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BA English Literature

  • UCAS code
    Q300
  • Typical 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

Explore a range of writers from across the globe and every period of history, from the middle ages right up to the present, with our BA English Literature course.

Our English Literature degree will enable you to examine in greater detail authors and genres that you may already know (from tragedy to Gothic, from Shakespeare and Dickens to Plath and Beckett). But it will also introduce you to aspects of literary studies that may be less familiar to you, from children's literature to publishing studies and the history of the book. Our academics have published research on everything from medieval poetry to contemporary American fiction, and they will help you to develop your own literary enthusiasms.

On this course, you will also have the option to study creative writing throughout your degree. Our lecturers and professors of creative writing are all writers who work at the highest professional levels.

Your first year will ensure that you have the advanced skills in literary analysis necessary for undergraduate work as you explore the major genres of English literature:

  • prose
  • poetry
  • drama
  • non-fiction.

You will think about the different ways that literary texts respond to their cultural contexts and how they accrue new meanings in the process of interpretation. Other, optional areas of study can include creative writing, American literature, translation, book history, and comparative literature.

In your second year, your studies can range from medieval poetry to contemporary fiction and cover a wide range of topics and approaches to reading.

In your third year, your studies can be more diverse and specialised. For example, you can do archive work or look at the politics of literature.

Everyone in the Department of English Literature, from new lecturers to professors, teaches at every level of the degree. This gives you the benefit of our expertise and makes you part of the conversation about the ways that English studies are developing.

We prioritise small-group learning within a friendly and supportive environment, and a mix of lectures and seminars.

We believe that the study of English Literature is a discursive process in which we learn by sharing our ideas. For this reason, all our third-year teaching takes place in seminars taught by research-active experts in the field. We will provide detailed and thorough feedback on your written work. This is crucial to your development as a writer, whether you intend a career in creative or professional writing.

For more information, please visit the Department of English Literature website.

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 heritage, in education, and in the media. Students on our Literature, Languages and Education module also undertake a short placement to explore the ways in which the skills and knowledge gained in their studies have direct application to the workplace.

Study abroad

In your second year, you can spend a semester studying abroad at one of our partner institutions in Asia, Australia, Canada, Europe and the USA. To find out more, visit the Study Abroad website.

Overview

Explore a range of writers from across the globe and every period of history, from the middle ages right up to the present, with our BA English Literature course.

Our English Literature degree will enable you to examine in greater detail authors and genres that you may already know (from tragedy to Gothic, from Shakespeare and Dickens to Plath and Beckett). But it will also introduce you to aspects of literary studies that may be less familiar to you, from children's literature to publishing studies and the history of the book. Our academics have published research on everything from medieval poetry to contemporary American fiction, and they will help you to develop your own literary enthusiasms.

On this course, you will also have the option to study creative writing throughout your degree. Our lecturers and professors of creative writing are all writers who work at the highest professional levels.

Your first year will ensure that you have the advanced skills in literary analysis necessary for undergraduate work as you explore the major genres of English literature:

  • prose
  • poetry
  • drama
  • non-fiction.

You will think about the different ways that literary texts respond to their cultural contexts and how they accrue new meanings in the process of interpretation. Other, optional areas of study can include creative writing, American literature, translation, book history, and comparative literature.

In your second year, your studies can range from medieval poetry to contemporary fiction and cover a wide range of topics and approaches to reading.

In your third year, your studies can be more diverse and specialised. For example, you can do archive work or look at the politics of literature.

Everyone in the Department of English Literature, from new lecturers to professors, teaches at every level of the degree. This gives you the benefit of our expertise and makes you part of the conversation about the ways that English studies are developing.

Learning

We prioritise small-group learning within a friendly and supportive environment, and a mix of lectures and seminars.

We believe that the study of English Literature is a discursive process in which we learn by sharing our ideas. For this reason, all our third-year teaching takes place in seminars taught by research-active experts in the field. We will provide detailed and thorough feedback on your written work. This is crucial to your development as a writer, whether you intend a career in creative or professional writing.

For more information, please visit the Department of English Literature website.

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 heritage, in education, and in the media. Students on our Literature, Languages and Education module also undertake a short placement to explore the ways in which the skills and knowledge gained in their studies have direct application to the workplace.

Study abroad

In your second year, you can spend a semester studying abroad at one of our partner institutions in Asia, Australia, Canada, Europe and the USA. To find out more, visit the Study Abroad website.

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

International Baccalaureate

30 points overall including 5 at higher level in English Literature or related subject.

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.

BA English Literature with Foundation

We also offer BA English Literature with Foundation. This four-year programme includes a foundation year that leads directly into the three-year course, providing a route into a degree in English literature if you do not have the typical entry qualifications.

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:

  • Theory and Practice of Writing
  • Introduction to Drama
  • Poetry in English
  • Prose: Writing Identities

Optional modules:

  • Modern American Culture and Counterculture
  • Thinking Translation: History and Theory
  • Shelf Life
  • What Is Comparative Literature?

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. 

Optional modules:

  • Critical Thinking
  • Myth, Legend and Romance: Medieval Storytelling
  • Victorian Literature
  • Writing America: Perspectives on the Nation
  • Contemporary Fiction
  • Creative Writing: Creative Non-Fiction
  • Early Modern Literature
  • Modernism in Poetry and Fiction
  • Enlightenment Revolution and Romanticism
  • Writing in the Public Sphere
  • The Business of Books
  • Study Abroad

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:

  • Dissertation

Optional modules:

  • British Black and Asian Voices: 1948 to the Present
  • Lyric Voices, 1340-1650
  • Family Romances: Genealogy, Identity, and Imposture in the Nineteenth-Century Novel
  • Decadence and Degeneration: Literature of the 1890s
  • Placing Jane Austen
  • Utopia and Dystopia in English and American Literature
  • From Romance to Fantasy
  • Psychoanalysis and Text
  • Shakespeare on Film
  • James Joyce
  • Class Matters
  • Nigerian Prose Literature: From Achebe to Adichie
  • Environment, Ecology and Literature
  • Literature and Healing
  • Medieval Otherworlds
  • The Writer’s Workshop: Studying Manuscripts
  • The Bloody Stage: Revenge and Death in Renaissance Drama
  • Writing Women: Nineteenth Century Poetry
  • Global Literatures: Translation as Theme and Theory
  • Literature and Mental Health
  • Margaret Atwood
  • Modern and Contemporary British Poetry
  • American Graphic Novels
  • Childrens Literature

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.

Flexible courses (price per 10 credit module)

UK/Republic of Ireland students: £750

International students: £1275

Careers

As an English literature 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: these are valuable skills 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.

Some of our students decide to continue their studies at postgraduate level; others have successful careers in fields as diverse as law, business administration, web-design, teaching and journalism. In the Graduate Outcomes Survey 2019-20, overall, 89% of graduates from English Literature are in work or further study within 15 months of graduation*. Past graduates have gone on to work for employers such the BBC, The Telegraph, Oxford University Press, Waterstones, Cisco Systems and the Royal Mint, as well as local authorities and schools.

*Based on our analysis of HESA data © HESA 2022, Graduate Outcomes Survey 2019/20; includes first degree English Literature responders.

Studying English at Reading has allowed me to learn about the origins of the English language, write an original short story and create informative pieces for an exhibition in a local museum. Now I'm moving to South Korea to teach English, something I can't imagine doing had I studied anywhere else.

Chantal Armitage
BA English Literature

Alannah talks about BA English Literature.

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