BA (Hons) English Literature with Foundation Year

The course has been designed to develop your skills and to prepare you for entry onto the first year of your chosen course. It provides a balance between content related to your chosen subject and the range of wider skills required for undergraduate study. This is an integrated four-year degree, with the foundation year as a key part of the course. You will be required to pass the foundation year in order to progress to the first year of your chosen degree.

This course offers you the opportunity to follow the development of English Literature, from the tales of Chaucer and the plays of Shakespeare to the poems of Benjamin Zephaniah and the novels of Monica Ali. You will also have plenty of opportunity to develop your own critical or creative voice with a final dissertation choice of an extended essay on your preferred subject or a portfolio of your own creative writing. You will work in small groups, guided by expert lecturers and develop valuable transferable skills including communication and debating, to enhance your career opportunities.

The English Literature course uses a wide variety of assessment. Although most units use the essay as one of the ways in which learning outcomes are assessed, all units employ other means of assessment, including oral presentations, close readings, reviews, research proposals, a range of phase tests and seen and unseen exams, as well as the dissertation, which can be either a research dissertation or a creative writing portfolio with commentary.

From the beginning of the course, you will develop the skills and the knowledge necessary to become an independent learner who is able to work proactively in academic and professional contexts. You will learn how to synthesise materials from different sources into coherent essays that articulate considered and evidence-based arguments, you will practise the conventions of modes of writing in the professional world and you will be taught creative thinking techniques and how to communicate ideas and perceptions in fresh and original ways.