Program Overview

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BA (Hons) British Sign Language (Deaf Studies)

Overview

The BA (Hons) British Sign Language (Deaf Studies) is a long-established and highly respected course with a team of Deaf and hearing staff from diverse backgrounds. It is one of the few courses of its kind in British Sign Language (Deaf Studies) in the UK.

Award

• BA (Hons)

Start Date

• 15 September 2025

UCAS Code

• Q160

Course Specifications

• View course spec

Course Length

• Part-time (6 years), Full-time (3 years)

Campus Location

• University: City Campus

School

• School of Social Science and Humanities

UCAS Points Calculator

• Open Points Calculator

Course Modules

Year 1

• British Sign Language 1
  • Module: 4DI001
  • Credits: 40
  • Period: 1
  • Type: Core
• British Sign Language 2
  • Module: 4DI004
  • Credits: 40
  • Period: 1
  • Type: Core
• Deaf History and Heritages
  • Module: 4DI003
  • Credits: 20
  • Period: 1
  • Type: Core
• Linguistics: British Sign Language
  • Module: 4DI002
  • Credits: 20
  • Period: 1
  • Type: Core

Year 2

• Deafblindness: Practical and Social Issues
  • Module: 5DI003
  • Credits: 20
  • Period: 2
  • Type: Core
• Engaging with Services
  • Module: 5DI005
  • Credits: 20
  • Period: 2
  • Type: Core
• Flourishing Deaf Lives
  • Module: 5DI002
  • Credits: 20
  • Period: 2
  • Type: Core
• Research methods
  • Module: 5SL009
  • Credits: 20
  • Period: 2
  • Type: Core
• British Sign Language 3
  • Module: 5DI001
  • Credits: 20
  • Period: 2
  • Type: Optional
• British Sign Language 4
  • Module: 5DI004
  • Credits: 40
  • Period: 2
  • Type: Optional
• Collaborative Professional Practice
  • Module: 5SN003
  • Credits: 20
  • Period: 2
  • Type: Optional
• Community Engagement and Social Change
  • Module: 5SA017
  • Credits: 20
  • Period: 2
  • Type: Optional
• Enabling Learning
  • Module: 5SN002
  • Credits: 20
  • Period: 2
  • Type: Optional
• Exclusion from School and Social Justice
  • Module: 5SN004
  • Credits: 20
  • Period: 2
  • Type: Optional
• Inclusion in the Early Years
  • Module: 5SN001
  • Credits: 20
  • Period: 2
  • Type: Optional
• Language and Society
  • Module: 5LN001
  • Credits: 20
  • Period: 2
  • Type: Optional
• Race, Empire and Modernity
  • Module: 5SL001
  • Credits: 20
  • Period: 2
  • Type: Optional
• Volunteering in Action
  • Module: 5SL008
  • Credits: 20
  • Period: 2
  • Type: Optional

Year 3

• Cultural Production by Deaf People and Deaf Communities
  • Module: 6DI001
  • Credits: 20
  • Period: 3
  • Type: Core
• Educating Deaf Children and Young People
  • Module: 6DI004
  • Credits: 20
  • Period: 3
  • Type: Core
• Independent Project in Deaf Studies
  • Module: 6DI007
  • Credits: 40
  • Period: 3
  • Type: Core
• Welfare and Campaigning by Deaf Communities
  • Module: 6DI005
  • Credits: 20
  • Period: 3
  • Type: Core
• Critical Issues in Inclusion
  • Module: 6SN008
  • Credits: 20
  • Period: 3
  • Type: Optional
• Language and the Mind
  • Module: 6LN005
  • Credits: 20
  • Period: 3
  • Type: Optional
• Language Variation and Change
  • Module: 6LN001
  • Credits: 20
  • Period: 3
  • Type: Optional

Potential Career Paths

Graduates have a range of career opportunities including teacher training, social work, mentoring and advocacy posts, inclusion managers and positions within support groups and charities related to Deafness and Disability. Alumni have gone onto lecturing posts, researcher roles and local authority positions relating to inclusion with many graduates completing PGCE. Others have completed Masters level degrees in a range of areas including speech and language therapy, audiology, cognition and deafness, social work and special needs.

Additional Information

• Everything you need to know about this course!

Why Wolverhampton?

• The BA (Hons) British Sign Language (Deaf Studies) is one of the few in the country.
• The course is taught by a well-established and long-standing team of deaf and hearing staff from diverse backgrounds, with many years of experience and well known within their field.
• Throughout the years, staff have been nominated for various awards in recognition of support for students and innovation in teaching.
• The course provides the opportunity to develop British Sign Language skills to an advanced level, as well as various routes to undertake modules in linguistics, sociology, social policy, special education needs related subjects.
• An opportunity to gain a recognised British Sign Language qualification.
• External examiners through the years have commented on the standard of support, teaching and learning, as well as the “excellent standard” of our work-based research module and the level of support from staff.

What Skills Will You Gain?

On successful completion of this course, you will be able to:

• Demonstrate the ability to process, analyse and evaluate concepts and theories related to deafness and deaf peoples' lives.
• Effectively communicate in British Sign Language (BSL) supported by theoretical knowledge of BSL and to understand a bilingual and bicultural approach towards Deaf communities.
• Work both co-operatively and independently whilst developing the expertise required to progress to related studies at postgraduate level, and the skills and knowledge necessary for successful employment.
• Reflect critically on their own value system and relate this to the construction of deafness, disability, and social diversity.
• Demonstrate the qualities and transferable skills necessary for employment requiring: The exercise of initiative and personal responsibility. Decision making in complex and unpredictable contexts. – Ongoing skills including IT and communication strategies

Course Fees and Finance

Location	Mode	Fee	Year
Home	Full-time	£9250 per year
Home	Full-time	£9535 per year
Home	Part-time	£4625 per year#
Home	Part-time	£4768 per year#
International	Full-time	£14950 per year
International	Full-time	£15995 per year

Entry Requirements

• Typical entry requirement: 96 UCAS points
• A Levels - grades CCC / BCD
• BTEC L3 Extended Diploma or OCR Cambridge L3 Technical Extended Diploma - grades MMM
• BTEC L3 Diploma - grades DD
• Access to HE Diploma (60 credits) of which a minimum of 45 must be at Level 3 (96 UCAS point equivalence, minimum 45 credits at merit)

Funding

• Tuition Fees Loan (Home Fee Status):
  • Most students will be able to apply for a loans to pay for these subject to eligibility. To find out more information please refer to the government Student Finance website.
• Changes for EU students:
  • The UK government has confirmed that EU students starting courses from 1 August 2021 will normally be classified as having Overseas Fee status. More information about the change is available at UKCISA:
• Self-funding:
  • If you don’t want to take out a loan to pay your fees or if you aren’t eligible to receive a loan, you might want to take advantage of the University’s scheme to pay by instalments: See How to pay.
• Your employer, embassy or organisation can pay for your Tuition fees:
  • If your employer, embassy or organisation agrees to pay all or part of your tuition fees; the University will refer to them as your sponsor and will invoice them for the appropriate amount.

Contact Us

• Telephone:
• Email:
• Online: Order a prospectus

How We Compare

• Find out how our course is rated on Discover Uni, the official website for comparing UK higher education courses

Full-time Course

• 86% say staff value students views and opinions about the course
• 100% of students say teaching staff have supported their learning well.
• 90% in work or doing further study 15 months after the course.

Part-time Course

• British Sign Language (Deaf Studies) at University of Wolverhampton
• To see official information about this course and others visit Discover Uni.