BA English
Royal Holloway, University of London
About this course
BA in English Language and Literature, covering over 1,000 years of literary history. Core topics include Research Methods and Critical & Analytical Thinking. The course offers multiple Shakespeare modules exploring comedy, history and tragedy, and a creative writing module is available as an option.
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: ABB-BBB (Required subjects: A- Level B in an essay-based subject. We require English Language and Mathematics GCSE at grade 4 (C)) IB: 6,5,5 - 5,5,5 at Higher Level or 32-30 points overall Including 5 in an essay based subject at Higher Level
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What students say
Based on about 29 final-year students who answered (a small group: a rough guide only)
- Teaching on my course: 95%
- Learning opportunities: 93%
- Assessment and feedback: 89%
- Academic support: 93%
- Organisation and management: 92%
- Learning resources: 87%
- Student voice: 84%
Do students stay on the course?
Based on about 55 students who started
- Continued on course: 95%
- Left higher education: 5%
What graduates do next
Based on about 13 graduates who answered (a small group: a rough guide only)
- Working: 50%
- Working and studying: 15%
- Further study: 20%
- Unemployed: 5%
Most common jobs
- Teaching Professionals: 20%
- Business and public service associate professionals: 20%
- Secretarial and related occupations: 10%
- Caring personal services: 10%
- Media Professionals: 10%
- Find their work meaningful: 75%
- Feel on track for their future plans: 65%
- Use what they learnt on the course: 50%
Where graduates work (5 years on)
Based on about 190 graduates, across similar courses at this university
- North West: 3%
- Yorkshire and the Humber: 2%
- East Midlands: 1%
- West Midlands: 1%
- East of England: 13%
- London: 38%
- South East: 31%
- South West: 8%
- Wales: 2%
- Scotland: 2%
Who gets in
Based on about 65 students who started
- A levels: 97%
- Other HE qualification: 3%
Accreditation & quality ratings
TEF 2023 (whole university): Silver overall, Silver for student experience, Silver for student outcomes.
Modules
- Encountering Medieval Literature: From Beowulf to Chaucer
- Critical Foundations: Thinking As A Critic
- Literature and Crisis
- Shakespeare
- Reorienting the Novel
- Introduction to Poetry
- Middle English Poetry
- Tolkien's Roots
- Medieval Dream and Vision
- Strange Fictions: Romance in the Middle Ages
- Renaissance Literature
- Intensive Shakespeare: Comedy, History, Tragedy
- Drama and Witchcraft
- Early Modern Bodies
- Victorian Literature
- Romanticisms
- Creative Writing: Structure and Style
- Literature of the Fin de Siècle, 1883-1903
- Contemporary Debates in Literary and Critical Theory
- Modernisms
- Literature and the Digital
- Ideas in Contemporary Fiction
- Literature, the Digital and the Creative Industries
- Advanced Shakespeare: The Problem Plays
- Reading Like a Victorian
- The Girl in the Book
- Children's Literature
- Poetic Practice
- The New York Schools: Poetry, Painting, Composition
- The 1930s British Fiction and the Road to War
- Special Author: Virginia Woolf
- Special Author: Chaucer
- Special Author: Charles Dickens
- Special Author: Herman Melville
- Reading the Waste Land
- Creative Writing Special Focus (Term 1)
- English Dissertation
Questions about this course
How much do graduates of BA English at Royal Holloway, University of London earn?
The median salary is £26,000 after 15 months, £24,500 after 3 years, £30,500 after 5 years. After five years the middle half of graduates earn between £24,000 and £37,000. The £30,500 median after five years is £2,500 more than the UK median for Literature in English.
What do graduates of BA English at Royal Holloway, University of London do next?
85% were in work or further study 15 months after finishing (Graduate Outcomes 2023-24).
Are students happy with the teaching on BA English at Royal Holloway, University of London?
95% of final-year students were positive about the teaching in the National Student Survey 2025-26.
What grades do I need for BA English at Royal Holloway, University of London?
The typical offer is ABB at A level, or 32 points in the IB. The average entrant had 119 UCAS points.
Does BA English at Royal Holloway, University of London include a placement year or year abroad?
The course has an optional placement year and an optional year abroad.
How many students continue on BA English at Royal Holloway, University of London?
95% of students continued into their second year, and 5% left higher education.