BA English and Comparative Literature
About this course
BA in English and Comparative Literature, an English Literature and Modern Languages degree examining global literary texts and cultural traditions. Core topics include Research Methods. The first year establishes foundational perspectives through compulsory modules such as Worlds of Literature, Literature, Culture and Critique, and Reading Between the Lines. The second year shifts focus to international literary circulation with compulsory modules including Reception, Transmission and Translation: The Global Circulation of Literature, Writing Environments: Literature, Nature, Culture, and Body Language: Literature and Embodiment. The final year involves an independent Final Year Project which can take the form of a Dissertation, Textual Editing Project, or Public Engagement Project. Optional modules across the course span Renaissance Literature, Postcolonial Literature, Shakespeare, and Folklore and Mythology.
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 EPQ: Where an applicant is taking the EPQ in a relevant subject this might be considered alongside other Level 3 qualifications and may attract an alternative offer in addition to the standard offer. If you are taking A Levels, this would be ABB at A Level including A in English (Language, Literature or Language and Literature) and grade A in the EPQ. BTEC: We will consider the level 3 QCF BTEC at Subsidiary Diploma level and above in combination with other qualifications. Please contact the Admissions Office for more information. IB: 35 points overall including 16 at Higher Level with 6 in English at Higher Level.
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What students say
Based on about 11 final-year students who answered (a small group: a rough guide only)
- Teaching on my course: 83%
- Learning opportunities: 80%
- Assessment and feedback: 83%
- Academic support: 93%
- Organisation and management: 83%
- Learning resources: 91%
- Student voice: 89%
Do students stay on the course?
Based on about 10 students who started (a small group: a rough guide only)
- Continued on course: 80%
- Left higher education: 10%
- Moved to a lower qualification: 10%
What graduates do next
Based on about 76 graduates who answered, across similar courses at this university
- Working: 66%
- Working and studying: 13%
- Further study: 8%
- Unemployed: 9%
Most common jobs
- Business and public service associate professionals: 25%
- Elementary occupations: 12%
- Teaching Professionals: 12%
- Administrative occupations: 8%
- Sales occupations: 6%
- Find their work meaningful: 78%
- Feel on track for their future plans: 57%
- Use what they learnt on the course: 42%
Where graduates work (5 years on)
Based on about 360 graduates, across similar courses at this university
- North East: 1%
- North West: 13%
- Yorkshire and the Humber: 16%
- East Midlands: 3%
- West Midlands: 5%
- East of England: 8%
- London: 38%
- South East: 11%
- South West: 4%
- Wales: 1%
- Scotland: 1%
Who gets in
Based on about 10 students who started (a small group: a rough guide only)
- A levels: 90%
- Baccalaureate: 10%
Accreditation & quality ratings
TEF 2023 (whole university): Silver overall, Bronze for student experience, Silver for student outcomes.
Modules
- Worlds of Literature
- Literature, Culture and Critique
- Reading Between the Lines
- Introduction to Audio-Visual Culture
- Language: Structure and Sound
- World Histories
- Intercultural Competence: Theory and Application
- Politics, Culture and Society
- Discourse, Culture and Identity
- Modern Fictions in English: Conflict, Liminality, Translation
- Drama: Reading and Interpretation
- Poetry: Reading and Interpretation
- Race, Writing and Decolonization
- Reception, Transmission and Translation: The Global Circulation of Literature
- Writing Environments: Literature, Nature, Culture
- Body Language: Literature and Embodiment
- Renaissance Literature
- Towards the Future: Skills in Context
- Modern Literature
- Postcolonial Literature
- The World Before Us: Literature 1660-1830
- Other Voices: Rethinking Nineteenth-Century Literature
- American Literature
- Contemporary Literature
- Medieval and Tudor Literature
- Black Europe
- Trauma Narratives in the Contemporary Sinophone World
- The Spaces of Russian Literature
- Global Environmental Humanities
- Homer's Iliad
- Virgil's Aeneid
- Final Year Project (Dissertation, Textual Editing Project, or Public Engagement Project )
- Sex and Suffering in the Eighteenth-Century Novel
- Writing and Gender in Seventeenth-Century England
- Romantic Lyric Poetry
- Forming Victorian Fiction
- Angry Young Men and Women: Literature of the Mid-Twentieth Century
- Language of the Media
- Law and Literature: Transgression, Justice and Interpretation
- Shakespeare
- Writing Modern Sexualities
- Contemporary World Literature
- Postcolonial Literature
- Representing the Holocaust: Transgression and the Taboo
- Current Practice in Creative Writing
- States of Mind: Disability, Neurodiversity and Mental Health in Contemporary Culture
- Gender, Culture and Politics: Readings of Jane Austen
- Queens, Vikings, Poets and Dragons: Old English and Early Medieval Britain
- Folklore and Mythology
- Lost in Fiction: The Metafictional Novel from 'Don Quixote' to 'House of Leaves'
- Religion and Violence
- Introduction to Dante's Comedy (in Translation)
- Material Cultures and Cultures of Consumption
- Adventures of the Imagination: Crime and the Fantastic Across Continents
- Decolonial Approaches
- Social Movements across Cultures
Questions about this course
How much do graduates of BA English and Comparative Literature at University of Leeds earn?
The median salary is £27,000 after 15 months, £27,500 after 3 years, £34,000 after 5 years. After five years the middle half of graduates earn between £28,500 and £45,000. The £34,000 median after five years is £6,000 more than the UK median for Literature in English.
What do graduates of BA English and Comparative Literature at University of Leeds do next?
87% were in work or further study 15 months after finishing (Graduate Outcomes 2023-24).
Are students happy with the teaching on BA English and Comparative Literature at University of Leeds?
83% 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 Comparative Literature at University of Leeds?
The typical offer is AAB at A level, or 35 points in the IB. The average entrant had 146 UCAS points.
Does BA English and Comparative Literature at University of Leeds include a placement year or year abroad?
The course has an optional year abroad.
How many students continue on BA English and Comparative Literature at University of Leeds?
80% of students continued into their second year, and 10% left higher education.