English Literature and History
UCAS Code: QV21
Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)
Entry requirements
A level
Specific subjects/grades required for entry: English Literature at grade A or English - Language & Literature at grade A. History at grade A. Specific subjects excluded for entry: General Studies and Critical Thinking. Information: Applicants taking Science A-levels that include a practical component will be required to take and pass this as a condition of entry. This refers only to English A Levels.
Access to HE Diploma
We require 60 credits with a minimum of 45 credits at level 3 (or equivalent). Applicants may be required to meet additional subject-specific requirements for particular courses at Durham.
Cambridge International Pre-U Certificate - Principal
To include English Literature and History
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
To include 6, 6, 6 from Higher Level subjects to include English and History.
Leaving Certificate - Higher Level (Ireland) (first awarded in 2017)
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
Additionally an A Level in English Literature (or English Language & Literature) at grade A, plus an A Level in History at grade A OR BTEC Extended diploma DDD, and an A level in English Literature (or English Language & Literature) and an A Level in History with grades A* and A Where A Levels are unavailable we also accept IB Higher Levels and Cambridge Pre-U’s as an alternative. Please contact us if you have a different Level 3 qualification you wish to use.
Scottish Advanced Higher
Specific subjects/grades required for entry: English at grade A. History at grade A.
Scottish Higher
We will normally make offers based on Advanced Highers. If an applicant has not been able to take 3 Advanced Highers, offers may be made with a combination of Advanced Highers and Highers, or on a number of Highers.
UCAS Tariff
We've calculated how many Ucas points you'll need for this course.
About this course
Joint Honours in English and History is a cross-disciplinary course, which develops and assesses skills that are common to both disciplines alongside others that are specific to each. The course offers you the opportunity to acquire a range of both literary-critical and historical knowledge, develops the ability to deploy and contextualise a number of subject-specific skills in each discipline, and locates these skills and forms of knowledge in relation to one another.
**Year 1**
In the first year, you will take three modules in English Literature and three modules in History.
**Optional modules in English:** Introduction to Drama / Introduction to the Novel / Introduction to Poetry / Romance and the Literature of Chivalry / Myth and Epic of the North / English: Language, Use, Theory / Classical and Biblical Backgrounds to English Literature.
**Optional modules in History (previous examples include):** Beyond the Northlands: The Vikings and their World / Decline and Crisis: Europe 1300-1500 / Early Modern England: A Social History / Society and Culture in China under Ming and Qing Dynasties / Reformation Europe / The Century of Revolution / Making History / The Birth of Western Society, 300-1050 AD
Please note that the list of optional modules available in any year will vary depending on available teaching staff. The lists above provide an example of the type of modules which may be offered.
**Study Abroad**
You may apply to study abroad for an additional year between Levels 2 and 3 (transferring from BA Hons in English Literature and History to BA Hons English Literature and History with a Year Abroad). Supported by the International Office and the Department’s International Co-ordinator, you can put yourself forward for the following study abroad options:
**The Overseas Exchange programme**: university-wide links with institutions in North America, the Far East, Australasia, and so on). A list of the University’s current partners is available here:
**The Erasmus programme** (Departmental link maintained with universities in EU countries).
For more information on this course, please see our website.
Modules
**Year 1**
In the first year, you will take three modules in English Literature and three modules in History.
**Optional modules in English:** Introduction to Drama / Introduction to the Novel / Introduction to Poetry / Romance and the Literature of Chivalry / Myth and Epic of the North / English: Language, Use, Theory / Classical and Biblical Backgrounds to English Literature.
**Optional modules in History (previous examples include):** Beyond the Northlands: The Vikings and their World / Decline and Crisis: Europe 1300-1500 / Early Modern England: A Social History / Society and Culture in China under Ming and Qing Dynasties / Reformation Europe / The Century of Revolution / Making History / The Birth of Western Society, 300-1050 AD
Please note that the list of optional modules available in any year will vary depending on available teaching staff. The lists above provide an example of the type of modules which may be offered.
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
The Uni
St Mary's College
Van Mildert College
Josephine Butler College
Collingwood College
University College
St John's College
St Chad's College
John Snow College
St Aidan's College
South College
Grey College
Trevelyan College
St Cuthbert's Society
No college preference
Stephenson College
Hatfield College
College of St Hild and St Bede
English Studies
What students say
We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.
How do students rate their degree experience?
The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
English studies (non-specific)
Teaching and learning
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
After graduation
The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
English studies
What are graduates doing after six months?
This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.
Top job areas of graduates
English is one of the most popular degree subjects and in 2015, more than 11,000 students graduated with English degrees - although this does represent a fall from recent years. As good communication is so important to modern business, you can find English graduates in all parts of the economy, although obviously, you can't expect to get a job in science or engineering (computing is a different matter - it's not common but good language skills can be useful in the computing industry). There's little difference in outcomes between English language and English literature degrees, so don't worry and choose the one that suits you best. More English grads took another postgraduate course when they finished their degree than grads from any other subject - this is an important option. Teacher training was a common choice of second degree, as was further study of English, and journalism courses. But many English graduates changed course and trained in law, marketing or other languages -or even subjects further afield such as computing, psychology and even nursing. This is a very flexible degree which gives you a lot of options
What about your long term prospects?
Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.
English studies
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£20k
£29k
£35k
Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.
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You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.
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Post-six month graduation stats:
This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.
It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.
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Graduate field commentary:
The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show
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The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.
While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?
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