Linguistics

Studying Linguistics at Cambridge

UCAS Code: Q100
Number of students per year: Approximately 30-35
How many are admitted to Cambridge every year: 2023 cycle, 5 applications per place and 26 accepted
Minimum offer: A*AA at A Level, 41-42 points at IB with 776 at Higher Level
Essential subjects: None
Useful subjects: Ancient or modern languages, mathematics, English language or literature

Linguistics is the systematic study of human language. Linguists explore how we communicate using language and how languages are structured.

You will study lots of different aspects of linguistics. One day you might be poring over a medieval text for evidence of how the grammar of a language has changed. The next, you may be learning about how the larynx creates sound energy for speech, or how we can record brain responses to language.

You will also cover a wide range of disciplines. For example, the study of meaning draws on philosophy, the analysis of the speech signal uses methods from physics and engineering, and the study of language acquisition draws on psychology.
From your second year, you can choose to specialise through optional papers, if there is a particular discipline that interests you.

The Faculty has many state of the art facilities including a Computer-Assisted Language Learning facility, a Media Centre and a Phonetics Lab. There are also bespoke language learning materials available at the Language Centre.

What can I do with a degree in Linguistics?

On the course you will gain transferable skills that are greatly sought after by employers.
Linguistics graduates find employment in a wide range of professions. Recent graduates have taken up roles at:

Google
Amazon
Facebook
the Foreign Office

Some students have also gone on to postgraduate study at top universities in the UK, Europe and North America.

The course also provides good preparation for vocational training, in fields such as:

speech therapy
teaching
speech and language technology, for example, developing speech recognition and
translation software
law
translation
interpreting
forensic linguistics

Being familiar with a range of languages is a huge advantage in careers where you need to learn unfamiliar languages quickly. For example, this can be very useful in the Diplomatic Service.

What we look for

The Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages and Linguistics is committed to finding students with the highest potential, from any educational background.

Are you curious about our most crucially human attribute, language? Is a subject that combines the arts and sciences appealing? If you’ve found yourself asking ‘why?’ or ‘how?’ in relation to language, then Linguistics is for you.

It is important to demonstrate your interest in the subject in your application for example by showing evidence of further reading in your spare time. We hope you will tell us about what you have read, and what you thought of it. You don’t have to pretend to be someone you’re not. We are looking for bright, interested, motivated, real people.

The Department of Theoretical and Applied Linguistic have recommended some preliminary reading for prospective students.

Studying Linguistics at St Edmund’s College

St Edmund’s has a large international community so you will always be exposed to different languages being spoken around the College. We have a small, close-knit community of students studying MML, Linguistics and related postgraduate courses.

The college offers several spaces where you can study and work on your essays including the Paul Luzio Library building, the Norfolk Library, study desks in the Mount Pleasant Halls Common room, the comfortable couches of the CR, in Edspresso or the benches in our lovely apple orchards!

We also have six study rooms (2 in the Luzio Building, 2 in Norfolk Building, and 1 in Mount Pleasant Halls) which can also be booked by students for their private study time or group projects.

Our college also has an extremely supportive Welfare and Wellbeing Department, which is happy to lend an ear and provide support should a student feel anxious or overwhelmed with the academic year.

How to Apply

Applications for all courses are made through UCAS. You must apply by 15 October 2025 to be considered for entry in October 2026.

We accept applications for Linguistics in both the October application round and the January application round. The January application round is specifically for candidates applying for certain subjects at the three mature Colleges at Cambridge (Hughes Hall, Wolfson, and St Edmund’s). The January round is particularly suited to those applicants taking one-year courses who may not have covered enough of the course content to apply in October, but are able to make a competitive application by January. The deadline for applications for the January round is 14 January 2026 for 2026 entry.

As a mature College, we recognise that our applicants come to us from a diverse range of educational backgrounds and may have studied a long time ago. However, we would expect evidence of formal study within the last two or three years as evidence of an ability to cope with the challenging academic nature of a Cambridge course.

Requirements

Written work

Tests

There is a written assessment for all applicants invited to interview. This consists of three data questions and lasts for 1 hour. You will be registered for this assessment by us, so there is no need to register yourself.

Please note that your performance in the assessment will not be considered in isolation, but will be taken into account alongside the other elements of your application.

Interviews

You will have one interview lasting approximately 50 minutes. You will be interviewed by the Director of Studies and other subject specialists. This will take place on zoom.

You can expect to be asked linguistics-specific questions as well as some questions about some of the academic explorations that you’ve told us about in your Personal Statement. The interview isn’t a ‘right-or-wrong’ test, but a chance for us to see how you work as an intellectual – how you think and how you use information provided to you as part of an intellectual conversation, much like how we teach you in the Cambridge supervision system.

Deferred entry

We are happy to accept applications from those seeking deferred entry for this course.

A small proportion of our students take gap years before starting the Linguistics course at Cambridge. You should state your intention to apply for deferred entry on your UCAS application, and you should expect to be asked in interview about your reasons for taking a year out, or what your plans are for that year.

Affiliated students

If you have already completed or are in the process of completing a first undergraduate degree, you can apply for this course as an affiliated student. This means that you will complete the course in two years instead of the standard three. (Please note that this does not mean that you can go directly into the second year of the course.)

To apply as an affiliate student, you need to have achieved or be on track to achieve a 2.1 or higher in your first undergraduate degree. International equivalents can be found on the University website.

What is a typical Term’s work

Part I provides a general introduction to all areas of linguistics, while Part II allows a degree of specialisation in particular areas.

In both Parts IIA and IIB, there is a choice of lectures taught within and beyond the Department, the latter including the linguistics of particular languages. Part IIB includes an element of individual research in the form of a dissertation on a chosen topic.

Students may also switch to Part II of the Linguistics Tripos after successful completion of a Part I in another Tripos. The Linguistics Tripos does not require detailed knowledge of a particular language and so the course is accessible to those who have a general interest in and knowledge of language.

Part I consists of the following four compulsory papers:

Paper Li.1 Sounds and Words

Paper Li.2 Structures and Meanings

Paper Li.3 Languages, Brains, and Machines

Paper Li.4 Linguistic Variation and Change

Part IIA consists of four papers to be chosen from Section C and Section D. Papers from Section C include Li.10 Semantics and Pragmatics and Li.16 Language Learning and Cognition. Papers from Section D include Li.27 Celtic Philology and Li.35 Comparative Semitic Linguistics.

Part IIB consists of three papers; one of these is compulsory (Paper Li.5 Linguistic Theory) and the other two are chosen from Section C and Section D. You will also need to write a dissertation of between 8,000-10,000 words.

People

Director of Studies: Dr Theresa Biberauer
Dr Mary Boyle, Outreach Coordinator for German, Faculty of Modern & Medieval Languages & Linguistics