Oxford v Cambridge for MFL

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DD is thinking about applying for Spanish and Portuguese (this is for next year).

The impression we've got from the information online is that both universities set the language within the culture but at Oxford there's more emphasis on literature (especially for those taking two languages) while at Cambridge the approach is a bit broader (literature, history, film, politics etc).

I wondered whether anyone had any input as to whether this is right? DD would definitely prefer the broader approach. Also very interested in recommendations for where else she might apply for this combination.

Thank you!

Yes, that's my understanding too. DS is considering applying to Cambridge, mostly for that reason. He's not wild about literature, and much more interested in history, politics etc - as well as a bit of linguistics.
And we're just beginning to trawl through other courses, so I'm afraid I can't help there - but I'd be interested to know too!
He doesn't want a huge city, and wants to be able to sing (choral), so will probably look at Durham, York, Exeter - and he fancies Edinburgh or St A's too...
One thing I do know is that Lancaster and Southampton seem to want 2 languages at A level - which may not affect you, but does us!

Thanks for the reply.

DD only has one language A level as well so that's a good tip, thanks. She's also doing maths and philosophy which I understand might be useful for courses with an element of linguistics (or at least a lot of linguistics degrees I've seen seem to suggest they're good A levels to have).

Do yo know much about the written assessment? We looked into the Oxford process and that sounded great as the LAT was right up DD's street (she hasn't studied Portuguese before) but I'm not sure whether there is a Cambridge equivalent.

DS knows more abut this than I do, but yes - I think there's a written assessment element as part of the interview - although this may vary slightly between colleges, I think?
I found this on the faculty website: Most applicants are required to take a written admission assessments. For some assessments you’ll need to ensure you are registered in advance via an authorised assessment centre, whereas for others this will be organised by your chosen Cambridge College, if you’re shortlisted for interview. Some applicants will also be asked to submit examples of their written work. You can find more information about admission assessments, including examples of specimen papers, on our course pages.

Re other universities offering Spanish and Portuguese I would suggest looking at Edinburgh.

I think Bristol does too.

Looking at the web sites re Oxbridge admissions, Cambridge has a very good success rate but asks for higher entry grades. Is the Portuguese ab initio or is DC already fluent in it?

Both KCL and UCL offer Spanish and Portuguese together. No good if one definitely doesn't want a London university, of course.

Actually, looking again, lots of universities do - with e.g. Leeds and Essex offering the languages as a package with Latin American (Leeds) or Brazilian (Essex) Studies.

Oxbridge or Essex? That could be a tough choice.

Other unis that offer Spanish and Portuguese are Bristol, Newcastle, Birmingham, Liverpool. Some call it Hispanic Studies, some you can do Catalan and Basque as well as Portuguese and Spanish.

Which are the best non-Oxbridge universities for MFL?

Oxford MFL makes me think of Eve Bennett

@Thedogisdrivingmemad
DD liked Bristol. She has friends who did MFL at Durham, Kings London and Warwick. Bigger MFL departments with lots of languages feel more vibrant. However what’s “best” is difficult to judge. Often “best” might be breadth of options, or in depth literature studies, or “best” links with universities abroad, or highest entry tariffs, or best job outcomes. One thing about MFL seems to be that it’s the transferable skills that count as so many students don’t use their languages for work. So it’s thinking skills and how you learn, not necessarily what you have studied.

That's really useful - thank you.
Dc has most of those on his shortlist, minus London but plus St Andrews which seems to have a nicely broad course and decent reputation for languages.
I guess a broad course would be preferable for transferable skills?

Back in the dark ages (aka 25 years ago) I did French & Italian at Cambridge. Loved the university, but would much rather have gone to Durham for the course. Cambridge was hugely literature-heavy with minimal linguistics options, and no history/politics.

I'm sure it's changed a lot over the last 25 years, but I'd really encourage your DD to look at what the courses offer, and what's best for her. I don't regret Cambridge for a second, I had an amazing time, have great friends and a DH as a result. But it wasn't the best course for me. I knew that going in, and decided I wanted the whole Cambridge experience, but that won't be right for everyone, and she shouldn't feel obligated to choose it.

@Thedogisdrivingmemad

Which are the best non-Oxbridge universities for MFL?

DD went to York. She graduated in 2020 and now works for the EU as a translator. She’s just coming to the end of a course in conference translating and is getting each of her languages accredited.

Oh, and I'm an accountant now, and Cambridge definitely helped with that career path, even if the languages degree was largely irrelevant!

I had no idea that I'd take this route on starting uni though, so again, wouldn't make it the main driver. I'd go for three/four years in an atmosphere that suits you, with a course you find interesting. Sometimes one takes priority over the other, but that's a very individual choice with no right answer.

I did MFL at both! Although obviously only undergrad at one of them (Cambridge). I didn’t do either of your DD’s languages but the course structure was the same for both of mine so I assume it would be the same for those as well. In the first year we had no choice of modules and did literature from several periods, film, history and thought. Then from the second year onwards all of the non-language stuff was optional - I chose literature modules but had friends who ditched literature entirely. You can also choose certain extra languages as a module in 2nd & 4th year, so she could do Catalan. You can also ‘borrow’ modules from other courses like classics, English, history etc.

For Cambridge entry there is a written test which you do on the day of the interview - it’s writing a short piece (circa 250 words iirc) on a given topic in one of your languages, nothing too challenging. Since your DD is doing Portuguese ab initio, it would be in Spanish.

I don’t know too much about the undergrad course at Oxford but I have to say I didn’t enjoy my time there as much. I think it’s not as nice of a city, there’s less green space and the river isn’t as central.

@Thedogisdrivingmemad
As you can see, work is diverse after a MFL degree. I don’t believe many want to translate. Many more look for jobs in business/government of one sort or another. The DS of a good friend of mine is a highly paid city solicitor and DD is a barrister. Other MFL grads we know of teach/lecture, work for a think rank, are in the Civil Service (FO and a natiional security role), and others work in HR and other business roles. I would think a couple of these knew what they might do pre MFL degree. The teachers come from teaching families! Others, including several of DDs friends who are Barristers with MFL degrees, didn’t know exactly what they wanted but all went to top flight universities.

The great thing about MFL is that you can use the degree and/or use the skills you gain from it. Your personal skills are what will matter in the end though. The world of work doesn’t have to be based on the degree at all. However go to the best university you can with a course that suits you. Oxford is more literature heavy than Cambridge. Other universities have many interesting options. Do what you want but don’t expect employers to care about the exact content of your degree. They do like your coping skills on the year abroad but your knowledge of Dante won’t be very relevant. Your analytical skills, how you think and whether you can pass selection tests are far more important.

I have been vaguely involved in grad recruitment when working as a professional in the City so I'm comfortable that there are plenty of opportunities out there but I did wonder about the difference between literature heavy vs more broad language degrees. In my day, we only really looked at the person's A levels, which university they went to and whether the course was vaguely useful. No delving into which modules or the focus but this was decades ago!

Dc is not looking to be a translator and the plan would be law, FO and then having teaching as an option if a career change appealed at some stage.

They just love languages so that's the draw and I think they would enjoy a mix of politics, history culture, literature and of course language modules ideally.

Sheffield have a BA Mod Lang in which you can do Spanish and Portuguese (or even Luxembourgish).

DD1 wants to do either English and Arabic, Politics and Arabic or Spanish and Arabic. We have looked briefly at Oxford, Leeds and Exeter. Leeds was the initial uni we looked at ( and we are going to an open day on the 25 June) as it does a great Eng Lit course with Arabic.

Oxford looks good too but DD is not sure as it is not that far from us ( an hour at the most) and she likes the idea of moving further away. I went to Leeds and really enjoyed it there but that was a long time ago!

Mizu, Arabic is also available at Manchester, St Andrews and Edinburgh. You’ll need to check the combination options, I don’t have the English combos; my DD is intending to do Spanish and Arabic from this autumn. Durham’s programme looks good, changing to be more progressive to meet today’s needs. The final suggestion, should a different cost model be viable, is Ireland. Trinity College Dublin have great English and Arabic programmes that you can do either as joint honours, or choose a multidisciplinary programme that integrates language and politics, lit, history, culture etc into either a 4 year TCD with year abroad, or dual BA with Columbia US (2 years at each).

Thanks ealingwestmum always good to look at more options.

She did look at Manchester when she was just considering English and Arabic but was put off as the course is English Language and Arabic but now she's considering other options.......

Totally understand that. We’re gone round many times, they mature more through A level years, definitely wise to check course detail, internship year abroad options that suit their interests. If unis have talk to a student functionality, it’s worth your DD finding the English/language ones, getting more insight beyond the open days.