BA Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies

Programme overview

Entry requirements

Entry Requirements are available on the Course Search entry

Programme specification

On this course, you will become highly competent in Spanish and Portuguese, and gain a detailed under-standing of the cultures and histories of Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking countries in Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia.
Each year, language modules will help you develop and consolidate your spoken and written languages, while optional modules will allow you to explore music, literature, sport, cinema and history, as well as topics like race, ethnicity, and feminism. You will also be able to gain practical skills such as translation or specialised language for business purposes, and develop your personal and intellectual independence.
You will take a compulsory year abroad that will allow you to practise your language skills and get first- hand experience of local culture(s) while gaining skills that make you highly attractive to employers.

Studying at Leeds means you will learn from world-leading experts in fields as diverse as Spanish popular music, translation, Brazilian cinema, gender in the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking worlds, electronic art, Angolan dance, and nationalism and empire. Our teaching across modules is a unique blend of language and content, and many of your modules will contain classes and/or assessment in Spanish or Portuguese. The programme is mainly assessed through coursework, offering students a wide range of creative assessments. Your Final Year Project will be an opportunity for you to work on a topic of your choice, under the close guidance of one of our expert lecturers By the end of your course, you will use Spanish and Portuguese at a professional level of language competence (up to C2 level in the CEFR) and you will have the knowledge, skills and intercultural awareness necessary to achieve your true potential and pursue a wide range of exciting global careers.

Year 1

[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]
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At Level 1, students must study 120 credits. Students are required to take a minimum of 60 credits in Spanish and EITHER 40 credits in Portuguese (Route A) OR 60 credits in Portuguese (Route B)

Students with prior language competence in Portuguese (Route A) may take the remaining 20 credits EITHER as a further option with Spanish OR as discovery modules.

Compulsory Modules

Students are required to study the following compulsory modules:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
SPPO1035	Introduction to Brazil, Portugal and Portuguese Speaking Africa	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
SPPO1260	Upper Intermediate Spanish (B2)	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)	PFP
SPPO1420	Researching Spanish and Latin American Studies	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)

Optional Modules

Route A (Portuguese) Students with prior language competence in Portuguese (at least B1 level of the CEFR) will be required to study the following module:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
SPPO1240	Intermediate Portuguese (A2+ B1)	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)	PFP

Route B (Portuguese) Students with no prior knowledge of Portuguese will be required to study the following modules:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
SPPO1230	Beginners Portuguese A1	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
SPPO1235	Pre-intermediate Portuguese (A2)	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)	PFP

Route A (Portuguese) Students with prior language competence of Portuguese (taking SPPO1214 Intermediate Portuguese) are required to study a minimum of 20 and may study up to 40 credits from the following optional modules: Route B (Portuguese) Students with no prior knowledge of Portuguese (taking SPPO1230 Beginners Portuguese A1 and SPPO1235 Pre-Intermediate Portuguese (A2)) be required to study 20 credits from the following optional modules:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
SPPO1045	The Historical Development of Spain and Hispanic America	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
SPPO1160	Introduction to the Cultural Production of Spain and Spanish America	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)

Please note that optional modules run subject to enrolments. An optional module may not run if only a low number of students choose it.

Discovery Modules

Students with prior language competence in Portuguese taking SPPO1087) may study up to 20 credits of discovery modules.

Year 2

[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]
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At Level 2, students must study 120 credits. Students are required to take a minimum of 40 credits in Spanish and a minimum of 40 credits in Portuguese. Overall, students must take 100 credits across their two subjects. Students are required to take EITHER a further option with Spanish or Portuguese OR a MODL module, which can count towards either of the two subjects (Spanish AND Portuguese). The remaining 20 credits may be taken as EITHER a further option with Spanish or Portuguese OR as discovery modules.

Compulsory Modules

Students are required to study the following compulsory modules:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
SPPO2010	Practical Language Skills in Spanish 2	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)	PFP
SPPO2090	Portuguese Language Skills	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)	PFP
SPPO2412	Culture and Society in the Portuguese-Speaking World	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)

Optional Modules

Students will be required to study 20 credits from the following optional module

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
SPPO2100	Issues in Hispanic Cinema	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
SPPO2110	Literature and the Arts in the Spanish-speaking World	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
SPPO2510	Latin America since Independence (c1800 - c1930)	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
SPPO2680	Modern Spain (1868-1975)	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)

Please note that optional modules run subject to enrolments. An optional module may not run if only a low number of students choose it.

Students may study up to 20 credits from the following optional modules:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
SPPO2580	Translation Theory and Practice in a Spanish - English Context	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)

Please note that optional modules run subject to enrolments. An optional module may not run if only a low number of students choose it.

Students may study up to 20 credits from the following optional modules:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
FILM2020	From Brazil to Africa: World Cinemas in Portuguese	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
MODL2003	Global Queer Politics and Cultures	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
MODL2006	Social Class across Cultures	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
MODL2015	Black Europe	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
MODL2070	Reception, Transmission and Translation: The Global Circulation of Literature	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
MODL2075	Global Environmental Humanities	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
MODL2090	Languages in Action: from Theory to Practice	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
MODL2250	Digital Communications Across Cultures	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)

Please note that optional modules run subject to enrolments. An optional module may not run if only a low number of students choose it.

Students may study up to 40 credits from the following optional modules:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
MODL2015	Black Europe	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
MODL2070	Reception, Transmission and Translation: The Global Circulation of Literature	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
MODL2075	Global Environmental Humanities	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
MODL2250	Digital Communications Across Cultures	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)

Discovery Modules

Students may study up to 20 credits of discovery modules.

Students may study up to 20 credits of discovery modules.

Year 3

[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]
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Compulsory Modules

All students will be required to study the following compulsory module

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
MODL9500	LCS Year Abroad	120	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)	PFP

Year 4

[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]
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At Level 3, students must study 120 credits. Students are required to take a minimum of 40 credits in Spanish and a minimum of 40 credits in Portuguese. Overall, students must take 100 credits across their two subjects. All students must take 40 credits as a Final Year Project (FYP) module, which can be taken in - and count towards - either of their two subjects (EITHER Spanish OR Portuguese) The remaining 20 credits may be taken as a MODL module, which can count towards either of their two subjects (Spanish AND Portuguese), a further option with EITHER Spanish OR Portuguese, or as discovery modules.

Compulsory Modules

Candidates will be required to study the following compulsory modules:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
MODL3050	Final Year Project	40	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)	PFP
SPPO3010	Practical Language Skills in Spanish	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)	PFP
SPPO3110	Advanced Portuguese Language	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)	PFP

Optional Modules

Students who take their FYP in Spanish are required to take the following module. Students who take their FYP in Portuguese may take the following optional module.

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
SPPO3720	Urban Cultures of the Portuguese-Speaking World	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)

Students who take their FYP in Spanish may study up to 20 credits from the following optional modules: Students who take their FYP in Portuguese will be required to study a minimum of 20 credits may take up to 40 credits from the following optional modules:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
SPPO3062	Spanish in an Economic and Business Context	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
SPPO3071	Contemporary Spain: Politics, Culture and Society After Franco	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
SPPO3420	Spanish-English Translation	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
SPPO3800	Icons and Stars: Celebrity and Revolution in Spain and Latin America	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
SPPO3900	Race and Representation in the Spanish-speaking world	20	Not running in 202627

Please note that optional modules run subject to enrolments. An optional module may not run if only a low number of students choose it.

Students may study up to 20 credits of the following optional modules:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
MODL3130	Languages in Action: from Theory to Practice	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
MODL3200	Representing the Holocaust: Transgression and the Taboo	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
MODL3410	Contemporary World Literature	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
MODL3620	Decolonial Approaches	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
MODL3650	Minoritised Languages, Dialects and Cultures from Past to Present	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)

Please note that optional modules run subject to enrolments. An optional module may not run if only a low number of students choose it.

Discovery Modules

Students may study 20 credits of discovery modules.

Last updated: 30/04/2026 16:10:22

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