​​Welcome to Theology, Philosophy & Religion at CCCU! Canterbury is a unique global location to study the Bible’s prophetic words of justice, the philosophical quest for meaning, contemporary ethics and diverse spiritualities – all supported by an academic team who are genuinely invested in your growth. The course offers rigorous academic study alongside real-life opportunities to get out of the lecture theatre and experience the world-famous Cathedral and our diverse local religious communities. We look forward to meeting you face to face at the beginning of the new academic year.

Dr Ralph Norman
Course Director

Your Teaching Timetable

Teaching for your course will begin w.c 21 September 2026.

To help you plan your first few weeks, you can view an overview of the teaching activities for your course.

View your first semester teaching timetable.

On a mobile device, click the arrow next to “Search” at the top right of the page to view your timetable.

If your course is taught in groups, the overview will show activities for all groups. You will only need to attend sessions for your allocated group.

Once teaching begins, your individual timetable and group allocation will be available in MyTimetable provided you have completed online registration and created your computing account.

Your Semester 1 Modules

Religious Experience and the Sacred

Religion in Contemporary Britain

Success Modules - you will complete 3 of these 5 credit modules*

*Success Modules

Your Journey to Success at CCCU is a compulsory success module. You'll then choose two more Success modules from a choice of eight.

These modules are completed online (asynchronous learning) and are not timetabled, so they won't appear in your teaching timetable.

Key dates

Academic Calendar: Semesters

View key dates for this Academic Calendar for 2026-27 including when teaching starts and finishes and when you break for holidays.

Welcome

​​Your Welcome Week is an essential introduction to your course and the wider University, helping you to feel confident and prepared for your studies right from the very start.

​It is important to check your Course Welcome Week for all the activities you are required to attend as part of your course induction. This will include meetings with your designated Personal Academic Tutor. You can view your course welcome timetable in the Welcome and Induction box at the top of this page.

​In addition, check the Student Events Hub for a range of fun activities. including the Students’ Union Welcome Fair, to help you make friends and live your best CCCU student life.

Getting started

​On completing your online registration and creating your computer account you will be provided with your individual student timetable via MyTimetable. You will also gain access to our Virtual Learning Environment (Blackboard), which provides online course materials, seminar texts, and further details. You will be shown how to make best use of these in Welcome Week.

​Many English translations of the Bible are available, but in line with many scholars we recommend the New Revised Standard Version with Apocrypha for use in academic study. It is essential that you get hold of one as you will be making good use of it over the course of your studies!

Your Must Do Tasks

Once you have been invited to register for your course, there are some key tasks you'll need to complete to make sure you are ready to become a CCCU student. 

Registration invitations are sent towards the end of August. We'll send yours to the email address you used when you applied, so please check this inbox regularly to make sure you don't miss any important information.

Pre-course reading

​​The book recommendations below are an excellent introduction to Theology, Philosophy and Religion and can be used for many of the modules, but please note that there is no requirement to purchase every book for your studies. The idea is to get you used to reading scholarly literature and introduce you to some key texts, traditions, themes and ideas.

  • ​Strawn, B. A. (2020). The Old Testament: A Concise Introduction. Routledge. (A readable and reliable guide which is full of information).
  • ​Chilton, B. and Good, D. (2011). Studying the New Testament. Fortress Press. (A short, accessible introduction for beginners).
  • ​Solomon, N. (2014). Judaism: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press. (Clear, sensitive, and informative).
  • ​Woodhead, L. (2014). Christianity: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press. (Does exactly what the title suggests).
  • ​Holland, T. (2019). Dominion: The Making of the Western Mind. Little, Brown. (Tom Holland’s book provides a vivid historical account of the difference Christianity has made in Western civilisation).
  • ​Ward, K. (2014). The Evidence for God: The Case for the Existence of the Spiritual Dimension. Darton, Longman and Todd. (Keith Ward considers the arts, morality, science, and personal experience as evidence for the sense of a spiritual dimension).
  • ​Hart, D. B. (2014). The Experience of God: Being, Consciousness, Bliss. Yale. (David Bentley Hart‘s philosophical explanation of God in the classical traditions of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Sikhism).

International student success programme

International students: don't miss out! Make sure you register for our international student success programme which provides practical advice on preparing to live and study in the UK.

Contact details

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Speak to our friendly team for support.