A young male university student in clinical scrubs conducting a hearing test at audiometry equipment, with a patient wearing headphones visible through the sound booth window and test results displayed on screen, representing the clinical focus of Audiology degrees

DEGREE GUIDE

Audiology

What do Audiology degrees involve?

Audiology degrees teach you how to diagnose, treat, and manage hearing and balance disorders using medical and scientific expertise. You will explore key areas such as hearing assessment, auditory rehabilitation, anatomy and physiology, acoustics, and neuroscience. These courses help you develop strong clinical, problem-solving, and communication skills while learning how to work with patients of all ages to improve their hearing and quality of life. You will also gain hands-on experience using specialist equipment and working in clinical settings. With practical placements, research opportunities, and professional accreditation, you’ll be prepared for a career in healthcare, audiology, or hearing technology development.

Example
Modules

Introduction to Hearing Science and Technology: Explore how the ear works and how sound is measured, gaining a foundation in hearing assessment and hearing aid technology.

Clinical and Professional Practice in Audiology: Develop the core clinical skills and professional behaviours needed to begin working with patients in healthcare settings.

Routine Audiological Assessment: Learn how to carry out hearing tests with adults and interpret results to support diagnosis and treatment planning.

Common Degree Names

💼 Many degrees include NHS or clinical placements as part of the course structure.
🌍 Study abroad is not commonly offered due to NHS training requirements.

BSc (Hons) Audiology
BSc (Hons) Healthcare Science (Audiology)
BSc (Hons) Audiology with Clinical Placement

An anatomical ear model alongside various hearing aids, ear moulds, an audiometer, otoscope and audiogram results with patient notes, illustrating the specialist diagnostic equipment and clinical skills developed in Audiology degrees

Level 3 (A-level / IB Diploma (HL) / Scottish Highers)

Audiology trains you to assess hearing, fit hearing aids, and support people with hearing difficulties. These degrees are clinical and science-based, so universities expect a strong science background.

You'll need:

Biology – essential for most Audiology courses

Subjects that could strengthen your application:

Chemistry, Physics or Maths – commonly required or preferred as a second science
Psychology – sometimes accepted as a supporting science

✨ Biology plus one other science (or Maths) keeps the widest range of options open for you.

Universities may also accept:

BTEC Extended Diplomas in Applied Science (being phased out) or Health and Social Care (being phased out), often with strong biology/physics units; some courses may ask for an A-level science
BTEC National Extended Certificates or National Diplomas alongside A-levels that meet the subject requirements above
T-Level in Health may require a science A-Level (Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Maths or Psychology) alongside
IB Career-related Programme (IBCP) with a science subject (such as Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Maths, or Psychology) at Higher Level among your IB subjects (minimum two, ideally three), alongside your Career-Related Study; an Applied Science pathway would be directly relevant

Entry expectations for clinical courses can vary; always check each university’s website for the exact subjects and entry criteria.

Level 2 Qualifications (GCSE / MYP / National 5)

Most courses ask for:

GCSE English Language, Maths and Science at grade 4/C or above, or equivalent such as National 5s or MYP

📘 Separate Sciences are helpful if available, but Combined Science is also widely accepted.

💬 Interviews

Many programmes include interviews, often using MMIs (Multiple Mini Interviews) or panel formats. These explore your communication skills, empathy, and motivation for working with patients, they're about who you are, not just what you know.

🔍 Work Experience

Helpful but not essential. Shadowing in audiology clinics, ENT departments, or care settings can strengthen your application, but universities recognise these opportunities aren't always available. Customer-facing roles or volunteering with people of different ages can also demonstrate relevant skills.

🧾 DBS & Occupational Health

All Audiology courses require a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check and occupational health clearance because of patient contact during placements. This is normally completed after you have been made an offer.

✨ Personal Statement Tips

What draws you to audiology specifically? This is a career where you'll help people of all ages with hearing and balance difficulties, so think about why that appeals to you. If you know someone with hearing loss, have volunteered in relevant settings, or have explored how hearing affects communication and quality of life, reflect on what you learned and what questions it raised. Reading about audiology developments, listening to podcasts about hearing science, or researching the technology behind hearing aids can all deepen your understanding. Admissions tutors want to see genuine interest in patient-centred care and curiosity about the science of hearing.

If your qualifications don't match the usual entry requirements, there are some other possibilities.

🌱 Foundation Year in Health Sciences or Science

Some universities offer a foundation year if you don't have the required science subjects or grades. This adds an extra year but leads directly into the full degree.

🎓 Access to HE Diploma (Science or Health Professions)

Accepted by universities offering Audiology. Choose a pathway with strong biology and science content, and aim for Distinctions in your graded units.

Is this degree right for you?

Members can explore whether this degree fits who they are:

Skills you'd develop and whether they match your strengths
How this aligns with your interests, motivators and values
Career paths and where graduates end up

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Skills you would develop in X degree

Skill Name

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Is this a good fit for you?

Use the tabs to explore the kind of person that this would be a good fit for. Do you share the Interests, Motivations, Values, Work identity and skills that people who thrive in this course tend to have?

Not sure what these things are? Explore your Identity Tree with us first.

Interests that connect well with an Audiology degree

Students who enjoy this degree often share these interests. You don't need to feel strongly about all of them, and interests develop over time. If one or two catch your curiosity, or sound like something you'd like to know more about, that's a good sign.

The Human Body & How It Works: Hearing science is the foundation of the degree. You'll study how the ear converts sound into signals the brain can interpret, how the vestibular system controls balance, and how these systems are affected by disease or ageing.

Health, Illness & How People Are Cared For: Hearing loss management and rehabilitation are central to the degree. You'll learn how hearing disorders are diagnosed, how hearing aids and cochlear implants support patients, and how audiologists help people adapt to hearing changes that are typically lifelong.

Learning, Education & Development: Paediatric and educational audiology is a substantial strand. You'll study how hearing develops in infants and children, how hearing loss affects language acquisition and learning, and how audiologists support children in school and family settings.

Students who thrive in an Audiology degree are often motivated by

Building and Sustaining Relationships

You feel energised by work where the people you work with aren't passing strangers but become known to you across years: clients, patients, students, customers. Forming new connections matters, but the deeper energy comes from the slower work of staying present, remembering the small details, picking up where you left off. You come most alive when someone you've known for years is back in front of you, and you take up the conversation as if no time had passed.

Helping or Serving Others

You feel driven to support others directly, whether that's providing care, offering help, or doing work that improves the quality of life of people or animals. The satisfaction of knowing your effort made a tangible difference to another living being is what carries you, more than abstract achievement or recognition. You come most alive when the person or animal in front of you is better off because of what you've just done.

Teaching and Developing Understanding

You're energised by helping someone else truly understand something. The moment when an explanation clicks, when confusion turns to clarity, gives you a real buzz. Whether it's breaking down a complex idea, coaching someone through a new skill, or finding a different way to explain something that wasn't landing, you're motivated by building understanding in others. You probably already find yourself naturally explaining things to friends or classmates.

Precision and Thoroughness

You feel satisfied when work is done accurately and completely. Whether it's getting calculations exactly right, spotting errors others miss, or making sure every detail is correct, the pursuit of precision gives you a sense of accomplishment. Sloppy or "good enough" work frustrates you, and you take pride in getting things right first time.

Practical Problem-Solving

You're energised by finding fixes to real-life issues, whether they're mechanical, technological, or social. You're motivated by problems you can see, touch, or experience directly, and you get satisfaction from solutions that work in practice, not just in theory. You'd rather build a prototype than write a report about one.

Analysing and Investigating

You're energised by making sense of information, looking for evidence, spotting patterns, and piecing together how things connect. Whether it's pulling apart data, questioning assumptions, or tracing a problem back to its source, you find energy in the process of understanding what's really going on. You'd rather dig into the details than accept things at face value.

What makes Audiology click for the students who love it?

Hearing is something most people take for granted, and that is exactly what fascinates them. They want to understand how the ear turns sound into meaning, and what can be done when it fails. Precision runs through the training: testing hearing, reading the results and working out the right fix, where a small slip sends the plan the wrong way. On placement, they find it is as much about the person as the test, putting someone at ease and learning to show them how to manage it. Helping a person follow a conversation again is what they came for.

These are the skills that students who love this degree tend to enjoy using. You don't need to be great at them already, but if they sound like you, that's a good sign.

Skill Name

Skills that suit this degree

You don't need to be great at these already — but if you enjoy using them or want to get better at them, that's a good sign.

Do you enjoy working with technology and equipment — learning how specialist tools work and using them precisely?
Do you find yourself naturally adjusting how you communicate depending on who you're talking to?
Are you curious about the science behind hearing and sound — how the ear works and what happens when things go wrong?
Do you notice when someone is finding a conversation difficult, and want to help rather than move on?

Careers an Audiology degree could lead you to

Audiology

What do Audiology degrees involve?

Example Modules

Common Degree Names

Is this degree right for you?

Skills you would develop in X degree

Skill Name

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Is this a good fit for you?

Careers an Audiology degree could lead you to

Example
Modules