Program Overview

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Overview

This course is available in Clearing for 2025 entry.

Study Options

• Full-Time (BA) at Gateway House, Chester
• Full-Time with Foundation Year (BA) at Gateway House, Chester

Level

• Undergraduate

UCAS Code

• Q300

UCAS Points

• 112

Start Date

• Oct 2025, Oct 2026

Duration

• 3 years

Location

• Gateway House, Chester

UK Fees

• £9,535 per year for a full-time course (2025/26)

International Fees

• £14,450 per year for a full-time course* (2025/26)

Course Leader

• Dr Richard Leahy

Level

• Undergraduate

UCAS Code

• Q302

UCAS Points

• 72

Start Date

• Oct 2025, Oct 2026

Duration

• 4 years

Location

• Gateway House, Chester

UK Fees

• £5,760 for the first foundation year, then £9,535 per annum for the following years (2025/26)

International Fees

• £10,750 for the first foundation year, then £14,450 per annum for the following years (2025/26)

Course Leader

• Dr Richard Leahy

Available with:

• Foundation Year

Course Summary

On this English Literature degree, you’ll engage with a rich variety of literature and/or language, spanning different historical periods and covering the full range of major literary genres, including prose, poetry, and drama. You’ll develop a deep understanding of key critical, theoretical, linguistic, and stylistic concepts, and learn how to apply scholarly skills such as bibliographic research in your studies.

Why You'll Love It

• Learn from expert tutors
• You can shape the future of the course
• Join a thriving student community

What You'll Study

Foundation Year

• The Law, Humanities and Social Sciences Foundation Year route offers you an important preparation year as part of your four-year degree.
• For Humanities and Social Science subjects, you will explore people and societies and their beliefs, cultures, power structures, stories and narratives, as well as critical inquiry into societal issues and global affairs with contemporary and historical perspectives.

Year 1

• Studying English (100 Credits) Core
  • This module offers an interdisciplinary exploration of English language, literature, and creative writing, focusing on the rich historical and cultural tapestry of the city of Chester.
• Writing for Your Life (20 Credits) Option
  • Writing – both other people’s writing and the writing you do yourself – will be central to your university degree and your future life, whether that is in your career, in further study, or in the lifelong love of learning we hope to inspire.
• Language options (20 Credits) Option
  • You now have the opportunity to pick an optional module to learn a new language or build on your existing language skills as part of your degree.

Year 2

• Advances in English (40 Credits) Core
  • This module takes you on a journey through the history and development of the English language, exploring its evolution alongside the literary and creative works that have shaped and reflected its development.
• Creativity in the Modern Workplace (40 Credits) Option
  • The module provides students with an opportunity to undertake a 140-hour work placement*.
• Time and Place: Literature in Context (20 Credits) Core
  • This module enables you to understand the significance of historical context and place in literature from the Renaissance through to the contemporary period.
• Literary Acts of Resistance (20 Credits) Core
  • Embedding the Chester ‘Citizen Student’ principle at the heart of teaching, this module examines representations of community, activism, and protest in English literature.
• Work Placement (40 Credits) Option
  • This module provides a structured, university-level work placement for 4, 5 or 7 weeks as one continuous block / period with a placement provider.
• Language options (40 Credits) Option
  • The Level 5, 40-credit modules require a basic foundation of knowledge of your chosen language e.g. GCSE or equivalent, a Level 4 module in the same language or equivalent previous learning.
• Creative Futures: CSP (40 Credits) Option
  • This module will provide you with the practical and theoretical underpinning of professional practice in your specific subject, enabling you to identify and develop key employability attributes and skills in preparation for your future career.
• Experiential Learning (40 Credits) Option
  • This is an experiential learning opportunity that incorporates, 20 teaching contact hours/lectures to prepare for the150 contract hours where L5 students can use all their skills learned to date on an actual real-world (external business) client driven project, working in teams and produce an artefact.

Year 3

• Beyond the Page (40 Credits) Core
  • This final-year module integrates English language, literature, and creative writing to prepare you for life beyond university, blending academic study with practical skill development and career-focused applications.
• Type Writing: Literature and Genre (20 Credits) Core
  • This module focuses on varied and exciting examples of ‘genre fiction’.
• Contemporary Literary Cultures (20 Credits) Core
  • This module is an exciting exploration of a range of contemporary texts, which can include flash fictions (short-short stories) and poems in magazines and collections, ‘literary’ novels and ‘popular’ novels, award-winning plays and best-selling plays, and less traditional ‘publications’ on websites and social media.
• CSP Negotiated Research Project (40 Credits) Option
  • This self-directed module allows students to initiate and develop their own major project ideas appropriate to their discipline of study.

How You'll Learn

• You will be assessed in a variety of ways
• There may be some online learning activities
• This course is designed around in-person study
• Study 3 – 6 modules per year

Interdisciplinary Learning

• This course offers interdisciplinary learning with the English, English Language, and Creative Writing courses.

Entry Requirements

• Home Students
  • UCAS Points: 112 points
  • GCE A Level: Typical offer – BCC-BBC
  • BTEC: BTEC Extended Diploma: DMM
  • International Baccalaureate: 28 points including 5 in HL English
  • Irish / Scottish Highers: Irish Highers - H3 H3 H3 H3 H4 (including H3 in English)
  • Access requirements: Access to HE Diploma – Pass overall (including English or one of the alternative subjects above)
  • OCR Cambridge Technicals: OCR Extended Diploma: DMM
• International Students
  • UCAS Points: 72 points
  • GCE A level: 72 points overall, including grade D in A level
  • BTEC: BTEC Extended Diploma: MMP
  • International Baccalaureate: 24 points including 4 in HL English
  • Irish / Scottish Highers: Irish Highers: H4 H4 H4 H4 H4 (including English)
  • Access requirements: Access to HE Diploma – Pass overall (including English or one of the alternative subjects above)
  • OCR Cambridge Technicals: OCR Extended Diploma: MMP
• Foundation Year
  • UCAS Points: 72 points
  • GCE A level: 72 points overall, including grade D in A level
  • BTEC: BTEC Extended Diploma: MMP
  • International Baccalaureate: 24 points including 4 in HL English
  • Irish / Scottish Highers: Irish Highers: H4 H4 H4 H4 H4 (including English)
  • Access requirements: Access to HE Diploma – Pass overall (including English or one of the alternative subjects above)
  • OCR Cambridge Technicals: OCR Extended Diploma: MMP

Fees and Funding

• Home Students: £9,535 per year for a full-time course (2025/26)
• International Students: £14,450 per year for a full-time course* (2025/26)
• Foundation Year: £5,760 for the first foundation year, then £9,535 per annum for the following years (2025/26)
• International Students: £10,750 for the first foundation year, then £14,450 per annum for the following years (2025/26)
• Additional Costs: You will be expected to purchase your own textbooks, but there are various schemes that the English programmes have run in conjunction with bookshops in Chester city centre that can help to aid the cost of this.
• Bursaries: The University of Chester offers generous international and merit-based scholarships, providing a significant reduction to the published headline tuition fee.

Who You'll Learn From

• Dr Richard Leahy
• Professor Melissa Fegan
• Professor Emma Rees
• Dr Sally West
• Professor Deborah Wynne

Where You'll Study

• Exton Park, Chester
• Modern learning resources and library
• Fitness facilities
• Student Services
• Chapel, chaplaincy and multi-faith spaces
• Accommodation
• Catering

Your Future Career

• Job Prospects: A single honours degree in English Literature brings many transferable skills including written and oral communication, textual analysis, presentation, teamwork, time management and independence.
• Progression options: Creative Writing: Writing and Publishing Fiction MA
• Careers service: The University has an award-winning Careers and Employability service which provides a variety of employability-enhancing experiences; through the curriculum, through employer contact, tailored group sessions, individual information, advice and guidance.