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BA ENGLISH LITERATURE WITH FOUNDATION

  • UCAS code
    Q302
  • Typical offer
    CCD
  • Year of entry
    2021
  • Course duration
     4 years
  • Year of entry
    2021
  • Course duration
     4 years
View all

COVID-19 update


Find out about how we'll be delivering our courses in 2020.

Discover how literature has shaped our view of the world, and develop core academic skills, with our BA English Literature with Foundation course.

This four-year programme includes a foundation year that leads directly into the three-year course, providing an excellent route into a degree in English literature if you do not have the typical entry qualifications.

Literature is characterised by extraordinary richness and diversity. Throughout your studies, you will explore texts from across the globe, across a range of genres and periods. Enter lively debate with others who share your passion for literature; study authors and genres that you may already know, and discover others that may be less familiar to you.

Our BA English Literature with Foundation course will provide you with:

  • the creative and critical ability to examine texts in detail, and draw your own conclusions
  • knowledge of a variety of literary texts — including poetry, prose, drama and film — from a range of periods
  • an awareness of the ways in which literature responds to cultural context, and how texts accrue new meaning.

You will be taught by experts from the Department of English Literature, whose expertise and research spans everything from medieval poetry to contemporary Caribbean and American fiction. Our BA English Literature with Foundation is flexible, and you will be encouraged to develop your own literary enthusiasms and follow your interests through our wide variety of modules.

Your learning structure

The aim of the foundation year is to prepare you for your English literature degree. As you progress, each stage builds on your prior learning:

  • Foundation year: gain a thorough grounding in study at degree level. Core modules will develop key skills to support your learning.

You will complete two skills-based modules: Study Skills develops your academic writing, research, referencing, critical thinking, teamwork, study techniques and study management; and Persuasive Writing explores how writing shapes our lives, and how it's used for social media, journalistic and political persuasion.

Two additional modules develop skills specific to the study of arts and humanities: Identities explores identity in relation to national/race identity, gender, changing identities and sense of self, examining everything from texts and objects to film and cultural documents; and Perspectives enhances your ability to study and understand problems, events, objects and texts from a variety of perspectives.

  • First year: engage in lively debate about approaches to the study of literature. You will undertake critical and research exercises, with close study of selected texts from a number of different periods.
  • Second year: you will be given the opportunity to explore a breadth of English literature, delving into texts within historical periods and generic traditions.
  • Third year: undertake more specialised and independent literary study, choosing your modules from a wide range of options. The dissertation module will develop your skills in research, planning and writing.

Supportive learning environment

At Reading, we believe that the study of English literature is a discursive process, in which we learn by sharing our ideas. To this end, we prioritise small-group learning within a friendly and supportive environment. Your learning will take place through a combination of lectures, seminars, practical classes and workshops delivered by our supportive staff.

Enhance your studies

Every year, the Department hosts a Royal Literary Fund Fellow: a professional writer whose role is to advise students on their writing technique. As well as assisting with your essays and coursework, the Fellow can offer feedback on your personal pieces.

Throughout your degree, you will have access to the University's substantial and varied collection of rare books, archives and manuscripts. In your final year, you'll have the opportunity to handle and study these fascinating texts, including the world's largest collection of Samuel Beckett manuscripts.

Placement opportunities with BA English Literature with Foundation

Our innovative placement scheme gives you the chance to undertake an academic placement in commerce, industry or the arts. You can also take a placement module on languages and literature in heritage, education or the media.

Students on our Communications at Work module also undertake a short placement to explore the ways in which skills and knowledge gained in their studies have direct application to the workplace.

Study Abroad

In your second year, you can spend a term studying abroad at one of our partner institutions in Asia, Australia, Canada, Europe and the USA.

To find out more, visit our Study Abroad site.

 

Overview

This four-year programme includes a foundation year that leads directly into the three-year course, providing an excellent route into a degree in English literature if you do not have the typical entry qualifications.

Literature is characterised by extraordinary richness and diversity. Throughout your studies, you will explore texts from across the globe, across a range of genres and periods. Enter lively debate with others who share your passion for literature; study authors and genres that you may already know, and discover others that may be less familiar to you.

Our BA English Literature with Foundation course will provide you with:

  • the creative and critical ability to examine texts in detail, and draw your own conclusions
  • knowledge of a variety of literary texts — including poetry, prose, drama and film — from a range of periods
  • an awareness of the ways in which literature responds to cultural context, and how texts accrue new meaning.

You will be taught by experts from the Department of English Literature, whose expertise and research spans everything from medieval poetry to contemporary Caribbean and American fiction. Our BA English Literature with Foundation is flexible, and you will be encouraged to develop your own literary enthusiasms and follow your interests through our wide variety of modules.

Your learning structure

The aim of the foundation year is to prepare you for your English literature degree. As you progress, each stage builds on your prior learning:

  • Foundation year: gain a thorough grounding in study at degree level. Core modules will develop key skills to support your learning.

You will complete two skills-based modules: Study Skills develops your academic writing, research, referencing, critical thinking, teamwork, study techniques and study management; and Persuasive Writing explores how writing shapes our lives, and how it's used for social media, journalistic and political persuasion.

Two additional modules develop skills specific to the study of arts and humanities: Identities explores identity in relation to national/race identity, gender, changing identities and sense of self, examining everything from texts and objects to film and cultural documents; and Perspectives enhances your ability to study and understand problems, events, objects and texts from a variety of perspectives.

  • First year: engage in lively debate about approaches to the study of literature. You will undertake critical and research exercises, with close study of selected texts from a number of different periods.
  • Second year: you will be given the opportunity to explore a breadth of English literature, delving into texts within historical periods and generic traditions.
  • Third year: undertake more specialised and independent literary study, choosing your modules from a wide range of options. The dissertation module will develop your skills in research, planning and writing.

Supportive learning environment

At Reading, we believe that the study of English literature is a discursive process, in which we learn by sharing our ideas. To this end, we prioritise small-group learning within a friendly and supportive environment. Your learning will take place through a combination of lectures, seminars, practical classes and workshops delivered by our supportive staff.

Enhance your studies

Every year, the Department hosts a Royal Literary Fund Fellow: a professional writer whose role is to advise students on their writing technique. As well as assisting with your essays and coursework, the Fellow can offer feedback on your personal pieces.

Throughout your degree, you will have access to the University's substantial and varied collection of rare books, archives and manuscripts. In your final year, you'll have the opportunity to handle and study these fascinating texts, including the world's largest collection of Samuel Beckett manuscripts.

Placement opportunities with BA English Literature with Foundation

Our innovative placement scheme gives you the chance to undertake an academic placement in commerce, industry or the arts. You can also take a placement module on languages and literature in heritage, education or the media.

Students on our Communications at Work module also undertake a short placement to explore the ways in which skills and knowledge gained in their studies have direct application to the workplace.

Study Abroad

In your second year, you can spend a term studying abroad at one of our partner institutions in Asia, Australia, Canada, Europe and the USA.

To find out more, visit our Study Abroad site.

 

Entry requirements A Level CCD | IB 24 pts overall

Select Reading as your firm choice on UCAS and we will guarantee you a place if you achieve one grade lower than the published offer.

Typical offer

CCD

We welcome applicants from non-traditional educational backgrounds (for example, mature students, students who study part-time or those who have studied at International Schools in the UK or elsewhere) and will consider applicants on a case-by-case basis.

International Baccalaureate

24 points overall

BTEC Extended Diploma

DMM

Extended Project Qualification

In recognition of the excellent preparation that the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) provides to students for University study, we can now include achievement in the EPQ as part of a formal offer.

English language requirements

IELTS 7.0, with no component below 6.0

For information on other English language qualifications, please visit our international student pages.

Alternative entry requirements for International and EU students

For country specific entry requirements look at entry requirements by country.

Pre-sessional English language programme

If you need to improve your English language score you can take a pre-sessional English course prior to entry onto your degree.

  • Find out the English language requirements for our courses and our pre-sessional English programme

Structure

  • Year 1
  • Year 2
  • Year 3
  • Year 4

Core modules include:

  • Study Skills
  • Persuasive Writing
  • Identities
  • Perspectives

Please note that all modules are subject to change.

Core modules include:

  • Genre and Context
  • Poetry in English
  • Research and Criticism

Optional modules include:

  • Introduction to Creative Writing
  • Persuasive Writing
  • Twentieth-century American Literature

Please note that all modules are subject to change.

Optional modules include:

  • Introduction to Old English
  • Lyric Voices
  • Renaissance Texts and Cultures
  • Chaucer and Medieval Narrative
  • Early Modern Theatre Practice
  • Restoration to Revolution
  • The Romantic Period
  • Modernism in Poetry and Fiction
  • Critical Issues
  • Victorian Literature
  • Contemporary Fiction
  • Writing America
  • Writing and Revising
  • Shakespeare
  • Writing, Genre, Identity
  • Writing, Genre and the Market
  • The Business of Books

Placement modules include:

  • Communications at Work
  • Literature, Language and Media
  • Literature, Language and Education

Please note that all modules are subject to change.

Core module:

  • Dissertation

Choose your modules from a list of approximately 40 specialist topics, including:

  • Alfred Hitchcock
  • American Poetry: Bishop to Dove
  • Black British Fiction
  • Colonial Explorations
  • Contemporary American Fiction
  • Children’s Literature
  • Class Matters
  • ‘Eyes on the Prize’: Literature of the US Civil Rights Movement
  • Classical and Renaissance Tragedy
  • Decadence and Degeneration
  • Dickens
  • Eighteenth-century Novel
  • Fiction and Ethnicity in Post-war Britain and America
  • Editing the Renaissance
  • Family Romances
  • Holocaust Fiction
  • City of Death and Desire: Henry James and Venice
  • Holocaust Testimony
  • Irish Poetry
  • James Joyce
  • Literature and the Railway
  • Margaret Atwood
  • Modern and Contemporary British Poetry
  • Modern Scottish Fiction
  • Nineteenth-century American Fiction
  • Nigerian Prose Literature: from Achebe to Adichie
  • Packaging Literature
  • Psychoanalysis and Text
  • Restoration Literary Culture
  • Samuel Beckett
  • Science in Culture
  • The Writer’s Workshop: Studying Manuscripts
  • Victorian and Edwardian Children’s Fantasy
  • Virginia Woolf and Bloomsbury
  • Writing Global Justice
  • Writing Women: Nineteenth-century Poetry
  • American Graphic Novel
  • The African-American Short Story
  • Digital Text: Literature and the New Technologies
  • John Milton
  • Modern American Drama
  • Modernism and Politics
  • Shakespeare and Gender
  • Utopia
  • Victorian Literature and Medicine

Please note that all modules are subject to change.

Fees

New UK/Republic of Ireland students: £9,250* per year

New international students: £17,320 per year

*UK/Republic of Ireland fee changes

UK/Republic of Ireland undergraduate tuition fees are regulated by the UK government. These fees are subject to parliamentary approval and any decision on raising the tuition fees cap for new UK students would require the formal approval of both Houses of Parliament before it becomes law.

EU student fees

With effect from 1 August 2021, new EU students will pay international tuition fees. For exceptions, please read the UK government’s guidance for EU students.

Additional costs

Some courses will require additional payments for field trips and extra resources. You will also need to budget for your accommodation and living costs. See our information on living costs for more details.

Financial support for your studies

You may be eligible for a scholarship or bursary to help pay for your study. Students from the UK may also be eligible for a student loan to help cover these costs. See our fees and funding information for more information on what's available.

Careers

Careers for BA English Literature with Foundation graduates

Our BA English Literature with Foundation course can open the door to graduate careers that require excellent literacy and critical intelligence. The skills you'll develop are particularly attractive within:

  • communications and media industries
  • creative industries and publishing
  • the education sector.

Prospective employers value the intellectual training, versatility, and resourcefulness that you will gain during your degree studies in English literature.

Contextual offers


We make contextual offers for all our courses.

Take the next step


How to apply

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Related Courses

  • BA English Literature Q300
    Full Time: 3 Years
  • BA English Literature with Creative Writing Q3W8
    Full Time: 3 Years
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  • Archaeology
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Subjects C-E

  • Chemistry
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Subjects N-T

  • Nutrition
  • Pharmacology
  • Pharmacy
  • Philosophy
  • Physician Associate Studies
  • Politics and International Relations
  • Psychology
  • Real Estate and Planning
  • Spanish
  • Speech and Language Therapy
  • Surveying and Construction
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Subjects U-Z

  • Wildlife Conservation
  • Zoology

Subjects A-C

  • Agriculture
  • Ancient History
  • Animal Sciences
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  • Biomedical Sciences
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  • Consumer Behaviour
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  • Data Science
  • Economics
  • Education
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  • Engineering
  • English Language and Applied Linguistics
  • English Literature
  • Environmental Science
  • Film, Theatre and Television
  • Finance
  • Food and Nutritional Sciences
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  • Graphic Design

Subjects H-P

  • Healthcare
  • History
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