BA English Literature
About this course
BA in English Literature, an English Literature degree examining texts from various historical periods, authors, and cultures. The course culminates in a compulsory final-year project. The first year introduces foundational approaches through compulsory modules including Race, Writing and Decolonization, Reading Between the Lines, and Literature, Culture and Critique, alongside optional modules in poetry, drama, and modern fictions. The second year focuses on specific cultural and environmental contexts with compulsory modules such as Writing Environments: Literature, Nature, Culture and Body Language: Literature and Embodiment, complemented by a broad selection of historical and global optional modules ranging from Renaissance literature to postcolonial and contemporary texts. The third year centres on independent research via the Final Year Project, while optional modules allow students to explore diverse specialized topics such as crime fiction, digital discourse, global African writing, refugee narratives, and Shakespeare in cinema.
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 with 16 at Higher Level including 6 in English at Higher Level
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Real offers for this course
Applicants have posted 1 UCAS decision for BA English Literature (Q306) at the University of Leeds for 2027 entry so far. The published offer is AAB at A level.
What students say
Based on about 53 final-year students who answered
- Teaching on my course: 93%
- Learning opportunities: 76%
- Assessment and feedback: 77%
- Academic support: 92%
- Organisation and management: 85%
- Learning resources: 91%
- Student voice: 76%
Do students stay on the course?
Based on about 95 students who started
- Continued on course: 87%
- Left higher education: 13%
What graduates do next
Based on about 36 graduates who answered
- Working: 67%
- Working and studying: 10%
- Further study: 10%
- Unemployed: 7%
Most common jobs
- Business and public service associate professionals: 30%
- Administrative occupations: 10%
- Teaching Professionals: 10%
- Elementary occupations: 10%
- Sales occupations: 10%
- Find their work meaningful: 65%
- Feel on track for their future plans: 65%
- Use what they learnt on the course: 55%
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 115 students who started
- A levels: 97%
- A degree: 1%
- Other HE qualification: 2%
Accreditation & quality ratings
TEF 2023 (whole university): Silver overall, Bronze for student experience, Silver for student outcomes.
Modules
- Race, Writing and Decolonization
- Reading Between the Lines
- Literature, Culture and Critique
- Poetry: Reading and Interpretation
- Drama: Text and Performance
- Modern Fictions in English
- Writing Environments: Literature, Nature, Culture
- Body Language: Literature and Embodiment
- Renaissance Literature
- Life, Love and Death from Chaucer to Marlowe
- Modern Literature
- Postcolonial Literature
- Contemporary Literature
- The World Before Us: Literature 1660-1830
- Other Voices: Rethinking Nineteenth-Century Literature
- American Words, American Worlds
- Final Year Project
- 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 and Global Cinema
- Telling Lives: Reading and Writing Family Memoir
Questions about this course
How much do graduates of BA English 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 Literature in English.
What do graduates of BA English Literature at University of Leeds 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 Literature at University of Leeds?
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 at University of Leeds?
The typical offer is AAB at A level, or 35 points in the IB. The average entrant had 147 UCAS points.
Does BA English 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 Literature at University of Leeds?
87% of students continued into their second year, and 13% left higher education.