Make an impact sooner with our flexible Accelerated Liberal Arts degree
Explore countless connections across the humanities with our Accelerated Liberal Arts degree. Over two years, you’ll apply theory and skills to real-world issues. We’ll give your the skills and knowledge you need to make an impact, whatever your chosen area. Our accelerated Liberal Arts degree is interdisciplinary in nature and you can cover subjects including:
- revolutions and rebellions
- world religions
- digital production
- creative writing
- journalism and the media
- political communication.
You can design your degree to specialise in areas that excite you most. Our major pathways include:
Our accelerated liberal arts programme is also available as a traditional three-year degree.
Real-world experience
During your Accelerated BA Liberal Arts degree, you can engage in real-world public presentations and creative projects through mediums like:
- film and tv
- magazines
- podcasts.
Learn in the capital
We are only 30 minutes away from central London. Therefore, you’ll have access to diverse creative, cultural, historical, and political scenes. You could explore places like:
We’ll also take you on exciting field trips to several cultural institutions, including:
A campus with a unique creative history
Our campus is attached to Strawberry Hill House. Here, renowned gothic writer, Horace Walpole, designed and lived to inspire his work. As a result, your degree will be a fully immersive and geographically distinct learning experience.
Expert teaching and support
You’ll work closely with our expert team in seminars. Our student, Davin, tells us our academics are “very helpful and are always available to provide useful feedback”.
The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide (2023) placed us in the UK’s top 5 for teaching quality.
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Chat to us
Applying to university can be daunting, and you may have questions about applying, student life, or your course.
Course content
Modules
The BA Liberal Arts (Accelerated) degree adopts a three-term a year structure, which means that you complete a normal 3 year BA honours degree in just two years. The third term runs from June to July as our Liberal Arts Summer School.
In the first year of your Liberal Arts degree, you will study two core modules and three modules of your own choosing from across a minimum of two subject study areas. During the Liberal Arts Summer School you will select three from four Liberal Arts optional modules.
In the second year, you will study two core modules and choose four optional modules. During the Liberal Arts Summer School you will complete your core Liberal Arts Project alongside another Liberal Arts modules.
Indicative modules might be as follows:
Please note: it is possible that a module listed on the website will not be able to run due to reasons beyond our control. For more information please refer to our course information disclaimer.
How the degree is taught
Teaching methods
You'll be taught on our beautiful and historic campus located in Twickenham, London.
You will study for your BA Liberal Arts accelerated degree on our beautiful and historic campus located in Twickenham, London.
Most modules will involve three hours of seminar study. All of our modules are taught in seminar groups, giving you a much better chance to discuss ideas and material with tutors and other students than in a large lecture format.
The applied nature of the BA Liberal Arts accelerated degree means that you will also have the chance to interact with, and learn from, figures active in relevant fields, such as Cultural Heritage, Government and Politics, and Journalism.
The independent project gives you a chance to shape your own programme of work. You can produce a traditional dissertation or create a website podcast series, short film, or piece of creative fiction. You can choose the media most appropriate to showcase your ideas.
Students on the BA Liberal Arts degree will be allocated a personal tutor, but in line with the focus on collective problem solving embedded through the course content each cohort will also meet as a group on a weekly basis.
Assessment methods
There are a large range of assessment strategies available to students on the BA Liberal Arts degree. You will develop skills as an academic writer through formal essays, as well as becoming a charismatic communicator through public presentations. The Liberal Arts degree fosters group problem solvers through project work and creative artists through media outputs, film, podcast, and/or performance.
All forms of assessment will be designed to enable lecturers to meet the three-week turnaround requirement for feedback.
Feedback
We adhere to the university’s policy of providing feedback on assessments within 15 working days.
Entry requirements
2025 and 2026 entries
Start date
Standard offer
112 - undefined UCAS points
Contextual offer
96 UCAS points
About Contextual Offer:
Not sure about your grades? We consider all factors when reviewing your application, as we know not everyone has the same support to reach their potential. So we may make a contextual offer below the standard Tariff if you meet our criteria. Read more about contextual offers.
We understand that sometimes barriers you can't control get in the way of academic achievement. You are more than just your grades. We'll consider your application as a whole, taking into account things like:
- subjects studied at Level 3
- your GCSEs (or equivalent) profile
- non-academic achievements you mention in your personal statement
- your references and motivation.
International requirements
International students should check our country-specific pages for equivalents. If English is not your first language you will need to achieve an IELTS score of 6.0 overall with no less than 5.5 in any section (or equivalent). (or equivalent).
UCAS Personal statement support
Create your UCAS personal statement through our online builder and we'll email you a copy of your completed version at the end.
Further Information
For more information about entry requirements please get in touch.
How many UCAS points my grades are worth
A levels
A*
56 pts
A
48 pts
B
40 pts
C
32 pts
D
24 pts
E
16 pts
My qualification isn't listed:
If you can't find your qualification in this list please check the full list of UCAS tariff tables.
Fees & funding
Tuition fees
Home
£11,440
International
£18,150
*Please note: these fees are annual and may increase as detailed in our tuition fee variation disclaimer.
For more information on foundation year fees for home students, please check the details on our tuition fee page.
Information about tuition fees, student loans, and funding your studies can be found within our fees and funding section.
Additional costs
Your tuition fees will cover the cost of all mandatory elements of your programme.
Additional costs could be incurred depending on optional modules chosen and other projects undertaken.
For further information about additional costs please see our additional costs webpage.
Scholarships
Find out more about our range of scholarships and bursaries available to undergraduate students .
Living costs
A guide to your living costs has been created by our Student Funding Team.
Accommodation costs vary depending on whether you opt for an en suite room and on-site catering. Take a look at our accommodation options and the prices you can expect to pay.
Career opportunities
Our Accelerated Liberal Arts degree will help you develop essential transferrable skills, such as critical thinking, teamwork, and creative problem-solving.
Our Liberal Arts students have worked in a variety of fields, including politics and government, education and marketing and communications.
Upon starting your course at St Mary's, you will have access to our Career Services, which provides students and graduates with impartial advice on their career progression and development.
Some examples of job roles and areas of work for graduates of Liberal Arts (Accelerated) BA (Hons) include:
Apply now
If you're currently living in the United Kingdom and Ireland, you'll need to apply directly through UCAS. You can check our step-by-step application guide for detailed information.
If you are living outside of the United Kingdom and Ireland, you can submit an application directly or add St Mary's University as a choice on UCAS. Check our guideline for more information.
Interested in applying through Clearing?
Find out more about Clearing 2025 at St Mary's, and register your interest so we can contact you when you receive your grades.
Transferring from another institution?
St Mary's is happy to consider applications from students who wish to transfer from another university. If this is you, please follow these instructions.
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Thinking about whether St Mary's is the right place for you? Come and visit it us on campus.
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Discover what life is like on our London campus.