Anthropology
BSc (Hons)
Key facts
UCAS code
L600
Start dates
September 2020
Location
Course length
Full time: 3 years
Part time: up to 6 years
Department
Department of Social Sciences
UCAS Tariff Points
104
Overview
Oxford Brookes is one of the few UK universities to teach biological and social anthropology in tandem. Through the study of biological anthropology, you’ll explore our:
- evolutionary history;
- response to environmental challenges;
- relationship to the other primates.
While social anthropology will take you through the comparative study of societies and cultures all around the world.
Our teaching team are world-leading researchers, and their research directly informs our teaching. You will gain the confidence, skills and academic foundation to tackle a wide range of challenges. And we support you with your learning and encourage you to become a researcher in your own right.
Oxford Brookes is home to the Centre for Environment and Society and the Europe-Japan Research Centre. And the world-renowned Pitt Rivers Museum of Anthropology and World Archaeology is a mile away from our Headington Campus.
Combine this course
You can study this course as part of a combined honours degree. This course can be combined with:
How to apply
Wherever possible we make our conditional offers using the UCAS Tariff. The combination of A-level grades listed here would be just one way of achieving the UCAS Tariff points for this course.
Typical offer
UCAS Tariff Points: 104
A Level: BCC
IB Points: 29
BTEC: DMM
Further offer details
If you accept a Conditional offer to this course as your Firm choice through UCAS, and the offer does not include a requirement to pass an English language test or improve your English language, we may be able to make the offer Unconditional. Please check your offer carefully where this will be confirmed for each applicant.
For combined honours, normally the offer will lie between the offers quoted for each subject.
Applications are also welcomed for consideration from applicants with European qualifications, international qualifications or recognised foundation courses. For advice on eligibility please contact Admissions: admissions@brookes.ac.uk
Entry requirements
Specific entry requirements
Please also see the University's general entry requirements.
English requirements for visas
If you need a student visa to enter the UK you will need to meet the UK Visas and Immigration minimum language requirements as well as the University's requirements. Find out more about English language requirements.
Pathways courses for international and EU students
If you do not meet the entry requirements for this degree, or if you would like more preparation before you start, you can take an international foundation course. Once you enrol, you will have a guaranteed pathway to this degree if you pass your foundation course with the required grades.
If you only need to meet the language requirements, you can take our pre-sessional English course. You will develop key language and study skills for academic success and you will not need to take an external language test to progress to your degree.
Terms and Conditions of Enrolment
When you accept our offer, you agree to the Terms and Conditions of Enrolment. You should therefore read those conditions before accepting the offer.
Credit transfer
Many of our courses consider applications for entry with credit for prior learning. Each application is individually assessed by our credit entry tutors.
If you would like more information about whether or not you may be eligible for the award of credit, for example from an HND, partly-completed degree or foundation degree, please contact our Admissions team.
We operate the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS). All undergraduate single modules are equivalent to 7.5 ECTS credits and double modules to 15 ECTS credits. More about ECTS credits.
Application process
Full time Home / EU applicants
Apply through UCASPart time Home / EU applicants
Apply direct to the UniversityInternational applicants
Apply direct to the UniversityFull time applicants can also apply through UCAS
Tuition fees
Questions about fees?
Contact Student Finance on:
Tuition fees
Please note tuition fees for Home/EU students may increase in subsequent years both for new and continuing students in line with an inflationary amount determined by government. Tuition fees for International students may increase in subsequent years both for new and continuing students.
Oxford Brookes University intends to maintain its fees for new and returning home and EU students at the maximum permitted level.
Financial support and scholarships
Additional costs
Please be aware that some courses will involve some additional costs that are not covered by your fees. Specific additional costs for this course, if any, are detailed below.
We do not expect students to purchase any compulsory course books, as they are all available in the library. If students wish to purchase additional books to supplement their reading this is at their own discretion.
Learning and assessment
Year 1 introduces you to sociocultural and biological perspectives of Anthropology. You can then specialise in social or biological and archaeological anthropology, or a mix of both.
Advanced modules in Years 2 and 3 allow you to focus on specific areas or issues.
Social anthropology includes:
- theories and concepts in social and cultural anthropology
- cross-cultural study of social organisation, kinship and gender
- political and economic structures and institutions
- ethnographic research methods
- religion and ritual
- art and aesthetics
- globalisation and social change.
Ethnographic area specialisms include South Asia, West Africa, Japan and Europe.
Biological anthropology includes:
- human populations and variation in biological characteristics
- gene frequencies
- diseases
- the interaction between people and their environment
- social behaviours and comparative anatomy of non-human primates and early hominins.
The dissertation or project module involves supervised research and allows you to engage in fieldwork.
Learning and teaching
The modules we teach draw upon the teaching staff’s current research. They include:
- the archaeology of the earliest human settlements in the Middle East
- research on Primates in Africa and Asia.
All modules include:
- lectures
- illustrated lectures
- films
- seminars
- tutorials.
Some modules also include:
- practical classes
- group work
- excursions.
Laboratory-based classes are common for the modules about:
- human and non-human primate evolution
- anatomy
- molecular anthropology
- prehistoric archaeology.
We also provide training sessions on analysis to help you develop learning, research and IT skills.
- Lectures and seminars
- Placement
- Other learning activities (including group work, research, conferences etc.)
Year 1
- Lectures and seminars - 20%
- Placement - 0%
- Other learning activities (including group work, research, conferences etc.) - 80%
Year 2
- Lectures and seminars - 21%
- Placement - 0%
- Other learning activities (including group work, research, conferences etc.) - 79%
Year 3
- Lectures and seminars - 17%
- Placement - 0%
- Other learning activities (including group work, research, conferences etc.) - 83%
Learning and teaching percentages are indicative. There may be slight year-on-year variations.
Assessment
Assessment methods used on this course
In Year 1 assessment is by both coursework and examination.
In Years 2 and 3 many modules are assessed by coursework and examination.
Assessment methods include:
- exams
- coursework essays
- in-class tests
- group and individual presentations
- laboratory practical workbooks
- participation in seminars.
- Written exams
- Coursework
- Practical exams
Year 1
- Written exams - 25%
- Coursework - 75%
- Practical exams - 0%
Year 2
- Written exams - 15%
- Coursework - 85%
- Practical exams - 0%
Year 3
- Written exams - 15%
- Coursework - 85%
- Practical exams - 0%
Assessment method percentages are indicative. There may be slight year-on-year variations.
Study Abroad
You may be able to go on a European or international study exchange while you are at Brookes. Although we will help as much as we can with your plans, ultimately you are responsible for organising and funding this study abroad.
After you graduate
Career prospects
Anthropology gives you a broad intellectual foundation and discipline for many careers that involve numeracy, literacy, communication, problem-solving and a comparative perspective. The interdisciplinary approach gives you flexibility and a wider view of the world which often proves attractive to employers.
Our graduates have succeeded in a wide variety of careers, for example in the fields of branding and marketing, recruitment consultancy, medicine, environmental maintenance, urban planning, personnel management, tourism, education and development aid. A number of our students choose to continue their studies at master's level and beyond.
Further study
Many of our graduates are currently engaged in further study in Anthropology and also in a range of other subjects, such as Education, Archaeology, Geography, International Relations, Security and Society, History, and Primate Conservation, with many choosing to continue these studies at Oxford Brookes.
Student profiles
Our Staff
Professor Anna Nekaris
Professor Anna Nekaris is a Professor in Anthropology and Primate Conservation studying the unique group of evolutionary distinct primates known as the Asian lorises. Her studies cover all eleven species, including six she named or elevated from subspecies. Anna is the Course Tutor for the highly acclaimed MSc Primate Conservation, Director of the Little Fireface Project and Convenor of the Nocturnal Primate Research Group.
Read more about AnnaDr Sam Smith
Sam is an expert in the study of chipped stone tools and his work includes typological, technological and use wear analysis of stone tool assemblages from many regions and periods.
Read more about SamDr Thomas Chambers
Thomas Chambers is a Lecturer in Anthropology at Oxford Brookes University, United Kingdom. His research focuses on labour, migration, craftwork and Muslims in India. Thomas has publications in press with Modern Asian Studies on imagination and migration in India and the Gulf and a Special Issue contribution, again with Modern Asian Studies, on urban space, marginalisation and conviviality in India.
Read more about ThomasFree language courses
Free language courses are available to full-time undergraduate and postgraduate students on many of our courses, and can be taken as a credit on some courses.
Information from Discover Uni
Programme Changes: On rare occasions we may need to make changes to our course programmes after they have been published on the website.
For more information, please visit our Changes to programmes page.