BA English Literature and History (Placement Year)
About this course
BA Hons in English Literature and History (Placement Year), an English Literature and History degree combining the study of literary texts with historical investigation. Core topics include Research Methods and Historical Research. The course includes a dedicated work-based placement year in the third year, allowing students to gain professional experience in an industrial or sectoral role. The first year introduces foundational approaches through Literature in Time, Handling Historical Evidence, and Controversy in History, alongside optional modules covering medieval worlds, politics, and world literatures. The second year deepens critical analysis with Critical Theory and Who Makes History?, supported by optional topics ranging from postcolonial literature to twentieth-century Britain. The third year consists entirely of the professional placement. The final year centres on advanced study through modules such as The Use and Abuse of History, alongside a wide range of optional choices spanning contemporary literature, Romanticism, and global history, as well as an independent English Literature Dissertation.
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 IB: 35 points overall with 16 points from the best 3 HL subjects
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Admissions (2022 entry, home applicants)
Offer rate 88%: 7 offers from 8 applications, from the university's Freedom of Information return.
What students say
Based on about 60 final-year students who answered, across similar courses at this university
- Teaching on my course: 93%
- Learning opportunities: 85%
- Assessment and feedback: 78%
- Academic support: 90%
- Organisation and management: 70%
- Learning resources: 96%
- Student voice: 66%
Do students stay on the course?
Based on about 110 students who started, across similar courses at this university
- Continued on course: 95%
- Left higher education: 5%
What graduates do next
Based on about 59 graduates who answered, across similar courses at this university
- Working: 58%
- Working and studying: 10%
- Further study: 20%
- Unemployed: 6%
Most common jobs
- Teaching Professionals: 15%
- Elementary occupations: 10%
- Teaching and Childcare Support Occupation: 10%
- Artistic, literary and media occupations: 10%
- Managers, directors and senior officials: 10%
- Find their work meaningful: 80%
- Feel on track for their future plans: 45%
- Use what they learnt on the course: 40%
Where graduates work (5 years on)
Based on about 120 graduates, across similar courses at this university
- North East: 2%
- North West: 48%
- Yorkshire and the Humber: 16%
- East Midlands: 3%
- West Midlands: 4%
- East of England: 3%
- London: 14%
- South East: 3%
- South West: 2%
- Wales: 2%
- Scotland: 1%
Who gets in
Based on about 115 students who started, across similar courses at this university
- A levels: 94%
- Baccalaureate: 2%
- Other HE qualification: 4%
Accreditation & quality ratings
TEF 2023 (whole university): Gold overall, Silver for student experience, Gold for student outcomes.
Modules
- Literature in Time
- Handling Historical Evidence
- Controversy in History
- Medieval and Early Modern Worlds
- Parties, Populism and Protest
- Global Governance and International Institutions
- The Arts and Identity (Discovery module)
- World Literatures
- Modern Worlds
- Critical Theory
- Who Makes History?
- Medieval to Early Modern Literature
- Literary Adaptation
- Postcolonial Literature
- War and Transformation
- Human and Environment
- American Literature
- Victorian Literature
- Body, Mind and Society
- Death
- Critical Practice
- Britain in the 20th Century
- Global Challenges and Collaborative Solutions (Discovery module)
- Taking an Idea and Making it Happen (Discovery module)
- Work Based Learning Year
- The Use and Abuse of History
- Contemporary Literature
- Romanticism
- Literature and Environment
- Special Topics in Theory
- Participation, Splendour and Violence: The Italian City-States, c.1100-1350
- Paradise Lost: Colonisation and the Jamaican Environment, 1655-1838
- Victorian Bodies: Sex, Gender, Race and Power in Global Britain
- Forging India: South Asia from Empire to Nation, 1829-1964
- Advertising and Consumerism in Britain, 1853-1960
- Fascism, Revolution and War in Spain: The Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939
- A Global History of the Cold War
- English Literature Dissertation
- Austen and the Brontës
- Gothic and Science Fiction
- Shakespeare
- Modernism
Questions about this course
How much do graduates of BA English Literature and History (Placement Year) at Lancaster University earn?
The median salary is £26,000 after 15 months, £23,500 after 3 years, £29,500 after 5 years. After five years the middle half of graduates earn between £25,500 and £35,500. The £29,500 median after five years is £1,500 more than the UK median for Literature in English.
What do graduates of BA English Literature and History (Placement Year) at Lancaster University do next?
88% were in work or further study 15 months after finishing (Graduate Outcomes 2023-24).
Are students happy with the teaching on BA English Literature and History (Placement Year) at Lancaster University?
93% of final-year students were positive about the teaching in the National Student Survey 2025-26.
What grades do I need for BA English Literature and History (Placement Year) at Lancaster University?
The typical offer is AAB at A level, or 35 points in the IB. The average entrant had 144 UCAS points.
What is the offer rate for BA English Literature and History (Placement Year) at Lancaster University?
88% of home applicants received an offer for 2022 entry: 7 offers from 8 applications, according to the university's Freedom of Information return.
Does BA English Literature and History (Placement Year) at Lancaster University include a placement year or year abroad?
The course has a compulsory placement year.
How many students continue on BA English Literature and History (Placement Year) at Lancaster University?
95% of students continued into their second year, and 5% left higher education.