BA English Language and Literature
About this course
BA in English Language and Literature is an undergraduate degree focusing on the historical, social, and stylistic aspects of texts, combining the study of language structure with literary analysis. Students can optionally complete an industrial placement year or spend a year abroad during their studies. The first year covers core foundations through modules such as English Structure, Style and Genre, English Variation, Creativity and Use, Reading Between the Lines, and Literature, Culture and Critique. The second year progresses to specialised studies including Language in Society, Power of Language, Writing Environments: Literature, Nature, Culture, and Body Language: Literature and Embodiment. Optional modules across the course allow students to explore diverse topics spanning historical periods, media, and cultural contexts. The final year centres on the completion of a compulsory Final Year Project alongside further optional study in specialised literary and language subjects.
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 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 with 16 at Higher Level including minimum of 5 in English at Higher Level.
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Real offers for this course
Applicants have posted 1 UCAS decision for BA English Language and Literature (Q300) at the University of Leeds for 2027 entry so far. The published offer is AAB at A level.
What students say
Based on about 8 final-year students who answered (a small group: a rough guide only)
- Teaching on my course: 98%
- Learning opportunities: 94%
- Assessment and feedback: 96%
- Academic support: 100%
- Organisation and management: 100%
- Learning resources: 100%
- Student voice: 93%
Do students stay on the course?
Based on about 15 students who started (a small group: a rough guide only)
- Continued on course: 100%
What graduates do next
Based on about 6 graduates who answered (a small group: a rough guide only)
- Working: 80%
- Further study: 10%
- Unemployed: 10%
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: 69%
- Feel on track for their future plans: 62%
- Use what they learnt on the course: 52%
Where graduates work (5 years on)
Based on about 200 graduates, across similar courses at this university
- North East: 3%
- North West: 9%
- Yorkshire and the Humber: 21%
- East Midlands: 3%
- West Midlands: 6%
- East of England: 8%
- London: 41%
- South East: 5%
- South West: 4%
- Wales: 1%
- Scotland: 1%
Who gets in
Based on about 35 students who started
- A levels: 95%
- Baccalaureate: 5%
Accreditation & quality ratings
TEF 2023 (whole university): Silver overall, Bronze for student experience, Silver for student outcomes.
Modules
- English Structure, Style and Genre
- English Variation, Creativity and Use
- Reading Between the Lines
- Literature, Culture and Critique
- Poetry: Reading and Interpretation
- Drama: Text and Performance
- Modern Fictions in English: Conflict, Liminality, Translation
- Race, Writing and Decolonization
- Language in Society
- Power of Language
- Writing Environments: Literature, Nature, Culture
- Body Language: Literature and Embodiment
- Prose Fiction Stylistics and the Mind
- Forensic Approaches to Language
- Keywords: The Words We Use and The Ways We Use Them
- Digital Discourse: language, social media, AI
- Language of the Media
- Global English': Colonialism, Postcolonialsm, and Decolonisation
- Contemporary Literature
- Renaissance Literature
- Life, Love and Death from Chaucer to Marlowe
- Modern Literature
- Postcolonial Literature
- The World Before Us: Literature 1660-1830
- Other Voices: Rethinking Nineteenth-Century Literature
- American Words, American Worlds
- Final Year Project
- Bowie, Reading, Writing
- Children, Talk and Learning
- Crime Fiction Stylistics: Crossing Languages, Culture, Media
- Cursing and Courtesy: politeness in the history of English
- Dialect Hunting
- 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
- The Politics of Language
Questions about this course
How much do graduates of BA English Language and Literature at University of Leeds earn?
The median salary is £26,500 after 15 months, £24,500 after 3 years, £32,000 after 5 years. After five years the middle half of graduates earn between £26,500 and £41,000. The £32,000 median after five years is £4,000 more than the UK median for English language.
What do graduates of BA English Language and Literature at University of Leeds do next?
90% were in work or further study 15 months after finishing (Graduate Outcomes 2023-24).
Are students happy with the teaching on BA English Language and Literature at University of Leeds?
98% of final-year students were positive about the teaching in the National Student Survey 2025-26.
What grades do I need for BA English Language and Literature at University of Leeds?
The typical offer is AAB at A level, or 35 points in the IB. The average entrant had 159 UCAS points.
Does BA English Language and 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 Language and Literature at University of Leeds?
100% of students continued into their second year, and 0% left higher education.