Religion, Theology and Spirituality BA (Hons) (with Foundation Year)

UCAS Code: Combined Honours only – see combinations tab|Duration: 4|Full Time|Hope Park
UCAS Campus Code: L46
International students can apply|Study Abroad opportunities
About the course
‘If you want a cathedral, we’ve got one to spare!’ runs a traditional Liverpool song. This city has been shaped by its religious past – it has seen over two centuries of religious riots, you'll find the oldest mosque in England here, and the landscape is dominated by two amazing cathedrals. Liverpool now is home to vibrant new religious communities from across the world. All that makes Liverpool Hope the perfect place to study the spirituality, wisdom, and mysticism of the major religious traditions like Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, and Buddhism. But our city with its art and music scenes also tells us that the human quest for meaning and purpose goes beyond the traditional ‘religions.’ People today are often seeking a ‘spiritual’ identity – but not necessarily a ‘religious’ one.
Liverpool Hope is the perfect place to study all this. Our university is rooted in the attempts by Catholics and protestants to mend their differences in the city, and our teaching team is made up of people from many different cultures and christian traditions. offers you the opportunity to look at the big questions that people ask today – bringing together both traditional religions and contemporary perspectives. You will gain insights into ancient wisdom, rituals, and sacred texts that influence millions today. Plus, you’ll actively participate in critical debates about human existence in a world facing numerous crises. You will tackle ethical and theological questions concerning the beginning and end of life, sexuality, gender, evil, suffering, and contemporary issues like radicalisation, ecology, violence, inter-religious dialogue, secularisation, post-secularism, health, wellbeing, and near-death experiences. You will examine how our beliefs about our place in the universe impact how we treat our planet and all life forms.
The city will be a constant backdrop to our studies. It is home today to new and changing religious traditions. We will visit and take a close look at places of worship – both the traditional and the strikingly new. And we will also explore the other ways that people find meaning, hope and community here – looking at the ways they actively create and use different types of ritual performance and expression to shape their spiritual identity. In this city, that of course includes art, music and football!
People who study this programme will benefit from the experience of meeting people who make sense of their lives in very different ways. The course challenges its students to broaden the way they think of other people and their beliefs. So, it provides excellent professional grounding for the kinds of careers that involve understanding and working with people, especially in contexts where complex ethical decisions are needed – for example, in community planning and support, education, politics, and the civil service.
Course structure
Year 1: 3 x 1- hour lectures; 2 x 1- hour seminars; 1 x 1-hour small group tutorial per week.
Year 2: 2 x 1- hour lectures; 2 x 1- hour seminars; 1 x 1-hour small group tutorial per week.
Year 1: 2 x 1 1- hour lectures; 2 x 1- hour seminars per week, plus regular research supervision (some in small groups, some one-to-one)
Assessment and feedback
Essays, presentations, vivas, exams (2nd and 3rd years) and textual analyses.
Foundation Year
The Foundation Year is a great opportunity if you have the ability and enthusiasm to study for a degree, but do not yet have the qualifications required to enter directly onto our degree programmes. A significant part of the Foundation Year focuses upon core skills such as academic writing at HE level, becoming an independent learner, structuring academic work, critical thinking, time management and note taking.
Successful completion of the Foundation Year will enable you to progress into the first year (Level C) of your chosen honours degree. Further details can be found here.
Year One
The first year lays the foundations for your studies by introducing you to some of the key ideas of the course:
- Theories of Religion
- African Indigenous Religion
- Religious and Mystical Experience
- Introduction to Spirituality
- Introduction to Sacred Texts (Bible, Quran, Hindu Scriptures)
- Imagery, symbol and Ritual (inter-religious)
- Introduction to Christian Traditions
- Introduction to Judaism and Islam
- Art, literature, film and music
Year Two
In the second year you take a closer focus on the human dimension of theology, religion and spirituality:
- Religious Ethics and Spirituality
- The Human the divine; understanding the person of Jesus Christ
- Sacred space and time (pilgrimage - different traditions)
- Religion and Health (including disability, Islamic psychology)
- Reformation and Enlightenment
- Islamic Law and Society
- Gender, sexuality and spirituality
- Death and the afterlife
- Environment and spirituality
Year Three
The third year takes you into some of the most important issues at play today in this field:
- The darkness of God
- Contemporary Eastern Theology
- Judaism in the Shadow of the Shoah
- Islamic Political Philosophy
- Fundamentalism, politics and secularism
- Virtual Religion and spirituality
- Research Project
Entry requirements
There may be some flexibility for mature students offering non-tariff qualifications and students meeting particular widening participation criteria.
Careers
This Major gives you the skills valued by employers across a huge range of jobs, including law, media, analysis, public administration, and social, pastoral, church and community work. It is an excellent preparation for the teaching profession and for professional chaplaincy work.
Crucially, it gives you skills of thinking, analysis, empathy and argument which will help you be flexible and move between employment opportunities across your career. Graduates with this Major would be skilled in working within interdisciplinary and multi-cultural contexts and a range of research methods and approaches.
Graduates will be able to navigate complex issues relating to what it means to be human in the global context. They will be aware and literate in dealing with philosophical, ethical, religious and historical/political complexities as they manifest themselves in todays world. An advantage of this Major would be the versatility of the graduates, enabling them to apply for a range of job opportunities.
Enhancement opportunities
SALA
The Service and Leadership Award (SALA) is offered as an extra-curricular programme involving service-based experiences, development of leadership potential and equipping you for a career in a rapidly changing world. It enhances your degree, it is something which is complimentary but different and which has a distinct ‘value-added’ component. Find out more on our Service and Leadership Award page.
Study Abroad
As part of your degree, you can choose to spend either a semester or a full year of study at one of our partner universities as part of our Study Abroad programme. Find out more on our Study Abroad page.
Tuition fees
The tuition fees for the 2025/26 academic year are £9,535* for full-time undergraduate courses.
If you are a student from the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands, your tuition fees will also be £9,535*.
The University reserves the right to increase Home and EU Undergraduate and PGCE tuition fees in line with any inflationary or other increase authorised by the Secretary of State for future years of study.
*subject to Council approval.
Additional costs
As well as your tuition fees, you also need to consider the cost of key books and textbooks, which in total will cost approximately £150.
You will also need to consider the cost of your accommodation each year whilst you study at university. Visit our accommodation pages for further details about our Halls of Residence.
Scholarships
We have a range of scholarships to help with the cost of your studies. Visit our scholarships page to find out more.
International tuition fees
The International Tuition fees for 2025/26 are £14,500.
Visit our International fees page for more information.
Course combinations
This course is only available with Foundation Year as a Combined Honours degree with the following subjects: