Newcastle University

English Literature BA Honours
UCAS Code: Q306 (3 Years)

• Course Overview
• Modules
• Entry Requirements
• Careers
• Finance

English Literature has a long and prestigious history at Newcastle University, having been taught here for over a century.

This degree provides you with an excellent education in literature, drama and film. Taught by accomplished scholars, the degree combines a flexible approach and wide range of option choices with extensive historical coverage.

There are also opportunities to practise creative writing and theatre and to make films or join a work placement in one of the regional cultural industries. However, our principal aim is to deepen your knowledge of literary texts and give you a firm foundation in the critical and theoretical skills needed to analyse them.

In Stages 1 and 2, we introduce you to a wide-range of literary texts – poetry, prose, plays and film – and offer a balance of pre-twentieth century topics and more contemporary ones.

In Stage 3, you choose four specialist topics linked to your lecturers' research expertise, and write a dissertation on a topic that you are passionate about.

Teaching and assessment

The content of all of our degrees is shaped by the research specialisms of our staff, many of whom are international leaders in their field. This means you have access to the very latest ideas and discoveries in your subject, as well as exploring new and exciting areas of study, such as film history, creative writing and language variation, through the modules available in the degree.

We focus our research in five key areas:

• Literature
• English Language and Linguistics
• Creative Writing
• Children's Literature
• Film

You can normally expect to spend around 10 hours per week attending lectures, seminars, workshops and film screenings. You will be expected to supplement this with around 25 hours per week on class preparation, reading, writing, and other kinds of independent research recommended by your tutor. 

Your work will be assessed through a variety of traditional and innovative forms of assessment, including written course work, group presentations, discussion-board postings and end-of-semester examinations. Teaching and assessment methods may vary from module to module; more information can be found in our individual module listings.

Quality and ranking

The quality of the English study experience at Newcastle is recognised with a top ten UK ranking in The Times/Sunday Times Good University Guide 2014 and an overall satisfaction score of 92% in the National Student Survey 2013.

English Language and Literature at Newcastle ranks in the top 150 universities in the world in the QS World University Rankings by Subject.

Cultural industries placement

In Stage 3, you have the chance to gain valuable work-related experience by undertaking a work placement in one of the cultural industries. This is an exciting opportunity to relate the knowledge and skills you have acquired to the work environment, as well as enhancing your CV.

Your placement will be an integrated part of your degree which will last for one day per week for about 10 weeks (60 hours). Your placement will be assessed through the submission of a Project Work Diary and a Final Report which together form the Placement Portfolio.

Places are limited and entry to the module may be on a competitive basis.

Field trips and events

Studying at Newcastle means much more than your time spent in the classroom or the library. The School also organises regular field trips to cultural venues in the region such as theatres, The Wordsworth Trust (Dove Cottage), Lindisfarne, Seven Stories, Bede’s World and other local museums including Beamish and the Great North Museum.

We are home to the Newcastle Centre for the Literary Arts (NCLA). This brings internationally renowned writers to Newcastle, through a year-long festival of readings, discussion and debate.

The cross-faculty Centre for Research in Linguistics and Language Sciences also organises a rich programme of extra-curricular events.

Study abroad

You will have the opportunity to study abroad for one semester in your second year, through the Erasmus programme. The work that you do and the grades you achieve are counted towards your final degree.

The School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics has Erasmus links with the following universities:

• Leiden in the Netherlands
• Peter Pazmany in Hungary
• Gdansk in Poland
• Ghent in Belgium

We also have study abroad links with two universities in Canada – Dalhousie and New Brunswick - available through our Non-EU Study Abroad exchange programme.

School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics

As a student at Newcastle, you will be part of our School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics, which has a long and prestigious history.

The School occupies its own building, the Percy Building, in the heart of campus where you will join a lively community of students, academics, authors and professionals.

All of our students enjoy exceptional library provision from our award-winning University Library service, which houses over one million books and a huge range of electronic resources.

The School has a lively literary society, EngSoc, which organises social and academic events around a literary theme, as well as a Linguistics Society.

There is an active student drama scene on campus with two student drama societies open to all: Newcastle University Theatre Society and the Gilbert and Sullivan Society.

There are also opportunities throughout the year to take advantage of subsidised tickets for theatre productions in Newcastle.

Newcastle University Students' Union is home to one of the best student newspapers in the country, The Courier, which is always popular with students in the School. You also have the opportunity to submit poetry and short prose for the School's magazine, Alliterati.

Visit the School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics' website, where you can:

• find out more about the School's facilities
• watch video interviews with our current students
• watch video interviews with our graduates and find out what they're doing now