Italian and Hispanic Studies enables you to learn the languages and explore the culture of both the Spanish and Italian-speaking world.
Outside Spain, Spanish is the official language of all countries in South and Central America except Brazil, and is widely spoken in many parts of North America. Italy is a cornerstone of European culture, art and history, and Italian gives you the tools to explore this cultural richness.
Studying Hispanic Studies and Italian gives you the opportunity to become proficient in two major international languages, and complement your language learning with a broad understanding of history, literature and culture. Fluency in the these two languages, combined with knowledge of political and cultural developments in Spanish- and Italian-speaking countries, opens up international career opportunities.
As well as developing your language skills, you also take modules that focus on areas of literature and culture. Currently, we offer modules covering cinema, literature, and visual culture, as well as more general options on the history and politics of the Spanish- and Italian-speaking world.
A number of our staff are native speakers and our facilities include multimedia laboratories, which offer a variety of interactive language learning programmes and dictionaries, and access to audio, video and computer-assisted language learning.
You also have the opportunity to take part in a mentoring scheme for secondary school pupils. By helping them to increase their ability to speak, read and write fluently in a foreign language, you will gain valuable work experience for future careers in education or leadership roles in any field.
Studying at our Canterbury campus gives you a fantastic opportunity to immerse yourself in both languages. There is a large community of Italian and Spanish-speaking students on campus, and our proximity to airports, the Channel ports and the Eurostar terminals at Ashford and Ebbsfleet make it quick and easy to get to mainland Europe.
You are required to spend a year working or studying abroad between your second and final year of study. In previous years, students have studied at our partner institutions in a country appropriate to their programme of study (for Italian and Hispanic Studies this is usually six months in each country). You’ll develop your language skills, grow in self-confidence, gain a new academic perspective, and enhance your employability.
Italian and Hispanic Studies is an ideal combination of subjects to enable you gain advanced language skills and a broad cultural understanding, giving you the tools to embark on an international career.
Dr Wissia Fiorucci, Modern Languages Co-ordinator and Director of Education, talks about the challenges and rewards of learning languages.
The University will consider applications from students offering a wide range of qualifications. Typical requirements are listed below. Students offering alternative qualifications should contact us for further advice.
Please note that meeting this typical offer/minimum requirement does not guarantee an offer being made.Please also see our general entry requirements.
If you’ve taken exams under the new GCSE grading system, please see our conversion table to convert your GCSE grades.
BBB including B in Italian or Spanish
The University will not necessarily make conditional offers to all Access candidates but will continue to assess them on an individual basis.
If we make you an offer, you will need to obtain/pass the overall Access to Higher Education Diploma and may also be required to obtain a proportion of the total level 3 credits and/or credits in particular subjects at merit grade or above.
The University will consider applicants holding BTEC National Diploma and Extended National Diploma Qualifications (QCF; NQF; OCR) on a case-by-case basis. Please contact us for further advice on your individual circumstances. A typical offer would be to achieve DMM plus an A-level in Italian or Spanish at B.
34 points overall or 15 points at HL, including Italian or Spanish HL A1/A2/B at 4/5/5 or SL A1/A2/B at 5/6/6
The University welcomes applications from international students. Our international recruitment team can guide you on entry requirements. See our International Student website for further information about entry requirements for your country.
However, please note that international fee-paying students cannot undertake a part-time programme due to visa restrictions.
If you need to increase your level of qualification ready for undergraduate study, we offer a number of International Foundation Programmes.
For more advice about applying to Kent, you can meet our staff at a range of international events.
Please see our English language entry requirements web page.
Please note that if you are required to meet an English language condition, we offer a number of 'pre-sessional' courses in English for Academic Purposes. You attend these courses before starting your degree programme.
Duration: 4 years full-time
The following modules are indicative of those offered on this programme. This listing is based on the current curriculum and may change year to year in response to new curriculum developments and innovation.
On most programmes, you study a combination of compulsory and optional modules. You may also be able to take ‘elective’ modules from other programmes so you can customise your programme and explore other subjects that interest you.
Going abroad as part of your degree is an amazing experience and a chance to develop personally, academically and professionally. You experience a different culture, gain a new academic perspective, establish international contacts and enhance your employability.
All Hispanic Studies and Italian BA students are required to spend a year abroad between Stages 2 and 3, evenly split between two countries where the respective languages are spoken. You are expected to adhere to any academic progression requirements in Stage 2 to proceed to the year abroad. If the requirement is not met, you may have to postpone your year abroad.
The year abroad is assessed on a pass/fail basis and does not count towards your final degree classification. You spend the year working as an English language assistant or in approved employment, or studying at one of our partner universities. For a full list of our partner universities, please visit Go Abroad.
The 2020/21 annual tuition fees for this programme are:
For details of when and how to pay fees and charges, please see our Student Finance Guide.
Full-time tuition fees for Home and EU undergraduates are £9,250.
For students continuing on this programme, fees will increase year on year by no more than RPI + 3% in each academic year of study except where regulated.*
The University will assess your fee status as part of the application process. If you are uncertain about your fee status you may wish to seek advice from UKCISA before applying.
Full-time tuition fees for Home and EU undergraduates are £1,385.
Full-time tuition fees for Home and EU undergraduates are £1,385.
Students studying abroad for less than one academic year will pay full fees according to their fee status.
Find out more about accommodation and living costs, plus general additional costs that you may pay when studying at Kent.
Teaching is by lectures and seminars. We have extensive technical facilities, including audio, video and computer-assisted language learning.
Depending on the modules you select, assessment throughout all stages of the course varies from 100% coursework, to a combination of examination and coursework, in the ratio 50:50, 60:40, 70:30 or 80:20.
All Spanish language modules involve three hours teaching each week, with the exception of the beginners’ language modules at Stages 1 and 2 which involve four hours. They include small group seminars, conversation classes run by a native speaker, short lectures in Spanish, work in a language laboratory and work on computer-assisted language learning materials. The culture and literature modules normally involve a one-hour lecture and a one-hour seminar each week.
Stage 1 is assessed by 100% coursework (essays, class participation) in some modules, and a 50:50 combination of coursework and examination in others. Stage 2/3: depending on the modules you select, assessment varies from 100% coursework (extended essays), to a combination of examination and coursework, in the ratio 60:40 or 80:20.
For a student studying full time, each academic year of the programme will comprise 1200 learning hours which include both direct contact hours and private study hours. The precise breakdown of hours will be subject dependent and will vary according to modules. Please refer to the individual module details under Course Structure.
Methods of assessment will vary according to subject specialism and individual modules. Please refer to the individual module details under Course Structure.
For programme aims and learning outcomes please see the programmes specification for each subject below. Please note that outcomes will depend on your specific module selection:
Italian at Kent was ranked 2nd in The Times Good University Guide 2020 and 3rd in The Complete University Guide 2021.
Over 89% of final-year Modern Languages and Linguistics students were satisfied with the quality of teaching on their course in The Guardian University Guide 2020.
Iberian Languages at Kent scored 91% in The Complete University Guide 2021.
There are numerous employment prospects open to languages graduates, and popular choices include:
Some graduates choose to go on to further study, where options include a PGCE, TEFL, a PhD or Master's in various aspects of language and culture, or another subject altogether.
The School of European Culture and Languages' Employability programme, includes work-related modules and work placements. Both of these are a key part of the ‘Languages in the Classroom’ module, designed for budding language teachers, which combines traditional learning methods with practical teaching experience.
The University also has a friendly Careers and Employability Service, which can give you advice on how to:
The ability to speak two European languages other than English and the enhanced confidence you gain from your experience of studying or working abroad are key assets in the global employment market. Alongside these specialist skills, you also develop the transferable skills graduate employers look for. These include the ability to:
This course page is for the 2020/21 academic year. Please visit the current online prospectus for a list of undergraduate courses we offer.
T: +44 (0)1227 768896
T: +44 (0)1227 823254
E: internationalstudent@kent.ac.uk
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