My DD is seriously considering doing Liberal Arts instead of her previous choices of Philosophy/Theology or Philosophy/Music. She is applying for deferred entry as she wants a gap year so this is relevant for 2020 intake.

I thought LA had gone out of favour but it appears to have returned as an option at a few universities but with a higher entrance requirement than previously. Academically she is a good allrounder and she is interested in many things so is finding it hard to refine her choices. I am concerned that LA is too broad and not well regarded. Any feedback gratefully received.

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The Liberal Arts course offered by Exeter University looks very interesting.

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Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad !

I was curious about what was involved in a LA degree. If she really is stuck on a direction it would be good to have some flexibility going forward and it might help her develop critical thinking and hone study and communication skills whilst learning about a number of areas before pinning herself down too much to one area.Might be better than being too narrow and stuck on a course they are not enjoying.
That’s my view just as a parent with a sixth former and going back to Uni as a post grad in September.
Im sure others will have more informed advice....

DS1 looked at some Combined courses at Durham - in fact he was offered a place on the Combined Social Sciences course which to me looked like a dream come true. They do Combined Humanities as well. It all looked excellent; he was not so keen on the university itself and is going elsewhere but I reckon it is definitely something to look at.

Exeter's Flexible Combined Honours option is good, as well .

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Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.Groucho Marx

Thanks for all the replies. Durham was a University she was already looking at but don't think she has looked at Exeter so will investigate. I am trying to be hands off as much as possible as it is ultimately her choice and she has to be happy to spend 3 years at that place, doing that course. Just want to be able to point out any info she may not have considered.

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I've always thought the Human Sciences degree course at Oxford looked very interesting.

If you're serious about a Liberal Arts course then the US is the place to look - though it's a bit more of a challenge than the UK!

Hi CarpeDiem!

We looked at LA in the USA and in the UK.

The US degrees are long established - the only 'problem' is that the leading faculties insist on a 4 year Bachelors degree, not 3 years. Our daughter really did not fancy 4 years, not to mention the additional cost of the extra year.

The UK now offers a growing list of quite fashionable LA degrees, a relatively new development for the global and competitive 'market' for fee paying undergraduates. These are very popular.

Employers? Each faculty should give you their 'employability' statistics. You can also search online in the usual Uni League tables. There's also that well known student web site.

If you show the potential, you can certainly access any UK career not requiring technical knowledge. You'll just need to demonstrate key competencies during the selection process. For example, in the past some Historians have been stronger in Investment Bank graduate entrance than some Economists.

Equally, Accountancy or the Law have long standing 'conversion' courses to professional training and qualification for 'non-relevant' graduate entrants, many of whom are very successful in the long term.

It's worth reflecting that traditional 'LA' degrees such as PPE from Oxford ('broad') or Classics from Cambridge (very, very 'broad') have always earned you good job opportunities because of those Unis' competitiveness and prestige.

Hope this helps.

I don't have any experience of the UK LA degrees but now know several students who are coming to the end of US ones! Yes, it's four years, but many UK degrees are also now four years. And the flexibility is such that you can come out with a Masters if you're prepared to take on the extra challenges of graduate-level courses during your undergraduate years.

Cost is also not necessarily prohibitive. In our experience it's significantly cheaper than any UK option for all the youngsters who've taken it up. They are all UK citizens, but have got significant financial aid, either through sport scholarships or through the universities' own financial aid schemes.

I'm happy to give further information via PM if anyone is interested.