What is a Bachelor’s degree?

A Bachelor’s or undergraduate degree is an academic qualification designed to aid students to gain insight into a subject. Degrees are either classified as Ordinary or Honours, and this difference can vary between colleges and universities. Typically an ‘ordinary’ degree (or ‘unclassified’) may be awarded if a student completed a full degree course, but didn’t obtain the total number of passes needed to obtain a third-class honours degree, or they failed and had to re-take a module/year.

There are different titles of degree that a student can obtain, such as Bachelor of Arts (BA), Bachelor of Science (BSc), Bachelor of Education (Bed), and Bachelor of Engineering (BEng).

How long does it take to complete Bachelor’s degree?
In most cases, a degree will take three years to complete, or less commonly, four. Degrees that take four years to complete tend to include a placement or work experience year. Degrees are able to be completed part-time, and this length varies depending on the university and contact hours etc. Whilst in Scotland, an ‘ordinary’ degree is usually a three-year full-time course, and an ‘honours’ degree is a four-year full-time course.

What subjects can I study as a Bachelor’s degree?
There are hundreds of different options for students at Bachelor’s degree course level, and many subjects can be combined together, such as Film and Media, or English and Creative Writing. Students can check what subjects they wish to study, including the list below:

Accounting and Banking degree
Architecture degree
Art degree
Business degree
Computing degree
• Construction degree
• Design degree
• Education degree
Engineering degree
• Environment degree
• Finance degree
Health and Social Care degree
Journalism degree
Languages degree
Law degree
• Media degree
Maths degree
Psychology degree
• Science degree
Social Sciences degree

What entry requirements do I need to study a Bachelor’s degree?
Most institutions require students to hold A-Levels as a pre-requisite for a degree course, the number of A-Levels and what grades needed is dependent on the course and the college or university. There will be many factors to a student being accepted onto a course, from admission tests and attending a university interview.

How do I apply to study a Bachelor’s degree?
Students can apply through UCAS if living and studying within the UK, or apply to the university directly if a mature student who is older than 21 years of age.

How are you assessed?
Depending on the practical elements included within the degree course, students will be assessed through written work, essays, coursework, projects, group work, presentations and examinations. Most degree courses require students to conduct a big project as part of their final year, either a dissertation, a research project or a final piece.

What can I do with a Bachelor’s degree?

An undergraduate degree is a great qualification allowing individuals to apply for graduate jobs and schemes, continue onto a postgraduate qualification or to apply for higher level jobs.

What is a Bachelor’s degrees equivalent to?

An undergraduate degree is a higher education qualification that doesn’t have any direct equivalent qualifications. It is higher than a Higher National Certificate and Diploma, Certificate of Higher Education, Diploma of Higher Education and a Foundation degree. If a student has any of the above qualifications they can then gain admission onto an undergraduate degree course.