Program Overview

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English Literature

English Literature is a three-year full-time undergraduate degree that offers a comprehensive grounding in literary theory and the study of English literature from Chaucer to the present day.

Degree Type

BA

Course Length

3 years full-time

Location

Durham City

UCAS Code

Q300

Typical Offers

• A Level: A*AA
• BTEC: D*DD
• International Baccalaureate: 38

Course Details

The English Literature degree provides a thorough grounding in the 'great tradition' of English literature and in literary theory. It aims to develop your conceptual abilities and analytical skills by exposing you to a variety of literary-critical approaches.

You can also apply to add a placement year or a year abroad to your degree, which would increase the course from three years to four.

Year 1 Modules

Core Modules:

• Approaches to Literary Studies: A theoretically reflective, historically informed overview of 'literature' as a concept and literary studies as a discipline.
• Introduction to Drama: Introduces the work of, and critical debate about, a wide historical range of drama and dramatists writing in English.
• Introduction to the Novel: Introduces ways of reading English novels and various contexts for studying them.
• Introduction to Poetry: Introduces a wide range of poems by poets writing in English from the early modern to the contemporary periods.

Optional Modules:

• Romance and the Literature of Chivalry: Treats the concepts of knighthood, courtliness and chivalry in a range of later medieval texts.
• Epic and the Literature of Legend: Introduces students with no previous knowledge of medieval literature to the varieties of epic and related genres.

Year 2 Modules

Core Modules:

• Shakespeare: Introduces a broad range of Shakespeare's work and enables you to analyse in detail a selection of works from different periods of Shakespeare's oeuvre.
• Theory and Practice of Literary Criticism: Introduces the presuppositions and principles of literary criticism and issues of knowledge, value and ideology arising from the practice of reading.

Optional Modules:

In recent years, optional modules have included:

• Chaucer
• Old English
• Old Norse
• Old French
• Renaissance Literature
• Literature of the Modern Period
• American Poetry
• Postcolonial and World Literatures
• Modern Poetry
• Writing Women: Gendering Literature, c.
• Hotel Stories
• Writing Horrors
• Literature and the Internet
• Poetry by the Book
• Reading Paradise Lost
• Fin-de-Siècle Fiction

Year 3 Modules

Core Modules:

• Dissertation: A 10,000-word dissertation on a subject of your choice related to English Literature.

Optional Modules:

In recent years, optional modules have included:

• Restoration and 18th Century Literature
• Old English
• Old French
• American Fiction
• Post-War Fiction and Poetry
• Keats and Shelley
• The Rise of Popular Music
• Post-1945 Black British Writing
• Life Write Now: Reading Contemporary Autofiction
• Creative Writing Poetry / Prose Fiction
• Sexology and the Novel
• Mind and Narrative

Entry Requirements

• A level offer: A*AA, including an A in English Literature or combined English Literature and Language.
• Contextual offer: AAB, including an A in English Literature or combined English Literature and Language.
• BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma/OCR Cambridge Technical Extended Diploma: D*DD and equivalent A level requirements as above.
• IB Diploma score: 38 with 666 in higher level subjects, including English Literature or English Literature/Language.

Fees and Funding

The fees for this academic year have not been confirmed yet.

Career Opportunities

Graduates progress into a diverse range of careers and sectors, including roles in arts and theatre management, broadcasting, publishing and journalism, technical writing, business, marketing and advertising, teaching, higher education, law, the third sector and government.

Department Information

English Studies is a popular and highly regarded subject that will give you a broader and more balanced understanding of how the world works, politically, psychologically and sociologically.

Rankings

• 4th The Complete University Guide 2025
• 4th The Guardian University Guide 2025
• Top 40 The QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025

Facilities

We are located close to Durham city centre with most of the Department's teaching and research taking place in two buildings: the Georgian listed building, Hallgarth House and Elvet Riverside, which stands beside the River Wear.