BA English and Music
About this course
BA in English and Music, an English and Music degree exploring literature, culture, performance, and historical and contemporary musical practices. The final year includes a Final Year Project. The first year introduces foundational subjects through Reading Between the Lines, Literature, Culture and Critique, Music and Society, and Materials of Music. The second year continues with modules such as Writing Environments: Literature, Nature, Culture, Body Language: Literature and Embodiment, Researching Music, and Life, Love and Death from Chaucer to Marlowe. Optional choices in the final year allow specialisation in subjects such as Analysing Music, The Supernatural in Opera, Shakespeare, and Crime Fiction Stylistics: Crossing Languages, Culture, Media.
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 B Music 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 with 16 at Higher Level including 6 in English at Higher Level and 5 in Music at Higher Level
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What students say
Based on about 47 final-year students who answered, across similar courses at this university
- Teaching on my course: 82%
- Learning opportunities: 68%
- Assessment and feedback: 83%
- Academic support: 97%
- Organisation and management: 81%
- Learning resources: 94%
- Student voice: 75%
Do students stay on the course?
Based on about 70 students who started, across similar courses at this university
- Continued on course: 91%
- Left higher education: 9%
What graduates do next
Based on about 11 graduates who answered, across similar courses at this university (a small group: a rough guide only)
- Working: 75%
- Working and studying: 10%
- Further study: 5%
- Unemployed: 5%
Most common jobs
- Teaching Professionals: 20%
- Business and public service associate professionals: 15%
- Teaching and Childcare Support Occupation: 10%
- Elementary occupations: 10%
- Administrative occupations: 5%
- Find their work meaningful: 70%
- Feel on track for their future plans: 60%
- Use what they learnt on the course: 50%
Where graduates work (5 years on)
Based on about 70 graduates, across similar courses at this university
- North East: 5%
- North West: 9%
- Yorkshire and the Humber: 31%
- East Midlands: 5%
- West Midlands: 8%
- East of England: 4%
- London: 21%
- South East: 7%
- South West: 4%
- Wales: 3%
- Scotland: 2%
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
- Reading Between the Lines
- Literature, Culture and Critique
- Music and Society
- Materials of Music
- Collaborative Performance
- Composition
- Film Music
- The Music Industries
- Creating Music
- Performance Studies
- Studio Recording
- Talking About Pop Music
- Modern Fictions in English
- Race, Writing, Decolonization
- Drama: Text and Performance
- Poetry: Reading & Interpretation
- Writing Environments: Literature, Nature, Culture
- Body Language: Literature and Embodiment
- Researching Music
- Life, Love and Death from Chaucer to Marlowe
- Renaissance Literature
- Modern Literature
- Postcolonial Literature
- The World Before Us: Literature 1660-1830
- Other Voices: Rethinking Nineteenth-Century Literature
- American Words, American Worlds
- Contemporary Literature
- Notations of Music
- Creating and Producing Music for Screen Media
- Marketing for Musicians
- Psychology of Listening and Performance
- Music and Politics
- Cultures of Performance
- Aesthetics and Criticism
- Leading an Ensemble
- Collaborative Performance
- Applied Music Technology
- Sound and Media
- Musical Meaning
- Creating Music
- Performance
- Opera North: Opera in Practice
- Final Year Project
- Analysing Music
- The Supernatural in Opera
- Music and Postcolonial Politics
- Music as Performance: People, Bodies and Instruments
- Composition
- Ensemble Performance
- Performance
- Bowie, Reading, Writing
- Crime Fiction Stylistics: Crossing Languages, Culture, Media
- Digital Discourse: language, social media, AI
- Fictions of the End: Apocalypse and After
- Global African Writing
- Home Bodies: Companion Animals in Contemporary Literature
- Language of the Media
- Postcolonial London
- Refugee Narratives
- Sex and Suffering in the Eighteenth-Century Novel
- Shakespeare
- Telling Lives: Reading and Writing Family Memoir
Questions about this course
How much do graduates of BA English and Music at University of Leeds earn?
The median salary is £29,000 after 15 months, £21,500 after 3 years, £27,500 after 5 years. After five years the middle half of graduates earn between £23,500 and £36,000. The £27,500 median after five years is £1,500 less than the UK median for English studies.
What do graduates of BA English and Music at University of Leeds do next?
95% were in work or further study 15 months after finishing (Graduate Outcomes 2023-24).
Are students happy with the teaching on BA English and Music at University of Leeds?
82% 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 Music at University of Leeds?
The typical offer is AAB at A level, or 35 points in the IB. The average entrant had 168 UCAS points.
Does BA English and Music 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 Music at University of Leeds?
91% of students continued into their second year, and 9% left higher education.