Bachelor of Arts (BA) is higher education qualification studied at Higher Education Colleges or universities that helps students to develop a thorough understanding of a subject at levels 4/5 and 6. Unlike other courses such as Accountancy, BAs are assessed on an entirely academic basis.

The BA requires specialist knowledge on a particular subject or subjects and is commonly assessed through essays and dissertations. It develops students’ critical-thinking, information utilisation and transference, and written and spoken skills.

A level of study and information presentation is required leading to Masters or Phd study. Bas take three years full-time or four years part-time to complete. Usually lecture attendance is required. Online study is possible with most universities, but not with the best universities, but flexible learning can be negotiated with even the better universities.

UK degrees are classified as either Ordinary or Honours – this can vary according to the university or college. Top students are awarded a First Class degree, the next an Upper Second Class degree (usually referred to as a 2:1), followed by a Lower Second Class degree (usually referred to as a 2:2), while those with the lowest marks gain a Third Class degree.

BA course are generally suitable for school and college leavers with a level-3 qualification such as A-Level, BTEC, Higher Secondary Certificates, etc. For the better universities such as Bristol, Durham or Cambridge and Oxford a student is expected to obtain the highest marks in each subject taken. Competition is fierce at these universities.