Modern Languages degree for my BBB/BBC DC

[BigVaseofTulips]

where would people recommend. Leicester is the aspirational one (say ABB but clearing suggest they take lower). What about Aber, Swansea, Surrey, Ox Brooke’s, Sheffield Hallam?

@Delphigirl thanks for this - I thought so too but apparently no direct trains to Oxford now. You have to change at Didcot. DD checked today and was also told (PM’d someone on TSR) that it has hugely affected take-up of UOTC at Reading? I don’t know if this is a temporary thing though and trains will be restored - will have to get her to check with National Rail

I'm just trying to be helpful tbh. Both of mine have been and gone to uni!

Thank you. This is my first DC going to uni and I find it a bit bewildering 🙂

Oh, it's like a maze with Fort Knox at the end !

excellent points. Thanks! Will get DD to contact National Rail to see if the Didcot thing is temporary. She did like look of Reading campus (from TikTok & YouTube research!). Also, lots of Reading degrees have placement years I think so it would make it much easier to slot back in after year abroad….

That’s only very temporary, they are replacing a railway bridge. It will all be sorted in a few months.

@Delphigirl oh that’s fantastic. Will definitely visit Reading then! Thank you so much

Another one to look at which I don't think has been mentioned is Chester. My DS is at Lancaster now doing an MFL but Chester was his insurance choice - having done many many online open days. We were impressed by the staff there. Their offer was something like BBC. It's a lovely town and from a friend I know the uni has good pastoral care.

OMG I had no idea that Chester had a uni let alone did MfL. Just looked quickly at the course and will get DD to as well. Thank you! Is your DS enjoying Lancaster?

I'd look at Bath too - it's a more modern course - think politics and economics as opposed to the mainly literature-based courses at say Bristol and Durham. Lovely small campus Uni and they do ab-initio Italian which is great - think of the year abroad! I did my Masters at UCLAN and PGCE at Leicester but would totally go for Bath. I also know the Head of Languages at Bristol as she was at Bath with me. I'll let her know about this thread as she might want to contribute.

Should have mentioned - I did French and German A-Level then started Italian at Bath. It went really well with the French. Bath lower your offer after interview if they like you, so don't be put off by that.

@mflmum thanks for your post! Love Bath’s course but they want AAB - DD predicted BBB so just too much of a stretch. Btw, there are no interviews for MFL degrees nowadays other than Oxbridge though. We have ruled Bristol out as just too expensive for accommodation - we can only afford to top up DD to maximum loan and that will leave her with v little to live on after rent.

Ah you're welcome. As an aside, most of us who did pure MFL degrees wished we'd done a single language plus eg management or another subject, as it's very hard to access the jobs market with just languages alone. Unless you want to be a translator/ interpreter/ teacher. Maybe worth considering. Best of luck to your DD and hope she finds the right place!

@mflmum my DC’s teachers this year have advised the same - combine a language with another subject (business, IR, economics). Thing is my DC is a linguist and not interested in anything else

Thing is my DC is a linguist and not interested in anything else

What kind of work is your DC hoping to do after graduation? Do they have an EU passport?

i know someone who did languages at Portsmouth as it is more practical and less literature based. She loved it and has used it all her life. Grades are similar to what your DD would have

@Namingchangeagain I wouldn't over worry about your DD doing two languages - plenty do then go and work in other fields. As @MFLMum says there may be limited opportunities directly using their languages. I may be biased - DD about to start a dual languages degree! She loves languages including the literature.

The same argument could be applied to studying History or English Lit - lots of peopled do humanities at Uni but go onto work successfully in other fields. I've not heard of many teachers saying read History and Business, not just History.

Of course a language plus Business / Politics / Management / Law can also be a successful combination too; horses for courses. A friend's DS read Spanish and Business and has just graduated from Northumbria and got a good graduate position in Business so says joint honours worth considering if of interest but it wasn't to my DD.

Luckily lots of great course combinations out there.

I think OP's DD is looking at going straight into the Army / Uniformed Services so they are probably okay anyway as it seems the requirement is simply a 2.1.

Manchester interview for MFL but it’s nothing like Oxbridge, more like a 25 mins chat.

Good luck to your DD on her application, lots of great advice here from posters with options.

DS loves Lancaster. It's a great uni.

Manchester sometimes drop a grade after the MFL interview if they like the cut of your gib. They didn't like the cut of DS's at all though, as they left the grades the same (ABB) and spent a chunk of his interview (done by German department) telling him that if he didn't do well enough in his ab initio language (Japanese) in the first year they make people take South East Asian Studies instead. He didn't fancy that at all so rejected Manchester, which had been one of his favourites.

One of my students 'went' (virtually) to a Manchester interview which no one except him attended! After waiting most patiently , he gave up. And yet he still got a reduced offer...

@BigVaseofTulips You do realise that not all accommodation in Bristol is expensive. It’s very area dependent. There really are people there who manage on max loan or equivalent. As their offer might well be generous, I really would consider it as they do have lots of students who make the most of their MFL degrees. Very few use them directly.

When my DD did her MFL degree, she never popped over to anywhere. As you do a year abroad, no one seemed to do that in term time. Ease of travel abroad is not a great reason to choose a university. Also you don’t need a placement year as well as the year abroad. MFL is best seen as a 4 year academic degree. Not a vocational one. These days translation is by computer. The best thing to do is work in her holidays. She might get work abroad in y3, but that is becoming difficult due to visa requirements. A better bet is a good university exchange.

My DD found Bristol grads were ambitious and DD was the same. She converted to Law but employers do want to see degree plus. So if you are ruling out the best places due to perceived cost, it’s a mistake. She can work for a bit. There are opportunities in Bristol and presumably at home. I guess the army won’t care too much about the degree, but if she changes her mind, other employers might.

Oh God - they obviously hated my ds then 😂

Dd1 had her interview at Manchester cancelled at the last minute, then they dappeared and after chasing several times over a period of 2 months they just offered standard grades with no reduction.

Also they left it so late that she missed the offer holder day. We did call and they said there.were no other options.

Do have a look at Portsmouth, they have an Applied Languages degree where you can combine advanced French with beginner German, entry BBB-BBC.

https://www.port.ac.uk/study/courses/undergraduate/ba-hons-applied-languages

@EversoDisorganised thanks for the link. This applied languages course actually looks really interesting - DD likes the vocational bent towards (in her case) either business and industry or teaching and education (more options I’d she doesn’t want to go into army or police in 4 years’ time!). She/we didn’t realise there were applied languages degrees tbh. Thanks again - it is certainly food for thought