2024/25 Undergraduate Programme Catalogue

BA Professional Studies

Total credits: 360

Entry requirements:

Entry Requirements are available on the Course Search entry

School/Unit responsible for the parenting of students and programme:

Lifelong Learning Centre

Examination board through which the programme will be considered:

Relevant QAA Subject Benchmark Groups:

Sociology, Business Management, Geography and Communication, Media and Cultural Studies.

Programme specification:

The information on this page is accurate for students entering the programme from September 2023. For students who entered the programme before September 2023, you can find the details of your programme:

Professional Studies is an interdisciplinary degree designed to respond to the local and global challenges of our contemporary world and to provide you with the opportunity to grow and develop your personal and professional development in ways most relevant for you. You will be able to choose a third of your modules from the wide range of options available at the University of Leeds and the Lifelong Learning Centre; this will help you develop your own specialism. It involves three strands, which you undertake every year:
1. The interdisciplinary strand explores key contemporary issues which affect us all – such as identity, diversity and equality; health and society; globalisation; environmental challenges; social inequalities, justice and change; and technology and new media. These issues cannot be understood fully through one discipline – we draw concepts, theories and understanding from a range of disciplines in the social and environmental sciences and the humanities to work collaboratively to develop understanding and critical ways of thinking about our ever-changing world.

2. The professional and project strand engages with key issues which help with developing an understanding of the skills needed to thrive and become empowered to make a difference in the changing world of work and in relation to professional and personal development. We consider key issues such as leadership, creativity in the workplace, the digital landscape and flexible working. Right from the beginning of the course, you will get the opportunity to engage in self-reflection, and career and personal action planning, as well as to take on professionally relevant and meaningful assignments such as creating a website and producing a funding proposal which you could show future employers. Also, every year you will undertake a research module in which you get the opportunity to research areas of your own interest.

3. The discovery and pathway strand, which enables you to choose you own modules from the Lifelong Learning Centre’s specialist areas: Child and Family Studies, Learning and Teaching, Creative Writing or Business Management and Leadership and/or from the wide range of elective (discovery) modules offered across the University of Leeds in areas such as: sociology, media and communication, law, sustainability and environmental studies, and languages and cultures. This strand allows you to explore new areas of interest and make your own complementary and creative connections to the core strands with support from specialist staff. The degree is flexible enough for you to take modules from a complete range of these subjects. This means you come away with a unique degree that is representative of you and your academic and professional interests.
In this way, you will co-create your own degree and build your own specialism, academic and professional identity; this is through the opportunity to choose their own modules and research topics, but also through an assessment strategy which give you – within modules – the opportunity to develop work on the areas of most interest to you. Throughout the degree, you will learn to critically consider your own personal situation within local and global contexts and to learn what you can further contribute to your own future, the world of work, and more broadly – to positive societal change.
The degree has been designed to be particularly welcoming of and inclusive for those with valuable work and life experience who have had a break in learning, and those wanting to come to university who don’t have traditional qualifications. We value the different kinds of experience and knowledge the diverse range of students on the degree bring; this enriches everyone’s learning experience which is furt her enabled by an inclusive approach to teaching. This involves getting to know each student personally; teaching in a way which involves discussion, interaction and problem-solving; ensuring resources are wide-ranging, stimulating and accessible; and learning with students and from student feedback. It involves enabling and empowering you to make connections between your learning and your life and work experience and between different modules – as well as between ideas from other students. Finally, it involves making sure there is a range of assessments which allow you to demonstrate and build different strengths, while building important transferable skills such as producing coherent written work, digital resources, creative work and strategic plans, as well as working individually and with others on presentations and creative problem solving.
The degree is continually informed by different graduate employers, by the degree’s graduates (alumni) and the professional roles they now occupy, and by changing professional and research landscapes. Many of our modules feature regular guest speakers from relevant professional contexts and you will get the opportunity to meet and talk with these potential employers as well as with the degree’s alumni. You will also have access, throughout the degree, to the specialist career guidance service within the Lifelong Learning Centre and to skills-building volunteering opportunities provided by the Lifelong Learning Centre’s Community and Partnerships team. You can also undertake real world research by getting support to work with local organisations who have identified research needs – this ‘research in the community’ project has been developed especially to connect students with the real world needs of the local community and to enable local organisations to benefit from the research skills and global and cultural insight students are developing.
The degree can be undertaken full time over 3 years or part time over 6 years. There is also the opportunity to extend it into a 4 year full time degree by undertaking a Year in Industry, a Year in Enterprise or a Study Abroad year.

Year1 - View timetable

[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]

Candidates doing the full-time version of the degree can choose 40 credits – this can be from the optional modules OR from the university’s choice of discovery modules – OR it can be a mix from both. They are required to ensure they study no more than 60 credits a semester (FT) and 40 credits a semester (PT).

Compulsory modules:

Candidates will be required to study the following compulsory modules:

Optional modules:

Basket 1: Candidates will be required to study modules from the following optional modules:

Basket 2: Candidates will be required to study modules from the following optional modules:

Discovery modules:

Candidates can study 0-40 credits of Discovery modules in place of the optional modules

Year2 - View timetable

[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]

Compulsory modules:

Optional modules:

Candidates may study 0-40 credits of optional modules

Discovery modules:

Candidates will be required to study 0-40 credits of discovery modules

Year3 - View timetable

[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]

Compulsory modules:

Optional modules:

Candidates are required to study 20 credits from these optional modules

Students may study 0-40 credits from these optional modules

Discovery modules:

Candidates will be required to study 0-40 credits of discovery modules

Year4 - View timetable

[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]

Last updated: 25/03/2024 10:58:04

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