BA English and Music
About this course
BA in English and Music, an English and Music degree centred on the study of literary, linguistic, and musical traditions. Core topics include Research Methods, Historical Research, Communication & Writing, Critical & Analytical Thinking, and Design & Creative Practice. The programme combines practical training in creative writing, music composition, and performance with theoretical exploration of how both disciplines interact. The first year introduces fundamental concepts through compulsory modules such as Digital Skills for Music, History of Western Music, Sounds and Structures of English, Linguistic Theory, Renaissance to Revolution: Early Modern Literature, and Writing Revolutions: Restoration to Romanticism, alongside the flexibility to choose external modules. The second year expands technical and historical knowledge via modules including Phonetics, First Language Acquisition, Western Music in Context, and Work in Music. In the final year, students undertake major capstone work through Project Module 1, Project Module 2, and the Independent Music Project (Minor). Optional modules across the course allow specialisation in areas such as performance, composition, historical linguistics, sociolinguistics, and popular music studies.
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 IB: 33, with 5 in Higher Level Music; 32, with 5 in Higher Level Music, and B in a relevant extended essay
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Admissions (2022 entry, home applicants)
Offer rate 84%: 21 offers from 25 applications, from the university's Freedom of Information return.
What students say
Based on about 21 final-year students who answered, across similar courses at this university (a small group: a rough guide only)
- Teaching on my course: 93%
- Learning opportunities: 86%
- Assessment and feedback: 89%
- Academic support: 93%
- Organisation and management: 73%
- Learning resources: 90%
- Student voice: 82%
Do students stay on the course?
Based on about 15 students who started (a small group: a rough guide only)
- Continued on course: 90%
- Left higher education: 10%
What graduates do next
Based on about 6 graduates who answered, across similar courses at this university (a small group: a rough guide only)
- Working: 50%
- Working and studying: 10%
- Further study: 15%
Most common jobs
- Teaching Professionals: 25%
- Elementary occupations: 20%
- Administrative occupations: 15%
- Managers, directors and senior officials: 10%
- Business and public service associate professionals: 10%
- Find their work meaningful: 65%
- Feel on track for their future plans: 60%
- Use what they learnt on the course: 65%
Where graduates work (5 years on)
Based on about 25 graduates, across similar courses at this university (a small group: a rough guide only)
- North West: 10%
- Yorkshire and the Humber: 50%
- East Midlands: 5%
- West Midlands: 10%
- East of England: 10%
- London: 5%
- South East: 5%
- Wales: 5%
Who gets in
Based on about 15 students who started (a small group: a rough guide only)
- A levels: 100%
Accreditation & quality ratings
TEF 2023 (whole university): Silver overall, Silver for student experience, Silver for student outcomes.
Modules
- Renaissance to Revolution: Early Modern Literature
- Writing Revolutions: Restoration to Romanticism
- Contemporary Literature
- Hybrid Forms: Reading Genre
- Wonders, Warriors, and Werewolves: Intro to Medieval Literature and Language
- Reading Theatre and Film
- Myth, Scripture and Story: Biblical and Classical Sources in English Literature
- The Creative Writing Lab
- Darwin, Marx, Freud
- Sounds and Structures of English
- Linguistic Theory
- History of English
- Early Englishes
- Language and Creativity
- Living Englishes
- Style in Language
- Digital Skills for Music
- History of Western Music
- Composition
- Popular Music Studies
- Music in a Global Context
- Performance
- Music Analysis
- Psychological Foundations of Music
- Try a new subject: The flexible structure of your first year at Sheffield means that you also have the chance to experie
- Romantics, Victorians and Moderns (a)
- English Works: Foundations
- Creative Writing Experiments
- Shakespeare: Page, Stage, Screen
- Hollywood Cinema
- English Works: Enhanced
- Chaucer
- Good Books: Intertextual Approaches to Literature and the Bible
- The Art and Politics of Hip Hop
- Phonetics
- First Language Acquisition
- Historical Linguistics
- Syntax
- Phonology
- The History of Persuasion
- Sociolinguistics
- Language and Cognition
- Exiles and Monsters: Reading Old English
- Narrative Experiments
- Western Music in Context
- Work in Music
- Topics in Popular and Contemporary Music
- Composition and Instrumentation
- Music Psychology in Practice
- Performance
- Writing Musical Culture
- Studio Practice
- Project Module 1
- The Invention of Romanticism
- Renaissance Literature, Modern Crisis
- Research Topics in Theatre and Film
- Mod Cons: Exploring the Long 20th Century
- Middlemarch
- The Idea of America
- Crime and Transgression in Romantic Literature
- Fin de siècle Gothic
- Creative Writing: The Experimental Text
- Writing Fiction 3
- Chaucer
- Life After Death? Romantic Poets and Writing the Afterlife
- Reading Animals
- Privilege and Subversion in Early Modern Drama, 1580-1700
- Advanced Syntax
- Historical Pragmatics
- Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages
- Project Module 2
- Constructed Languages
- Second Language Acquisition
- Psychology of Language
- Language and Social Justice
- Independent Music Project (Minor)
- Community, Music and Education
- Orchestration and Arrangement
- Analysis and Criticism of Western Art Music
- Sound and Moving Image
- Creative Performance and Improvisation
- Music Psychology in Everyday Life
Questions about this course
How much do graduates of BA English and Music at University of Sheffield earn?
The median salary is £29,000 after 15 months, £23,500 after 3 years, £27,500 after 5 years. After five years the middle half of graduates earn between £22,500 and £34,000. 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 Sheffield do next?
75% 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 Sheffield?
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 and Music at University of Sheffield?
The typical offer is ABB at A level. The average entrant had 152 UCAS points.
What is the offer rate for BA English and Music at University of Sheffield?
84% of home applicants received an offer for 2022 entry: 21 offers from 25 applications, according to the university's Freedom of Information return.
Does BA English and Music at University of Sheffield 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 and Music at University of Sheffield?
90% of students continued into their second year, and 10% left higher education.