The English degree at Bangor is special for two reasons:
- Width (the course runs from 900 to 2005) and;
- Choice (40 optional modules).
In particular, our 'English with' degree options allow you to spend a third of your time on other subject areas:
The BA Creative Studies degree allows you to combine Creative Writing, Film Studies, Journalism and/or Theatre Studies with English in a wide variety of combinations.
Most courses in the English department are double modules, which means you take three courses in each of the two semesters in the year. Each course is examined at the end of the semester it was taught in, to spread the workload and remove the stress of annual examinations. Generally, the first year converts you from solid A'level and Access readers to more sophisticated critics, the second year asks you to read widely across canonical texts, and the third year requires you to read thematically and deeply in a small number of texts (including those for an individually-supervised dissertation on a topic of your choice).
2. Quality teaching: in small groups of 1-12, taught by all 15 staff members. You would typically have between six to nine hours contact time a week, divided between lectures, seminars, and tutorials. We take a pride in knowing our students personally, and have a well-developed pastoral system to aid students with problems with their work. Find out more by visiting our sample a course page.
There are facts behind these claims. We challenge you to compare our 2004 vital statistics with any other English department in the UK:
| Personal teaching |
| 1:17 |
department staff:student ratio |
| 1 |
maximum number of students in 3rd year dissertation group |
| 14 |
average number in 2nd year seminar group |
| 100 |
% of professors doing undergraduate tutoring |
| Choice of courses |
| 2:10 |
you choose 2 modules from 10 running in year 1 |
| 6:35 |
you choose 6 modules from 35 running in years 2 and 3 |
| 9-21 |
the range of centuries of literature we teach |
| 8 |
the types of assessment we currently use (three hour examinations, 3,500 word essays, 10,000 word dissertations, oral presentations, hypertext preparation, editions, gobbet commentary, portfolios) |
Detailed information about current modules
| Staff quality |
Excellent |
Our expected rating in the 2006 Quality Assurance round |
| 4 |
Rated 4 out of a maximum of 5 in 2001 Research Assessment Exercise ranking all UK departments; expected 5 in RAE 2007 |
More Staff Information
More About Our Research
| Student resources 2004-05 |
| 14,446 |
£ library spend per head p.a. on English books and other materials |
| 8 |
hours per day English librarian available to students |
| 42,182 |
volumes on English literature in library, 2000 of them on Shakespeare. |
| 12 |
hours library open every day |
| 84 |
dedicated computer terminals for humanities students |
| 24 |
hours computer rooms open every day |
| Student interest |
| 4.2 |
out of 5 average satisfaction on student questionnaires |
| 28 |
plays, films, and events organized 2004 |
| 35 |
eminent speakers at 2004 guest lectures in the department |
| 5 |
student clubs dedicated solely to drama and poetry: including SODA , ROSTRA , and BEDS . |
| and - naturally, given this quality of work - the 2005 results: |
| 46 |
% graduated with I or II.i degree |
| 18 |
% went on to higher education [2003 cohort] |
| 74 |
% went into employment [2003 cohort] |
