English Literature
Durham University
UCAS Code: Q300 | Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)
Durham University
UCAS Code: Q300 | Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)
Entry requirements
A level
Specific subjects/grades required for entry: English Literature (or the combined English Literature and Language) at grade A
Access to HE Diploma
Specific subjects/grades required for entry: At least 12 credits must be taken in English at Level 3 and passed with distinction.
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
To include 6, 6, 6 from Higher Level subjects Specific subjects/grades required for entry: English Literature at grade 6 or English Language and Literature at grade 6
Leaving Certificate - Higher Level (Ireland) (first awarded in 2017)
Specific subjects/grades required for entry: Higher Level English Grade H2
OCR Cambridge Technical Extended Diploma
Other level 3 Cambridge Technical qualifications are also accepted in combination with each other or with other qualifications. See our website for more information on our Cambridge technical qualification equivalencies. Specific subjects/grades required for entry: English Literature (or the combined English Literature and Language) at grade A or equivalent
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
Other BTEC level 3 qualifications are also accepted in combination with each other or with other qualifications. See our website for more information on our BTEC qualification equivalencies. Specific subjects/grades required for entry: English Literature (or combined English Literature and Language) at grade A or equivalent
Scottish Advanced Higher
Specific subjects/grades required for entry: Advanced Higher English at grade A
Scottish Higher
We normally make offers based on Advanced Highers. If you’ve not been able to take three Advanced Highers, then we’ll consider a combination of Advanced Highers and Highers, or just Highers (if your school doesn’t offer Advanced Highers at all). Specific subjects/grades required for entry: Advanced Higher English at grade A if taken. or Higher English at grade A if Advanced Higher English wasn’t available for study.
T levels will be considered on a case-by-case basis where the subject area aligns with the course applied to. Please note that additional A levels or equivalent may be required to study certain courses. If you’re interested in applying, then please Ask Us and we’ll see if we’re able to consider this for you: www.durham.ac.uk/study/ask-us/
UCAS Tariff
We've calculated how many Ucas points you'll need for this course.
About this course
**Course details**
Not only does English Studies provide a thorough grounding in the ‘great tradition’ of English literature – from Chaucer and Shakespeare through to plays, poems and novels written in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries – and in literary theory, but it also offers a wide range of imaginative and research-led modules.
The comprehensive syllabus combines traditional areas of literary study with new and developing areas of the discipline. It aims to develop your conceptual abilities and analytical skills by exposing you to a variety of literary-critical approaches. This will promote and develop the clarity and persuasiveness of your argument and expression, enabling you to develop, to a high degree of competence, a range of skills which are both subject-specific and transferable.
**Why Durham University?**
We are consistently ranked as one of the leading English departments in the UK, so when you choose to study English at Durham you can be assured of the highest quality learning experience.
Spanning texts from Chaucer to Shakespeare, from Jane Austen to Virginial Woolf, and American poetry to twenty-first century novels, English Studies at Durham will appeal to those with a sensitivity to language, a love of reading and a sense of intellectual adventure.
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.
It also develops the highly transferable linguistic, critical and analytical skills that are sought after in the contemporary workplace.
**Facilities**
Students have access to extensive general collections in literary studies which are housed in the University library, and a number of specialist collections and archives in Palace Green, in the heart of Durham city.
**Rankings**
**29th** in QS World University Subject rankings 2025
**4th** in the Complete University Guide 2025
**4th** in the Guardian University Guide 2025
**Top** 10 in the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2025
**Career Opportunities**
Academically, we inspire our students to develop as analytic, sensitive and creative readers and writers, yet an English Studies degree is worth so much more.
We aim to transform students into independent thinkers with the ability to communicate their ideas clearly and effectively. It’s this skill set, coupled with effective organisational and research skills, that makes them so highly valued across a range of work environments.
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.
Modules
For current information please scroll to the bottom of the page for Provider Information and select Visit our Course Page under Course Contact Details.
Assessment methods
Most modules will be assessed by summative essays and end-of-year examinations.
You should have developed the ability to interpret different ideas and values represented in literature, to test the ideas of others and to pursue ideas of your own.
In the third year you will write a 10,000-word dissertation on a subject of your choice related to English Literature. The dissertation is a double-weighted module (worth the credit of two modules).
Extra funding
Durham University offers a range of scholarship opportunities to academically well-qualified and highly motivated students. For further details, including deadlines for application, please visit: https://www.durham.ac.uk/study/scholarships/
What students say
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Literature in english
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Literature in english
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Literature in english
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£22k
£27k
£33k
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