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  • Economics
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  • Marketing
  • Mathematics
  • Medical Sciences
  • Meteorology and Climate
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  • Museum Studies

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  • Pharmacology
  • Pharmacy
  • Philosophy
  • Physician Associate Studies
  • Politics and International Relations
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  • Speech and Language Therapy
  • Surveying and Construction
  • Teaching
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  • Wildlife Conservation
  • Zoology

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  • Accounting
  • Agriculture
  • Ancient History
  • Animal Sciences
  • Archaeology
  • Architecture
  • Art
  • Biological Sciences
  • Biomedical Sciences
  • Business (Post-Experience)
  • Business and Management (Pre-Experience)
  • Chemistry
  • Classics and Ancient History
  • Climate Science
  • Computer Science
  • Construction Management and Engineering
  • Consumer Behaviour
  • Creative Enterprise
  • Creative Writing

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  • Data Science
  • Economics
  • Education
  • Energy and Environmental Engineering
  • Engineering
  • English Language and Applied Linguistics
  • English Literature
  • Environmental Sciences
  • Film, Theatre and Television
  • Finance
  • Food and Nutritional Sciences
  • Geography and Environmental Science
  • Graphic Design

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  • Information Management and Digital Business
  • Healthcare
  • History
  • Information Technology
  • International Development and Applied Economics
  • Languages and Cultures
  • Law
  • Linguistics
  • Management
  • Marketing
  • Meteorology and Climate
  • Microbiology
  • Nutrition
  • Pharmacy
  • Philosophy
  • Physician Associate
  • Politics and International Relations
  • Project Management
  • Psychology
  • Public Policy

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  • Real Estate and Planning
  • Social Policy
  • Speech and Language Therapy
  • Strategic Studies
  • Teacher training
  • Theatre
  • Typography and Graphic Communication
  • War and Peace Studies
  • Zoology

BA English Language and Literature

  • UCAS code
    Q301
  • A level offer
    BBB
  • Year of entry
    2024/25 See 2023/24 entry
  • Course duration
    Full Time:  3 Years
  • Year of entry
    2024/25 See 2023/24 entry
  • Course duration
    Full Time:  3 Years

On our BA English Language and Literature programme, develop your understanding of English as a living and dynamic global language whilst exploring a diverse range of literary texts from Britain, America and beyond.

Our teaching in English language places a strong emphasis on applying theory to real-life situations, and on transferable skills such as problem-solving, team-working and data-analysis. You will learn about how to research issues in the social sciences and how to conduct fieldwork. You will enhance your knowledge of grammar and phonetics as well as learning about how language is used in different social settings, how language is acquired by children and adults, and how our uses of English are being re-shaped by the media. 

Reading’s Department of English Language and Applied Linguistics has more than 50 years of excellence in the field, and we’re in the top 150 universities in the world for these subjects (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2023).

You will study the same number of modules in English literature as in English language. Our literature curriculum has everything you would expect from a department with a century-long reputation for innovative research. You will read more of major authors like Shakespeare and Dickens, Sylvia Plath and Samuel Beckett, but you will also be able to explore the most exciting contemporary writing in English from around the globe. Whether your interests are in creative writing, publishing studies or children’s literature, you will be able to develop your own interests with expert help. 

94% of students in the Department of English Language and Applied Linguistics said that their course challenged them to achieve their best work very often or fairly often (National Student Survey, 2023).

For more information, please visit the websites for English Literature and English Language and Applied Linguistics.

In your first year, you study six modules, three in English language and three modules in English Literature. Your second year modules in English Language build your skills in grammar, phonology and sociolinguistics. In English Literature, you can choose modules that range from Renaissance lyric poetry to contemporary fiction.

In the third year, your module choices are more diverse and specialised. You will also research a dissertation on a subject of your choosing, in either English language or English literature, with one-to-one advice and support from your supervisor. Alternatively, if you are more focused on the practical sense of your degree, you may choose to carry out a Professional Communication Project. By the end of your three years with us, you will be an independent learner and a confident communicator.

Placement

Throughout your degree you will be thinking about the career choices that will enable you to thrive after graduation: we will help you put in place the skills and experience that you need to launch that career. 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 education and in the media. Our students have been very successful at winning places on the University’s Undergraduate Research Opportunities Programme, and have worked on real research projects on multilingualism, child language development, digital editing and archive studies.

Overview

On our BA English Language and Literature programme, develop your understanding of English as a living and dynamic global language whilst exploring a diverse range of literary texts from Britain, America and beyond.

Our teaching in English language places a strong emphasis on applying theory to real-life situations, and on transferable skills such as problem-solving, team-working and data-analysis. You will learn about how to research issues in the social sciences and how to conduct fieldwork. You will enhance your knowledge of grammar and phonetics as well as learning about how language is used in different social settings, how language is acquired by children and adults, and how our uses of English are being re-shaped by the media. 

Reading’s Department of English Language and Applied Linguistics has more than 50 years of excellence in the field, and we’re in the top 150 universities in the world for these subjects (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2023).

You will study the same number of modules in English literature as in English language. Our literature curriculum has everything you would expect from a department with a century-long reputation for innovative research. You will read more of major authors like Shakespeare and Dickens, Sylvia Plath and Samuel Beckett, but you will also be able to explore the most exciting contemporary writing in English from around the globe. Whether your interests are in creative writing, publishing studies or children’s literature, you will be able to develop your own interests with expert help. 

94% of students in the Department of English Language and Applied Linguistics said that their course challenged them to achieve their best work very often or fairly often (National Student Survey, 2023).

For more information, please visit the websites for English Literature and English Language and Applied Linguistics.

Learning

In your first year, you study six modules, three in English language and three modules in English Literature. Your second year modules in English Language build your skills in grammar, phonology and sociolinguistics. In English Literature, you can choose modules that range from Renaissance lyric poetry to contemporary fiction.

In the third year, your module choices are more diverse and specialised. You will also research a dissertation on a subject of your choosing, in either English language or English literature, with one-to-one advice and support from your supervisor. Alternatively, if you are more focused on the practical sense of your degree, you may choose to carry out a Professional Communication Project. By the end of your three years with us, you will be an independent learner and a confident communicator.

Placement

Throughout your degree you will be thinking about the career choices that will enable you to thrive after graduation: we will help you put in place the skills and experience that you need to launch that career. 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 education and in the media. Our students have been very successful at winning places on the University’s Undergraduate Research Opportunities Programme, and have worked on real research projects on multilingualism, child language development, digital editing and archive studies.

Entry requirements A Level BBB

Select Reading as your firm choice on UCAS and we'll guarantee you a place even if you don't quite meet your offer. For details, see our firm choice scheme.

Typical offer

BBB, including grade B in A level English Literature or related subject.

Related subjects: English Language, English Language and Literature, Drama and Theatre Studies and Creative Writing.

International Baccalaureate

30 points overall including 5 in English at higher level.

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.

BTEC Extended Diploma

DDM (Modules taken must be comparable to subject specific requirement)

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.

International Foundation Programme

If you are an international or EU student and do not meet the requirements for direct entry to your chosen degree you can join the University of Reading’s International Foundation Programme. Successful completion of this 1 year programme guarantees you a place on your chosen undergraduate degree. English language requirements start as low as IELTS 4.5 depending on progression degree and start date.

  • Learn more about our International Foundation programme

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

The following modules have been approved in principle for delivery in 2024/25. Please note that as part of our current curriculum improvement process, all modules require final University approval and may be subject to change. 

Compulsory modules:

  • Poetry in English
  • Theory and Practice of Writing
  • Sounds, Grammar and Meaning
  • English Language and Society

Optional modules:

  • Introduction to Drama
  • Modern American Culture and Counterculture
  • Thinking Translation: History and Theory
  • Shelf Life
  • What is Comparative Literature?
  • Institution-Wide Language Programme (IWLP)
  • Globalisation and Language

The University cannot guarantee that all optional modules will be available to all students who may wish to take them. Further information about the content of final approved modules will be available between May and July 2023. We suggest that you regularly revisit this webpage during this time to ensure you have the most up-to-date information regarding the modules offered on this programme.

You can also register your details with us to receive information about your course of interest and study and life at the University of Reading.

The following modules have been approved in principle for delivery in 2024/25. Please note that as part of our current curriculum improvement process, all modules require final University approval and may be subject to change. 

Compulsory modules:

  • English Grammar and Phonology
  • Sociolinguistics

Optional modules:

  • Language, Literature and Education
  • Myth, Legend and Romance: Medieval Storytelling
  • Victorian Literature
  • Writing America: Perspectives on the Nation
  • Contemporary Fiction
  • Critical Thinking
  • Language and Gender
  • Analysing Speech
  • Language and New Media
  • Introduction to Language Teaching
  • Enlightenment Revolution and Romanticism
  • Modernism in Poetry and Fiction
  • Writing in the Public Sphere
  • The Business of Books
  • Early Modern Literature
  • Institution-Wide Language Programme (IWLP)

The University cannot guarantee that all optional modules will be available to all students who may wish to take them. Further information about the content of final approved modules will be available between May and July 2023. We suggest that you regularly revisit this webpage during this time to ensure you have the most up-to-date information regarding the modules offered on this programme.

You can also register your details with us to receive information about your course of interest and study and life at the University of Reading.

The following modules have been approved in principle for delivery in 2024/25. Please note that as part of our current curriculum improvement process, all modules require final University approval and may be subject to change. 

Compulsory modules:

  • Language in Professional Communication

Optional modules:

  • Lyric Voices, 1340-1650
  • James Joyce
  • From Romance to Fantasy
  • British Black and Asian Voices: 1948 to the Present
  • Placing Jane Austen
  • Decadence and Degeneration: Literature of the 1890s
  • Child Language Development
  • Corpus-based Approaches to Language Description
  • Multilingualism and Impairment across the Lifespan
  • Introduction to Speech and Language Pathology
  • Writing Women: Nineteenth-Century Poetry
  • Children's Literature
  • Virginia Woolf
  • The Bloody Stage: Revenge and Death in Renaissance Drama
  • Literature and Mental Health
  • Modern and Contemporary British Poetry
  • Issues in Bilingualism
  • Teaching the Language Skills
  • Language and Migration
  • Institution-wide Language Programme (IWLP)
  • Dissertation

The University cannot guarantee that all optional modules will be available to all students who may wish to take them. Further information about the content of final approved modules will be available between May and July 2023. We suggest that you regularly revisit this webpage during this time to ensure you have the most up-to-date information regarding the modules offered on this programme.

You can also register your details with us to receive information about your course of interest and study and life at the University of Reading.

Fees

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

New international students: £22,350

*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

The interdisciplinary scope of this degree prepares you for a wide variety of professions. As an English graduate, you will enter the job market with highly developed research and communication skills. You will know how to access reliable information on any topic and how to present your findings in clear and persuasive language: valuable assets in today’s economy, where information and communication skills are vital. You will have the critical and cultural awareness necessary for working in the public sector and the media. Our innovative placement modules will ensure that you have the complete package that employers are looking for: a good degree, workplace skills and experience.

In the latest Graduate Outcomes Survey 2020/21, 95% of our leavers are in work or further study within 15 months of graduation (Based on our analysis of HESA data © HESA 2023, Graduate Outcomes Survey 2020/21; includes first degree English Literature responders). Our graduates work in publishing and the media, (Oxford University Press, the BBC and ITV). They also work as communication experts in large organisations like the NHS, in banks and in government; others are now working as teachers in the UK and as teachers of the English Language in China and Japan (among other places). Many of our students decide to continue their studies at postgraduate level too.

Your communications skills, your ability to research a problem thoroughly, to manage data and documentation, and to present ideas and policies clearly and persuasively, will equip you for the career you want.

 

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