BA English Literature with Foundation

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.

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 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.

The Academic Skills module helps you to acquire successful study skills, including academic writing, research and referencing, critical thinking, teamwork, effective study techniques and time management. The Study for Success module enables you to develop as a successful student in this field, building on your strengths and targeting key skill areas. The Identities module explores ideas of identity under four themes: national/race identity, gender, changing identities and a sense of self. It covers a wide range of texts and objects, including film, novels and novellas, poems and plays and cultural documents.

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.

94% of students in the Department of English Literature said our teaching staff were good or very good at explaining things (National Student Survey, 2023).

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 Literature, Languages and Education 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 semester 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

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.

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.

Learning

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.

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

94% of students in the Department of English Literature said our teaching staff were good or very good at explaining things (National Student Survey, 2023).

Enhance your studies

Placement opportunities with BA English Literature with Foundation

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 our Study Abroad site.

Entry requirements A Level CCD

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.

Our typical offers are expressed in terms of A level, BTEC and International Baccalaureate requirements. However, we also accept many other qualifications.

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

Compulsory modules

Study for Success

Gain experience in producing assignments at undergraduate level, increasing your understanding of the assessment requirements of your degree.

Global Identities

Consider your place in the global community by exploring two aspects of identity that shape our engagement with the world: gender and sexuality identity, and race and national identity.

Optional modules

Changing Identities

Foundation in Academic Skills

Film Narrative

Environmental Humanities

Explore how texts and digital media help us understand the relationship between humans and the physical environment. You’ll examine presentations of nature and the impact of humans.

Academic Skills

These are the modules that we currently offer for 2024/25 entry. They may be subject to change as we regularly review our module offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Please note that the University cannot guarantee that all optional modules will be available to all students who may wish to take them.

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.

Compulsory modules

Theory and Practice of Writing

Discover the key concepts that shape our understanding of literature from the perspective of composition and of critical work. Consider how writers are connected to other authors, editors and publishers as you articulate your own and others’ ideas in a portfolio of written work.

Introduction to Drama

Discover the genre of drama as you explore a historical range of texts from the early modern periods. You’ll focus on four plays as you explore comedy, tragedy, form, structure, and the elements of change and continuity found within the genre.

Poetry in English

From the Renaissance to the present, uncover the history of poetry as you explore key genres related to love, politics, pastoral, elegy, satire, the sonnet, the ode, and the dramatic monologue. You’ll study poems drawn from the wider English-speaking world including Ireland, the Caribbean and North America, encountering the diversity of voices found in gender and sexuality.

Prose: Writing Identities

Explore a range of literary prose, both fiction and non-fiction, from the eighteenth-century to the present day. You’ll consider these texts from a variety of critical perspectives to understand how they respond to various cultures, socio-political issues and aesthetics, with particular attention to the construction of identities such as ‘race’, gender and class.

Optional modules

Modern American Culture and Counterculture

Discover American countercultures in work, from 1950s Beat poetry to fiction responding to the Black Lives Matter movement. You’ll study the perspectives of African-American, Native American and white American creatives in a variety of genres: poetry, short stories, YA fiction, science fiction, drama, songs, films, war reportage and the graphic novel. Shelf Life

Become acquainted with English literature’s material dimension and how writers, both past and present, have depicted the library as a symbol. As you study, you'll interpret poems, novels and plays, and investigate books and other archival documents as physical objects.

What Is Comparative Literature?

Thinking Translation: History and Theory

Please note that the University cannot guarantee that all optional modules will be available to all students who may wish to take them.

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.

Optional modules

Myth, Legend and Romance: Medieval Storytelling

Explore storytelling in medieval England as you take in the fantastical tales of ancient heroes, drama that blends comedy and religious devotion, and magic and supernatural beings. You’ll consider the stark contrast of narrative structure, character development and language use by medieval writers in contrast to our own.

Victorian Literature

Victorian literature consists of a period where authors began to consider people’s place in the world with God, the workings of the mind, and the role of class and gender in the construction of identity. You’ll engage with these ideas as you consider some of the greatest works of the period – from Dickens and Hardy to Tennyson and Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

Contemporary Fiction

Study a selection of fiction from the 1980s to the present day, exploring the formal, thematic and cultural diversity of Anglophone fiction produced in this period. You’ll consider these texts within a number of social, political and historical contexts, such as multiculturalism, feminism and globalisation.

Creative Writing: Creative Non-Fiction

Study memoirs, essays, blog posts, long-form journalism, biography and auto-fiction as you explore the exciting and ever-evolving contemporary genre. As you study these texts, you’ll write your own piece of creative non-fiction and support others with creative feedback.

Modernism in Poetry and Fiction

Examine the concepts of modernity, modernism, and the history of early twentieth-century poetry and fiction. You’ll explore experimentation and innovation in poetic and narrative form, and their relation to wider social upheaval and cultural movements in the period.

Enlightenment Revolution and Romanticism

Writing in the Public Sphere

Writing America: Perspectives on the Nation

The Business of Books

Early Modern Literature

Critical Thinking

Please note that the University cannot guarantee that all optional modules will be available to all students who may wish to take them.

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.

Compulsory modules

Dissertation

Complete a substantial work of literary-critical argument based on sustained independent research under the guidance of a supervisor. Engage in depth with a topic of particular interest as you develop the skillset accumulated during your first two years of study.

Optional modules

British Black and Asian Voices: 1948 to the Present

Examine a range of British texts (poetry, drama, novels, short stories, films) by writers of Black and Asian descent. You’ll read theoretical and historical material as you examine issues of cultural capital, national identity, and minority communities.

Lyric Voices, 1340-1650

Explore lyric poetry from the Middle Ages and the renaissance. You’ll look at the presentation of themes such as love and longing, grief, and the fear of death, and compare the ways in which authors make use of literary conventions to present such themes.

Utopia and Dystopia in English and American Literature

Discover the idea of utopia in western literature from its philosophical, satirical origins in the 16th century to the ecological utopias of the twentieth century. As you study, you’ll consider the inter-relation between utopias and dystopias.

The Writer’s Workshop: Studying Manuscripts

Gain a practical and theoretical introduction to modern literary manuscripts and textual scholarships. You’ll be given the unique opportunity of drawing on the resources of the extensive range of material held at the University’s Special Collections, including drafts, letters and notebooks.

Literature and Mental Health

Discover how literature engaged with mental health in the first half of the twentieth century, a crucial turning point in psychology. You’ll consider the de-stigmatisation of mental health in the wake of World War I, the disciplines of psychiatry and psychology that emerged from it, and how literature engages with trauma, anxiety and obsession.

From Romance to Fantasy

Psychoanalysis and Text

Shakespeare on Film

James Joyce

Class Matters

Family Romances: Genealogy, Identity, and Imposture in the Nineteenth-Century Novel

Decadence and Degeneration: Literature of the 1890s

Placing Jane Austen

Nigerian Prose Literature: From Achebe to Adichie

Environment, Ecology and Literature

Literature and Healing

Medieval Otherworlds

The Bloody Stage: Revenge and Death in Renaissance Drama

Writing Women: Nineteenth Century Poetry

Global Literatures: Translation as Theme and Theory

Margaret Atwood

Modern and Contemporary British Poetry

American Graphic Novels

Childrens Literature

Please note that the University cannot guarantee that all optional modules will be available to all students who may wish to take them.

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

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. 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).

BA English Literature with Foundation

Your learning structure

Supportive learning environment

Enhance your studies

Placement opportunities with BA English Literature with Foundation

Study Abroad

*UK/Republic of Ireland fee changes

EU student fees

Additional costs

Financial support for your studies

Careers for BA English Literature with Foundation graduates

Ready for more?