BA English Literature and History
About this course
BA (Hons) in English Literature and History, an English Literature and History degree exploring the intersection of cultural texts and historical events. Core topics include Research Methods, Historical Research, Communication & Writing, Critical & Analytical Thinking, and Global & Comparative Perspective. The course includes a dedicated employability module offering work-based learning such as archive exploration or exhibition curation. The first year covers foundational studies through modules such as Introduction to Literary Studies 1, Introduction to Literary Studies 2, Global York: A Social and Cultural History of the City, and United States: Empire of Liberty? Optional choices in the first year include Researching and Presenting the Past, Writing, Research and Literature, and People and Nature: An Environmental History. The second year features History Pathways alongside a wide selection of optional modules spanning creative writing, specialized historical periods, and literary theory. In the final year, students complete either the English Literature Research Project or the Dissertation in History. Optional modules in the final year allow specialization in various advanced historical and literary subjects, including Research Now I and Research Now II.
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
Minimum entry requirements: 104 UCAS Tariff points; and 3 GCSEs at grade C/4 (or equivalent) including English Language.
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What students say
Based on about 49 final-year students who answered, across similar courses at this university
- Teaching on my course: 98%
- Learning opportunities: 93%
- Assessment and feedback: 92%
- Academic support: 92%
- Organisation and management: 91%
- Learning resources: 94%
- Student voice: 78%
Do students stay on the course?
Based on about 10 students who started (a small group: a rough guide only)
- Continued on course: 75%
- Moved to a lower qualification: 25%
What graduates do next
Based on about 33 graduates who answered, across similar courses at this university
- Working: 56%
- Working and studying: 15%
- Further study: 10%
- Unemployed: 8%
Most common jobs
- Administrative occupations: 20%
- Elementary occupations: 15%
- Teaching Professionals: 10%
- Business and public service associate professionals: 10%
- Sales occupations: 10%
- Find their work meaningful: 75%
- Feel on track for their future plans: 45%
- Use what they learnt on the course: 30%
Where graduates work (5 years on)
Based on about 145 graduates, across similar courses at this university
- North East: 18%
- North West: 11%
- Yorkshire and the Humber: 51%
- East Midlands: 8%
- West Midlands: 2%
- East of England: 2%
- London: 6%
- South East: 3%
- South West: 1%
Who gets in
Based on about 20 students who started (a small group: a rough guide only)
- A levels: 85%
- Baccalaureate: 5%
- Access course: 5%
- Other HE qualification: 5%
Accreditation & quality ratings
TEF 2023 (whole university): Silver overall, Gold for student experience, Silver for student outcomes.
Modules
- Researching and Presenting the Past
- Introduction to Literary Studies 1
- Introduction to Literary Studies 2
- Global York: A Social and Cultural History of the City
- Writing, Research and Literature
- People and Nature: An Environmental History
- United States: Empire of Liberty?
- Literature at Work
- History Pathways
- Making History
- Tyranny and Majesty: Kingship in Late Medieval England
- The Great Society: America in the 1960s
- From Slavery to Freedom
- Writing Reality: Creative Non Fiction
- Adaptations
- Mapping America
- Literary Theory
- Dawn of Print
- Science Fiction for Survival
- The Romantic Imagination: Affect, Excess and Revolution
- Sick Stories: Narratives of Illness, Disease, and Infection
- Shakespeare: Perspectives
- Conflicting Words
- Writing Fiction
- Writing Poetry
- Scriptwriting
- Lives and Experiences of Sixteenth-Century Women
- Russian Between Lenin and Stalin
- C’est La Vie! An Everyday History of Nineteenth-Century France
- European Conflict, c.1660-1815
- Alfred the Great and the Idea of England
- The Chinese Revolutions: From Empire to Communism
- ‘You’ve Never Had It So Good!’ Britain 1945-1997
- Living and Dying in Revolutionary England, 1620 - 1670
- English Literature Research Project OR Dissertation in History
- Hunger, Rebellion, and Rage: The Victorians
- Experiments and Upheavals: Twentieth-Century Cultural Change
- Literary Legacies
- The Making of Modern Drama
- Research Now I
- American Radicals: Outside the Canon
- Writing the Caribbean
- What Now? What Next? Twenty-First Century Literature
- Gender and Sexualities
- A Cultural History of the Reformation
- Cold War, Hot War: The International History of the Korean War
- Doomed Youth: A Social and Cultural History of the First World War
- Life After Death in the Early Middle Ages: Saints, Ghosts, and Dynasties
- Life Through Letters, c.1780-1850
- Myth, Murder, Memory: Traumatic Histories and the American Experience
- Napoleonic Europe
- Roads to War: The International Origins of World War Two
- The Assassination of John F. Kennedy
- The Wars of the Roses
- War Without Fronts: The Wars in Indochina
- Watchers and the Watched: Surveillance in Early Modern England
- Research Now II
Questions about this course
How much do graduates of BA English Literature and History at York St John University earn?
The median salary is £22,000 after 15 months, £19,000 after 3 years, £23,000 after 5 years. After five years the middle half of graduates earn between £19,500 and £29,000. The £23,000 median after five years is £5,000 less than the UK median for Literature in English.
What do graduates of BA English Literature and History at York St John University do next?
81% were in work or further study 15 months after finishing (Graduate Outcomes 2022-23).
Are students happy with the teaching on BA English Literature and History at York St John University?
98% of final-year students were positive about the teaching in the National Student Survey 2024-25.
What grades do I need for BA English Literature and History at York St John University?
The average entrant had 107 UCAS points.
Does BA English Literature and History at York St John University 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 and History at York St John University?
75% of students continued into their second year, and 0% left higher education.