BA English Language and Literature
About this course
BA in English Language and Literature BA, an English Language and Linguistics and English Literature degree centered on the study of how texts, speech, and literature interact and shape meaning. The first year establishes foundational knowledge through compulsory modules including Sounds and Structures of English, Style in Language, Contemporary Literature, and Reading Theatre and Film. Students can also select from various optional modules covering early literature, creative practice, and linguistics, alongside opportunities to study subjects outside the school. The second year advances core understanding through modules such as The History of Persuasion, Literature and Critical Theory (b), Language and Cognition, and Narrative Experiments, complemented by optional studies in historical linguistics, specific authors, and creative writing. The final year focuses on an independent extended research project split across Project Module 1 and Project Module 2, supported by a wide array of advanced optional modules spanning specialized literary periods, psycholinguistics, and contemporary cultural topics.
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 IB: 34; 33, with B in the extended essay
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Admissions (2022 entry, home applicants)
Offer rate 96%: 72 offers from 75 applications, from the university's Freedom of Information return.
What students say
Based on about 6 final-year students who answered (a small group: a rough guide only)
- Teaching on my course: 93%
- Learning opportunities: 76%
- Assessment and feedback: 84%
- Academic support: 100%
- Organisation and management: 77%
- Learning resources: 79%
- Student voice: 79%
Do students stay on the course?
Based on about 20 students who started (a small group: a rough guide only)
- Continued on course: 95%
- Left higher education: 5%
What graduates do next
Based on about 27 graduates who answered, across similar courses at this university (a small group: a rough guide only)
- Working: 60%
- Working and studying: 10%
- Further study: 20%
- Unemployed: 5%
Most common jobs
- Teaching Professionals: 35%
- Business and public service associate professionals: 30%
- Administrative occupations: 10%
- Elementary occupations: 10%
- Welfare and housing associate professionals: 10%
- Find their work meaningful: 65%
- Feel on track for their future plans: 60%
- Use what they learnt on the course: 70%
Where graduates work (5 years on)
Based on about 235 graduates, across similar courses at this university
- North East: 2%
- North West: 16%
- Yorkshire and the Humber: 30%
- East Midlands: 9%
- West Midlands: 7%
- East of England: 6%
- London: 19%
- South East: 7%
- South West: 3%
Who gets in
Based on about 10 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
- Sounds and Structures of English
- Style in Language
- Contemporary Literature
- Reading Theatre and Film
- Hybrid Forms: Reading Genre
- Myth, Scripture and Story: Biblical and Classical Sources in English Literature
- Wonders, Warriors, and Werewolves: Intro to Medieval Literature and Language
- The Creative Writing Lab
- Early Englishes
- Darwin, Marx, Freud
- Language and Creativity
- Living Englishes
- History of English
- Linguistic Theory
- Try a new subject: The flexible structure of your first year at Sheffield means that you also have the chance to experie
- The History of Persuasion
- Literature and Critical Theory (b)
- Language and Cognition
- Narrative Experiments
- English Works: Foundations
- Creative Writing Prose Fiction 2
- Shakespeare: Page, Stage, Screen
- Hollywood Cinema
- Phonetics
- Historical Linguistics
- English Works: Enhanced
- Chaucer
- Good Books: Intertextual Approaches to Literature and the Bible
- The Art and Politics of Hip Hop
- First Language Acquisition
- Sociolinguistics
- Syntax
- Phonology
- Exiles and Monsters: Reading Old English
- Try a new subject: The flexible structure of your first year at Sheffield means that you also have the chance to experie
- Project Module 1
- Project Module 2
- The Invention of Romanticism
- Renaissance Literature, Modern Crisis
- Research Topics in Theatre and Film
- Mod Cons: Exploring the Long 20th Century
- Creative Writing: The Experimental Text
- Middlemarch
- Writing Fiction 3
- Chaucer
- The Idea of America
- Life After Death? Romantic Poets and Writing the Afterlife
- Crime and Transgression in Romantic Literature
- Reading Animals
- Fin de siècle Gothic
- Privilege and Subversion in Early Modern Drama, 1580-1700
- Advanced Syntax
- Historical Pragmatics
- Constructed Languages
- Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages
- Second Language Acquisition
- Psychology of Language
- Language and Social Justice
- Try a new subject: The flexible structure of your first year at Sheffield means that you also have the chance to experie
Questions about this course
How much do graduates of BA English Language and Literature at University of Sheffield earn?
The median salary is £25,500 after 15 months, £23,000 after 3 years, £28,000 after 5 years. After five years the middle half of graduates earn between £23,500 and £34,000. The £28,000 median after five years is the same as the UK median for English language.
What do graduates of BA English Language and Literature at University of Sheffield 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 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 Language and Literature at University of Sheffield?
The typical offer is AAB at A level. The average entrant had 143 UCAS points.
What is the offer rate for BA English Language and Literature at University of Sheffield?
96% of home applicants received an offer for 2022 entry: 72 offers from 75 applications, according to the university's Freedom of Information return.
Does BA English Language and Literature 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 Language and Literature at University of Sheffield?
95% of students continued into their second year, and 5% left higher education.