French and Italian

French and Italian is one of the great language combinations, uniting two of Europe's most influential Romance languages and the literary, cultural, and intellectual traditions they carry. French is the language of Descartes and Voltaire, of Flaubert and Proust, of the Nouvelle Vague and the French New Novel, and it remains one of the world's most important languages for diplomacy, international institutions, and culture. Italian is the language of Dante and Machiavelli, of Verdi and Calvino, of Renaissance art and contemporary design, and it is the gateway to one of Europe's richest cultural histories.

Studying them together means engaging across an extraordinarily wide sweep of European thought, literature, and culture.

At University College London, consistently ranked among the world's leading universities and with one of the UK's strongest modern languages departments, this four-year full-time programme gives you access to both traditions at the highest academic level. UCL's location in London, one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world, provides a rich context for language study, and the university's research strengths in both French and Italian studies inform the teaching directly. The typical entry tariff of 168 points reflects the competitive nature of the programme and the high linguistic and academic standards required.

You will develop your proficiency in both languages to a high level, engaging with literature, film, history, and cultural theory across French-speaking and Italian-speaking worlds.

Graduates of French and Italian go on to careers in translation and interpreting, diplomacy, the European institutions, journalism, publishing, teaching, the civil service, cultural organisations, and international business. The combination is particularly valued by employers with interests in Europe and in the major Italian and French-speaking economic zones. The analytical skills developed through close engagement with two foreign literary and cultural traditions are also valued far beyond these specific contexts, in any profession that requires careful reading, precise communication, and the ability to understand different perspectives.

Postgraduate study in French, Italian, comparative literature, or European studies is a natural extension for those who want to deepen their expertise.