BA English (Q300)

2024 entry | view 2025 entry

Course summary

Studying English is rewarding, enjoyable and prepares you for the future. Reading literature allows us to question our world, to discover new ideas and ways of being, to evaluate historical and social processes, and to think through the complexities of our own times.

Our degree in English Literature is designed to give you a deep understanding of the literary past and the literary present. You'll study texts in English written from medieval times to now, and you'll explore literary traditions ranging from the local to the global. You'll be taught by world-leading experts who will introduce you to exciting and challenging critical and theoretical approaches. By choosing from a diverse range of options including interdisciplinary and creative writing units, you can shape your degree to align with your own interests. In your final year dissertation you'll be able to work independently on a topic entirely of your own devising.

At Bristol, you'll join an intellectually curious and friendly community, in a city full of culture. Over the course of your degree, you'll be supported in developing your own identity and sense of purpose as a reader, thinker, writer, and communicator. Bristol English graduates are versatile, creative, questioning, articulate, and highly sought after by employers in sectors ranging from the creative economy to law and finance.

Course structure

Full details about the course structure and units for this course can be viewed in the programme catalogue.

Go to programme catalogue

Entry requirements

We accept a wide variety of qualifications and welcome applications from students of all backgrounds. Below is a guide to the typical offers for this course.

AAA including English Literature or combined English Literature and Language
ABB including A in English Literature or combined English Literature and Language

Find out if you are eligible for a contextual offer
DDD in any Applied General BTEC National Level 3 Extended Diploma and A in either English Literature or combined English Language and Literature at A-level (or equivalent)

Find out more about BTEC entry requirements
36 points overall with 18 at Higher Level, including 6 at Higher Level in English A Literature or combined English A Literature and Language
32 points overall with 16 at Higher Level, including 6 at Higher Level in English A Literature or combined English A Literature and Language

Find out if you are eligible for a contextual offer
85% overall, with 8.5 in English
Advanced Higher: AA including English, and Standard Higher: AAAAB
Access to HE Diploma in Humanities or Social Sciences (or similar titles). The 45 graded Level 3 credits must include at least 30 credits at Distinction (including 12 from English Literature units) and 15 at Merit or above

More about Access to HE entry requirements
Requirements are as for A-levels, where you can substitute a non-subject specific grade for the Welsh Baccalaureate Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate at that grade.
Requirements for principal subjects are as for A-level, where D1/D2 is A*, D3 is A, M1/M2 is B, and M3 is C.
The University of Bristol welcomes applications from international students, and we accept a wide range of qualifications for undergraduate and postgraduate study.

Search international qualifications
More about UK qualifications.