chinese.

There are lots of Film/Media composition degrees. Most music colleges worth their salt will have at least an option, with several allowing students to specialise. It's such a growing area.

Peace Studies University of Bradford. Fabulous!