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English Literature and Film

Entry requirements


A level

A,A,B

To include A Level English Literature or A Level English Language and Literature

Accepted in place of A levels with the following grade equivalencies: D2 = A*; D3 = A; M2 = B. Combinations of A levels and Principle subjects are accepted. NB required subjects must be offered (see A level Section)

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme

32

6,6,5 in Higher Level subjects, to include Literature or Literature and Language at HL 5.

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)

DDM

BTEC Extended Diploma: DDM, plus a B at A-level in the required subject/s mentioned above. BTEC Diploma: DD, plus a B at A-level in the required subject/s mentioned above. BTEC Subsidiary Diploma: D, plus AB at A-level, including the required subject/s mentioned above.

Accepted in place of a non-required A level with the equivalent grade.

UCAS Tariff

136

We've calculated how many Ucas points you'll need for this course.

About this course


Course option

3years

Full-time | 2024

Subjects

Film studies

English studies

Our BA English and Film undergraduate degree is characterised by a wide study of literature in the English language and by a rigorous study of film and television in their critical, theoretical, industrial and creative contexts.

The programme introduces you to a broad range of types and periods of literature, with a huge variety of different areas to pursue, from medieval literature to twenty-first-century digital literary culture. These include unparalleled resources for the study of Shakespeare, through our world-leading Shakespeare Institute.

You will gain a comprehensive range of knowledge and understanding of film; competence in practical filmmaking and detailed awareness of and interaction with the industry. Studying BA English and Film at the University of Birmingham has a vocational focus, offering you the opportunity to apply for a work placement through our ‘Professional Skills Placement’ module in your second year of study.

**Why study this course?**

**Work placement option** – You have the option to apply for a work placement through our ‘Professional Skills Placement’ module in the second year of your degree.

**Outstanding employability** - We are the 4th most targeted UK University by Graduate Employers (High Fliers Report 2022).

**Shakespeare Institute and Stratford residential** – We have a unique provision for the study of Shakespeare called the Shakespeare Institute. This is based in Stratford-upon-Avon and acts as a world leading centre for international Shakespeare scholarship. You will also have the opportunity to apply for our very popular undergraduate Stratford residential trip, which includes lectures, creative workshops, theatre trips, cultural activities and offers academic and creative inspiration. To learn more about the city of Birmingham and the surrounding area, visit our Discover Birmingham page.

**Location** - The quality, creativity and originality of the UK’s film, television and digital production industries is highly respected across the globe – hence its position as the biggest exporter of TV programmes after the US. British programming leads the way in factual entertainment, documentaries and light entertainment, and the US now looks to the UK as a source of inspiration.

**Excellent extra-curricular options** – You will be able to enjoy regular guest lectures and readings from visiting writers. Past guests have included poet Simon Armitage, playwright Simon Stephens, theatre director Gregory Doran and Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy. There is also a variety of student societies which you may wish to join, including BEDSoc (Birmingham English Department Society), Writer’s Bloc (who produce a regular journal), Redbrick (our student-run newspaper), Burn FM (our student-run radio station) and Guild TV (our student-run TV station).

**Top 20 for Cinematics in the Complete University Guide 2023**

**95% of students are in work and / or study within 15 months of graduation (Graduate Outcomes Survey 2022)**

**30th in the world for English Language and Literature (QS World Subject Rankings 2022)**

Modules

First-year modules cover a broad base of the subject and are designed to introduce you to ways of studying at university. By the final year the modules you take will become more specialised and reflect the research expertise of the academic staff. More detailed module information can be found on the ‘Course detail’ tab on the University of Birmingham’s coursefinder web pages.

Tuition fees

Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:

Channel Islands
£9,250
per year
England
£9,250
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Republic of Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£9,250
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

The Uni


Course location:

University of Birmingham

Department:

Department of Film and Creative Writing

Read full university profile

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.

64%
Film studies
75%
English studies

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.

Media studies

Teaching and learning

82%
Staff make the subject interesting
91%
Staff are good at explaining things
91%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
91%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

91%
Library resources
100%
IT resources
91%
Course specific equipment and facilities
55%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

87%
UK students
13%
International students
22%
Male students
78%
Female students

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

A
A
A

English studies (non-specific)

Teaching and learning

89%
Staff make the subject interesting
90%
Staff are good at explaining things
86%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
67%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

79%
Library resources
90%
IT resources
81%
Course specific equipment and facilities
64%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

94%
UK students
6%
International students
14%
Male students
86%
Female students
93%
2:1 or above
6%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

A
A
B

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.

Media 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.

98%
high
Employed or in further education

Top job areas of graduates

25%
Sales, marketing and related associate professionals
20%
Artistic, literary and media occupations
8%
Sales assistants and retail cashiers

English studies (non-specific)

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.

£18,000
med
Average annual salary
73%
high
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

20%
Sales, marketing and related associate professionals
14%
Teaching and educational professionals
7%
Sales assistants and retail cashiers

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.

Sorry, no information to show

This is usually because there were too few respondents in the data we receive to be able to provide results about the subject at this university.

English studies (non-specific)

The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.

£19k

£19k

£25k

£25k

£29k

£29k

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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This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).

This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.

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This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for undergraduate students only.

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.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

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?

Have a question about this info? Learn more here