BA English Literature
About this course
BA in English Literature BA, an English Literature degree spanning over 1,000 years of literary art, engaging with film, theatre, and creative writing. Core topics include Research Methods, Communication & Writing, Critical & Analytical Thinking, Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning, and Design & Creative Practice. Students engage with film, theatre, and creative writing alongside expert faculty, building a skill set derived from centuries of global literary traditions. The first year covers foundations through compulsory modules such as Renaissance to Revolution: Early Modern Literature, Writing Revolutions: Restoration to Romanticism, Contemporary Literature, and Reading Theatre and Film, while optional choices include 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, and Darwin, Marx, Freud. In the second year, students take compulsory modules including Romantics, Victorians and Moderns (a) and Literature and Critical Theory (a), with optional modules such as English Works: Foundations, English Works: Enhanced, Creative Writing Experiments, Chaucer, Shakespeare: Page, Stage, Screen, and Good Books: Intertextual Approaches to Literature and the Bible. The third year centres on compulsory project work through Project Module 1 and Project Module 2, alongside a wide range of optional modules including 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, Writing Fiction 3, Middlemarch, 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, and Privilege and Subversion in Early Modern Drama, 1580-1700.
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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Real offers for this course
Applicants have posted 1 UCAS decision for BA English Literature (Q306) at the University of Sheffield for 2027 entry so far. The published offer is AAB at A level.
Admissions (2022 entry, home applicants)
Offer rate 95%: 362 offers from 381 applications, from the university's Freedom of Information return.
What students say
Based on about 43 final-year students who answered
- Teaching on my course: 90%
- Learning opportunities: 80%
- Assessment and feedback: 83%
- Academic support: 96%
- Organisation and management: 85%
- Learning resources: 90%
- Student voice: 86%
Do students stay on the course?
Based on about 60 students who started
- Continued on course: 97%
- Left higher education: 3%
What graduates do next
Based on about 21 graduates who answered (a small group: a rough guide only)
- Working: 65%
- Working and studying: 10%
- Further study: 20%
- Unemployed: 5%
Most common jobs
- Elementary occupations: 25%
- Teaching Professionals: 15%
- Administrative occupations: 15%
- Managers, directors and senior officials: 10%
- Teaching and Childcare Support Occupation: 10%
- Find their work meaningful: 65%
- Feel on track for their future plans: 55%
- 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 50 students who started
- 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
- 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
- Darwin, Marx, Freud
- 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)
- Literature and Critical Theory (a)
- English Works: Foundations
- English Works: Enhanced
- Creative Writing Experiments
- Chaucer
- Shakespeare: Page, Stage, Screen
- Good Books: Intertextual Approaches to Literature and the Bible
- 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
- Writing Fiction 3
- Middlemarch
- 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
- 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 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 Literature in English.
What do graduates of BA English Literature at University of Sheffield do next?
95% 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 Sheffield?
90% 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 Sheffield?
The typical offer is AAB at A level. The average entrant had 151 UCAS points.
What is the offer rate for BA English Literature at University of Sheffield?
95% of home applicants received an offer for 2022 entry: 362 offers from 381 applications, according to the university's Freedom of Information return.
Does BA English 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 Literature at University of Sheffield?
97% of students continued into their second year, and 3% left higher education.