BA Music and English Literature
About this course
BA in English Language and Literature and Music, combining literary analysis with musical composition and performance. Core topics include research methods. The programme includes practical ensembles such as the Jazz Ensemble, Symphony Orchestra, and Gamelan Ensemble, and has established links with Welsh National Opera and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales in Cardiff.
Written by AI from the university's course page and module list. It can get details wrong, so check the official course page before you rely on it.
Entry requirements
A level: AAB (Music, and Creative Writing, English Language and Literature, or English Literature)
See the highest paying Languages & English degrees in the UK →
See the highest paying Art, Design, Music & Drama degrees in the UK →
What students say
Based on about 20 final-year students who answered, across similar courses at this university (a small group: a rough guide only)
- Teaching on my course: 92%
- Learning opportunities: 74%
- Assessment and feedback: 78%
- Academic support: 87%
- Organisation and management: 74%
- Learning resources: 85%
- Student voice: 72%
Do students stay on the course?
Based on about 40 students who started, across similar courses at this university
- Continued on course: 85%
- Left higher education: 5%
- Moved to a lower qualification: 10%
What graduates do next
Based on about 12 graduates who answered, across similar courses at this university (a small group: a rough guide only)
- Working: 55%
- Working and studying: 25%
- Further study: 5%
- Unemployed: 5%
Most common jobs
- Business and public service associate professionals: 17%
- Teaching Professionals: 13%
- Administrative occupations: 11%
- Media Professionals: 10%
- Sales occupations: 8%
- Find their work meaningful: 85%
- Feel on track for their future plans: 55%
- Use what they learnt on the course: 35%
Where graduates work (5 years on)
Based on about 85 graduates, across similar courses at this university
- North West: 2%
- Yorkshire and the Humber: 1%
- East Midlands: 2%
- West Midlands: 6%
- East of England: 3%
- London: 19%
- South East: 16%
- South West: 12%
- Wales: 36%
- Scotland: 1%
- Northern Ireland: 2%
Who gets in
Based on about 40 students who started, across similar courses at this university
- A levels: 95%
- A degree: 5%
- No formal qualifications: 5%
Modules
- Reading Up Close
- Ways of Reading: Literature, Culture, Theory
- Writing at University and Beyond
- Composition 1A
- Techniques in Jazz and Popular Music
- Composition 1B
- Elements of Tonal Theory
- Writing About Music
- Music as Culture
- Case Studies in Music History
- Practical Portfolio I
- Practical Musicianship 1
- From Palaces to Proms: A History of Performance Practices (1700-1890)
- The Business of Music 1
- Composition 2A
- Orchestration
- Reading Film Sound
- Music in France Since 1900
- Formal Functions in the Classical Tradition
- Composition 2B
- Studio Techniques 1
- The Business of Music 2
- Practical Portfolio 2
- Practical Musicianship 2
- Seen and Unseen: Tracing the (In)visible in Film and Visual Culture
- Shakespeare's Worlds
- Twentieth-century Literature: Conflict, Crisis, Experimentation
- Feminisms
- Literature, Science and Environment
- Uncanny Encounters: Gothic and Culture from the 1760s to the Present
- Victorian Worlds: Forms of Transformation
- Contemporary Literature and Culture: States of Emergency
- Eighteenth-century and Romantic Poetry and Prose
- Britain and Beyond: Literatures of the Medieval World
- Race, Empire, Nation
- A History of Books from Parchment to Pixel
- Literature for All
- Literature and Science
- Dissertation
- Gender and Monstrosity: Late/Neo Victorian
- Utopia: Suffrage to Cyberpunk
- Postcolonial Theory
- Military Masculinities in the Long Nineteenth Century
- Island Stories: Literatures of the North Atlantic
- American Poetry after Modernism
- John Milton
- Apocalypse Then and Now
- Activist Poetry: Protest, Dissent, Resistance
- Visions of the Future: Climate Change & Fiction
- Romantic Circles: Collaboration, Radicalism and Creativity 1770-1830
- Shakespeare's Fractured Britain
- Visions of Past and Future in Children’s Books
- The Medieval Supernatural: Death, Demons and Ghosts
- Literature and Psychology: To Freud and Beyond
- 'And the Winner is...' The Role of Literary Prizes
- Cinema Across Asia
- Sound Encounters in the Medieval World
- Whodunnit? British Crime Fiction: Text, Screen and Sound
- Ensemble
- The Birth of Modernism
- Jazz, Culture and Politics
- Studio Techniques 2
- Women in 19th Century Music
- Beethoven: Style, Form and Culture
- Practical Portfolio 3
- Practical Musicianship 3
- Composition 3
- Extended Written Project
Questions about this course
How much do graduates of BA Music and English Literature at Cardiff University earn?
The median salary is £25,000 after 15 months, £23,500 after 3 years, £27,000 after 5 years. After five years the middle half of graduates earn between £22,500 and £35,000. The £27,000 median after five years is £1,000 less than the UK median for Literature in English.
What do graduates of BA Music and English Literature at Cardiff University do next?
85% were in work or further study 15 months after finishing (Graduate Outcomes 2023-24).
Are students happy with the teaching on BA Music and English Literature at Cardiff University?
92% of final-year students were positive about the teaching in the National Student Survey 2025-26.
What grades do I need for BA Music and English Literature at Cardiff University?
The typical offer is AAB at A level. The average entrant had 142 UCAS points.
How many students continue on BA Music and English Literature at Cardiff University?
85% of students continued into their second year, and 5% left higher education.