Religious Studies BA (Hons)* (with Foundation Year)
 Religious Studies (Major).jpg)
UCAS Code: RES2|Duration: 4|Full Time|Hope Park
UCAS Campus Code: L46
International students can apply|Study Abroad opportunities
About the course
*This course is open for 2026 entry only
*subject to validation
This course leads you into a profound exploration of spirituality, wisdom, and mysticism across major religious traditions—Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, and Buddhism—while emphasising lived religious experiences and the search for meaning. But it also takes you beyond the traditional religious and philosophical perspectives. You'll examine contemporary spiritual identities, ethical and theological questions on life, death, gender, suffering, and pressing global issues like radicalisation, ecology, and interfaith dialogue.
You'll engage with historical sacred spaces, exploring their continued relevance in an age of technology and climate crisis. The course also tackles how our beliefs shape our treatment of the planet and all life forms. In a world saturated with diverse worldviews, you'll investigate how people negotiate faith, philosophy, and media, critically engaging with Western and non-Western perspectives. Questions like "Does scientism limit human understanding?" and "Is Western secularism inherently colonialist?" will challenge you to rethink assumptions about spirituality and global citizenship.
By studying ancient wisdom, modern spiritual movements, and philosophical debates, you’ll develop a nuanced understanding of how people form and reform their worldviews—gaining essential insights for navigating today’s pluralistic world.
Liverpool is the perfect place to study how people today deal with the different ideas and conflicting opinions that pop into the apps on our phones and computers. 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!
Course structure
Teaching on this degree is structured into lectures, where all students are taught together, seminars, which are smaller groups, and tutorials, which typically have no more than 10 students in the first year. You also have the opportunity to have one-to-one meetings with your tutor on a regular basis.
In your first year there are approximately 12 teaching hours each week, which reduces to approximately 10 teaching hours in your second and third years. On top of teaching hours, you are also expected to spend a number of hours studying independently each week, as well as group study to prepare for any group assessments you may have.
Assessment and feedback
Throughout your three years of study, you will have a number of assessments, including essays, vivas (oral exams), textual analyses, written exams, fieldwork reports, case studies and portfolios. In your final year, you will complete a dissertation on a research topic of your choice.
You will receive your feedback via the University’s Virtual Online Learning Environment (Moodle), and you are also welcome to discuss the feedback with your tutors.
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:
- Spirituality and Religious Experience
- African and Indic Religions
- Sacred Texts in Abrahamic Religions
- Sacred Space and Time (Sacred Spaces, pilgrimage, the environment, death and the afterlife)
- Introducing Worldviews
- Challenging Eurocentrism
- Modernity and Post-Modernity: The Secular and the Post-Secular
- Globalisation, Decolonization and ‘Global Ethics’
- The World in One City: Liverpool and Its Peoples
Year Two
In the second year you on the one hand take a closer focus on the human dimension of theology, religion and spirituality, and on the other, the global dimension of the course becomes even more prominent:
- Challenging Traditions and Authority
- Mysticism & Religious Experience
- Religious Ethics and Spirituality
- Religious Philosophies (aspects of Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and others)
- God, Christ and Humanity
- Islamic Law and Society
- Religion and Disability
- Ecology, Hope and Conflict
- The World in One City: Istanbul as a Case Study
Year Three
The third year allows for an in-depth study some of the most important issues at play today:
- Religious Fundamentalisms, including American Fundamentalisms, Radical Islam, radical Jewish religious Zionism, Russian nationalism and Orthodoxy
- Judaism in the Shadow of the Shoah
- Post/Modern Theology and the Darkness of God
- The Soul and the Absolute, including Advaita Vedanta, Kabbalah, Zen, among others
- Religion, Conflict and Reconciliation
- Interpreting the Bible for Our Times
- The World in One City: Jerusalem as a Case Study
Entry requirements
There may be some flexibility for mature students offering non-tariff qualifications and students meeting particular widening participation criteria.
Careers
This degree equips graduates with highly valued skills in analysis, empathy, and argument, preparing them for diverse careers. Among others, it is an excellent preparation for the teaching profession and for professional chaplaincy work.
Other career paths include teaching, policy, charity and social sectors, international organisations, media, journalism, law, business, heritage sectors, and religious organisations, offering a versatile foundation for engaging with contemporary societal challenges.
The programme fosters adaptability, enabling movement across various roles throughout a career. Graduates will be skilled in interdisciplinary and multicultural contexts, using a range of research methods to navigate complex global issues. They can excel in particular in roles requiring cultural sensitivity and critical thinking.
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
Approximately £250 for course books.
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
With Foundation year, this degree is only available to study as a Single Honours course.