Polish and Russian
Polish and Russian is a combination that spans two major Slavic languages, giving you access to the two largest language communities within the Slavic family and to two national traditions of extraordinary literary and historical significance. Russian is spoken by over 150 million people as a first language and has been one of the world's diplomatic and scientific languages for centuries. Polish is spoken by over 40 million people and is the official language of one of Central Europe's most economically significant nations.
Studying both gives you a deep grounding in Slavic linguistics as well as two distinct literary and cultural traditions.
University College London is one of the leading centres in the UK for Slavonic and East European languages, with research and teaching expertise across the full range of the field. The four-year full-time Polish and Russian programme develops proficiency in both languages to an advanced level, working through grammar, pronunciation, reading, translation, and spoken communication, while situating language learning within the history, literature, and culture of Poland and Russia. You will read major literary texts in the original in each language, engage with the history of both societies through empire, occupation, revolution, and post-communist transition, and develop the comparative linguistic insight that comes from working within two related but distinct linguistic systems simultaneously.
The combination develops not only practical language skills but a nuanced understanding of how language, identity, and history intersect.
A typical entry tariff of 152 points reflects the academic demands of this specialist programme.
Graduates with Polish and Russian are valued in diplomacy, European and international organisations, business development in Slavic markets, translation and interpreting, journalism covering Eastern Europe, government analytical roles, academic research, and cultural organisations. The combination of the two most spoken Slavic languages is rare and commercially valuable.