BA English and History
About this course
BA in English and History, an English and History degree focused on the study of literature alongside the historical contexts of their creation. Core topics include Research Methods, Historical Research, Communication & Writing, Critical & Analytical Thinking, Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning, and Global & Comparative Perspective. Students gain access to specialized facilities including Special Collections, the Bill Douglas Cinema Museum, and a Digital Humanities Lab. The first year covers foundational concepts through compulsory modules such as Beginnings: English Literature before 1800, Becoming a Historian: Core, Understanding Medieval and Early Modern History, and Understanding Modern History. Optional modules in the first year allow exploration in areas like Digital Cultures: Narrative, Creativity, Industry, The Novel, and The Poem. Subsequent years offer a wide range of optional choices spanning periods from the medieval era to the twenty-first century, featuring modules such as Desire and Power: English Literature 1570-1640, Chaucer and His Contemporaries, Forgetting Fascism, Remembering Communism: Memory in Modern Europe, and Strategy and Success in the Second World War.
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. Required subjects: B in an accepted Humanities or Social Science subject* (see below). *Accepted Humanities and Social Science subjects: Anthropology; Classics and Ancient History; Drama; English; Geography; Government and Politics; History; Law; Media Studies; Modern Languages; Philosophy; Politics; Psychology; Religious Studies; Sociology. IB: 34/665.
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What students say
Based on about 160 final-year students who answered, across similar courses at this university
- Teaching on my course: 91%
- Learning opportunities: 81%
- Assessment and feedback: 76%
- Academic support: 95%
- Organisation and management: 78%
- Learning resources: 90%
- Student voice: 70%
Do students stay on the course?
Based on about 280 students who started, across similar courses at this university
- Continued on course: 95%
- Left higher education: 5%
What graduates do next
Based on about 93 graduates who answered, across similar courses at this university
- Working: 64%
- Working and studying: 12%
- Further study: 9%
- Unemployed: 5%
Most common jobs
- Business and public service associate professionals: 24%
- Elementary occupations: 9%
- Media Professionals: 9%
- Administrative occupations: 7%
- Artistic, literary and media occupations: 7%
- Find their work meaningful: 77%
- Feel on track for their future plans: 66%
- Use what they learnt on the course: 55%
Where graduates work (5 years on)
Based on about 405 graduates, across similar courses at this university
- North West: 1%
- Yorkshire and the Humber: 2%
- East Midlands: 2%
- West Midlands: 3%
- East of England: 9%
- London: 37%
- South East: 25%
- South West: 17%
- Wales: 3%
Who gets in
Based on about 295 students who started, across similar courses at this university
- A levels: 96%
- Baccalaureate: 1%
- Access course: 1%
- A degree: 1%
- Other HE qualification: 1%
Accreditation & quality ratings
TEF 2023 (whole university): Gold overall, Gold for student experience, Gold for student outcomes.
Modules
- Beginnings: English Literature before 1800
- Becoming a Historian: Core
- Understanding Medieval and Early Modern History
- Understanding Modern History
- Digital Cultures: Narrative, Creativity, Industry
- The Novel
- The Poem
- Academic English
- Rethinking Shakespeare
- Imagine This: Prompts for Creative Writing
- Climate Emergency! An Introduction to Environmental Arts and Humanities
- Sources and Skills: Modern
- Sources and Skills: Early Modern
- Sources and Skills: Medieval
- Desire and Power: English Literature 1570-1640
- Theatrical Cultures in Early Modern England
- Chaucer and His Contemporaries
- Renaissance and Revolution
- Satire and the City: English Literature 1660-1750
- Revolutions and Evolutions 19C Writings
- Modernism and Modernity: Literature 1900-1960
- Romanticism
- Empire of Liberty: American Literature of the Long Nineteenth Century
- Adaptations: Text, Image, Culture
- Creative Writing: Building a Story
- Creative Writing: Making a Poem
- British Cultures: The Exeter Seminar
- Comics Studies: Histories, Methodologies, Genres
- Creative Industries: Their Past, Our Future
- Humanities after the Human: Further Adventures in Critical Theory
- Culture, Crisis and Ecology in a Postcolonial World
- Adventures in Environmental Arts and Humanities
- Forgetting Fascism, Remembering Communism: Memory in Modern Europe
- Deviants and Dissenters in Early Modern England
- From Gallows to ASBOs: Crime, Punishment, and Society in Britain and Ireland
- Strategy and Success in the Second World War
- Vikings and Other Invaders: Europe under Siege in in the Tenth Century
- Beyond Bridgerton: A Peoples' History of Britain, 1688-1834
- Creating an American Empire: From Westward Expansion to Colonial Empire
- Hunger Games: Poverty, Famine, and Environment
- Russia’s Empires: Societies, Peoples and Cultures
- Beyond the Tudors: Europe’s Worldview Transformed c.1500-1600
- Uses of the Past
- Doing History in the Digital Age
Questions about this course
How much do graduates of BA English and History at University of Exeter earn?
The median salary is £29,000 after 15 months, £28,000 after 3 years, £36,000 after 5 years. After five years the middle half of graduates earn between £29,000 and £46,500. The £36,000 median after five years is £7,000 more than the UK median for English studies.
What do graduates of BA English and History at University of Exeter do next?
86% were in work or further study 15 months after finishing (Graduate Outcomes 2023-24).
Are students happy with the teaching on BA English and History at University of Exeter?
91% of final-year students were positive about the teaching in the National Student Survey 2025-26.
What grades do I need for BA English and History at University of Exeter?
The typical offer is AAB at A level. The average entrant had 150 UCAS points.
Does BA English and History at University of Exeter include a placement year or year abroad?
The course has an optional placement year and an optional year abroad.
How many students continue on BA English and History at University of Exeter?
95% of students continued into their second year, and 5% left higher education.