BSL and Deaf Studies

BSL and Deaf Studies at the University of Central Lancashire has great heritage with nearly 30 years of teaching. It is estimated that more than 60% of BSL/English interpreters working in the UK have been taught at the University.

British Sign Language (BSL), sign linguistics and deaf studies at the University of Central Lancashire have long been recognised for world-leading research, continuous top student satisfaction rates and pioneering work on the development of employability skills.

Studying with us means that you can benefit from us as the leading Higher Educational Institution in the UK for the training of BSL-English interpreters.

You can study at both undergraduate and postgraduate level, with the courses covering all aspects of deafness as a social and cultural phenomenon, enabling you to develop a fluency in British Sign Language and academic route to progress with your professional career as a BSL interpreter. The wealth of modules available to choose from will give you the advantage to design a course to meet your individual interests and career goals.

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Monthly Staff Spotlight - Dr Lynne Barnes

Lynne has recently been awarded the NADP Lifetime Achievement Award. Each year the National Association of Disability Practitioners, NADP, recognises one individual in the disability and inclusivity field for their sustained contribution to making a really positive difference to the experiences of disabled students and/or disabled staff in higher or further education.

It is estimated that more than 60% of British Sign Language/ English interpreters working in the UK have been taught on our courses.
The University of Central Lancashire celebrated 25 years of teaching British Sign Language and Deaf Studies in 2018.
Staff include Fellow of the Higher Education Academy Lynne Barnes, who was awarded for her work in BSL and Deaf Studies.

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SignTeach Online

SignTeach Online is a European project of which the BSL & Deaf Studies team at UCLan are the Lead Partner. This project is funded by the Erasmus+ program and involves 7 partners from 7 EU countries. This project, SignTeach Online is both developed and intended for sign language teachers.

Because of Covid-19, sign language teachers, like others, had to switch to distance learning in 2020. How was that done? What were the challenges? What worked, what did not work? These are the questions we will answer together by posting good examples, interviews, podcasts and more on the project's website.

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Graduates from our undergraduate BSL and Deaf Studies programmes enter a variety of careers and professions, which include: Lecturers (HE and FE), Teachers (Primary, Secondary, Specialist Teacher of the Deaf), BSL/English Interpreters (freelance and agency, Deaf Welfare organisations, Social Workers, Educational Support Workers, Media, Police, Higher degrees and research, and running their own businesses. Successful graduates from our postgraduate course will be eligible to register and work as Professional British Sign Language interpreters.

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Meet the team

The BSL and Deaf Studies Team is a partner in the Deaf Museums Project, a transnational project funded under the Erasmus+ programme of the EU. The consortium consists of 7 organisations from 6 European countries.

Our long-term objective is to help preserve, protect, and share the Deaf Heritage, Deaf History in Europe.

We will be involved in the creation of both a virtual and a live Deaf Museum exhibition. We will also collate case studies of Deaf people’s lives to enrich the exhibition and website. More information can be found on the project's website.