In each of the three years you must take 120 credits. The information given on these webpages should be supplemented by that given in the Part One and Part Two handbooks.
First Year / Part One
In the first year you choose from a variety of courses in English, designed to develop new skills in critical reading and also to introduce you to texts from a range of literary periods. Over the year you must take modules worth a total of 120 credits.
You take two compulsory modules which are designed to assist you in the transition from A-level, or other courses, to the study of literature at university, QXE1002 Textual Analysis and QXE1001 Critical Interpretations. You also choose from a range of modules which will include texts from some periods of literature which you may not have encountered previously. It is also possible to choose modules from first-year courses in Film Studies, Creative Writing and American Literature and Culture, which are also taught by staff in the School of English.
To find out more about these modules and other offered in the School of English in Part One: click here.
There is also the opportunity, if you wish, to sample courses (worth 20 credits) from other academic subjects e.g. History, Linguistics, Modern Languages, Psychology, Information Technology. To find out about part one modules in other academic schools, see the Gazette.
Second and Third Years / Part Two
In the second year, if you are studying Single Honours English, you study six modules from the English Programme (a total of 120 credits). The courses you choose from provide you with a literary survey of a historical period, stressing, in particular, the historical, conceptual and other contextual aspects of the texts to be studied and introducing you to a broad range of literature. Second year modules are taught by a combination of lectures and seminars.
Students must choose a minimum of 20 credits from each of the sets A and B:
- A QXE2022 Shakespeare
- A QXE2003 Jonson to Johnson
- A QXE2010 Writing the Renaissance
- A QXE2101 Medieval Literature
- B QXE2004 Romanticism
- B QXE2005 Victorian Literature
- B QXE2006 Early Twentieth Century Literature
- B QXE2007 Late Twentieth Century Literature
To find out more about modules offered in the School of English in the second year: click here.
It may be possible to take an elective module in your second year (worth 20 credits), in another academic school, or in one of the 'with' subjects of Creative Writing, Film Studies, American Literature and Culture, Theatre Studies and Journalism. To find out about level two modules in other academic schools, see the Gazette. For further details on how electives contribute to your final degree classification, click here.
There are also opportunities for study abroad, whether in Europe, USA , or Canada, though certain rules do apply. There are also opportunities for study abroad, though certain rules do apply. Students hoping to spend their second year on an exchange programme must take modules equivalent to both sets of pre-1800 and post-1800 literature. If there is no such course available, permission to register for study abroad will not be given.
Third Year
In the third year, if you are studying Single Honours English, you study five modules from the English Programme (a total of 120 credits). One of the five is the compulsory English Dissertation (40 credits), which allows students to work intensively and under individual supervision on a carefully defined topic. The other modules offered are taught in seminars and give students the opportunity to look at a narrower range of texts from a more specialised perspective than Level 2 modules. To find out more about modules offered in the School of English in the third year, click here.
English 'With' Programmes
On 'English with' degrees, you take two thirds of your courses in English and the remaining third from your specialist area of study. To find out more about these degrees, click on a link below:
English with Film Studies
English with American Literature and Culture
English with Theatre Studies
English with Journalism
English Literature with English Language
Creative Studies
Joint Honours Programmes
You may choose to study two subjects in equal proportions to gain a joint honours degree. You may combine study of English with one of the following subjects: Criminology, French, German, History, Italian, Linguistics, Religious Studies, Social Policy, Sociology, Spanish, Welsh.
Full list of Joint Honours courses:
MQ93 English & Criminology (3 years)
QR31 English & French (4 years)
QR32 English & German (4 years)
QV31 English & History (3 years)
QR33 English & Italian (4 years)
QQ13 English & Linguistics (3 years)
QV36 English & Religious Studies (3 years)
LQ43 English & Social Policy (3 years)
LQ33 English & Sociology (3 years)
QR34 English & Spanish (4 years)
QQ35 English & Welsh (3 years)
Note : Joint BA degree courses are of three years' duration except those involving a foreign language (4 years).
Joint Honours students take the two compulsory Part I English courses in their first year and must take a minimum of 20 credits from both sets of pre-1800 and post-1800 English modules. They may select further courses from the same range of modules as Single Honours students; to see the list of modules offered, click here. In Years 2 and 3 Joint Honours students take 50% of their courses in English and 50% in the other subject.
