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Music and English

  • Bachelor of Arts (with Honours)
  • 3 Years
  • Full-Time
  • 20 September 2027
  • Undergraduate
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More about Royal Holloway, University of London

Course options

2026-20272027-2028
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Course summary

This Joint Honours course combines the practical and theoretical study of Music with the study of English literature.

Studying Music at Royal Holloway allows you to tailor your studies to your own interests and passions.

We have expertise spanning traditional, modern and world music. Through studying musical texts, practices, cultures and institutions you will explore issues in history, sociology, ethnology, and philosophy covering an exceptional geographical and chronological range. You will also be able to gain practical skills in composition, music technology and performance.

You will join a music department that is among the very best in the country, ranked third in the UK for research quality (REF 2014) and the only music department in the country to hold a prestigious Regius Professorship.

From Beowulf to the Booker Prize, English offers you the opportunity to study the full historical range of literature in English as well as the latest developments in the field, and even to pursue your own creative writing.

You can discover the earliest works in English, deepen your knowledge of Shakespeare, find out what is great about Renaissance literature, darken your view of the 18th century, and unpack the Victorians. The course's structure allows you to develop a sound understanding of key periods, genres, authors, and ideas as well as choosing from a huge range of options. You can study Modernism, Postmodernism and American literature, explore literary criticism, develop your own creative writing, and analyse the latest developments in global literatures in English.

  • An adaptable programme with a flexible core of modules.

  • Creative opportunities abound – take modules in creative writing or composition.

  • Enjoy creating ensembles with other musicians.

  • A unique perspective – work at the intersection of music and the written word.

  • Choral, organ, orchestral and music scholarships.

Modules

Course Modules

Core Modules

Year 1

  • Reorienting the Novel

  • Critical Foundations: Thinking As A Critic

  • Introduction to Poetry

  • Theory and Analysis

  • Fundamentals of Music Theory

  • Creative Composition Techniques

  • A Very Short History of Music

  • Introduction to Historical Musicology

  • Introduction to World Music

  • Contemporary Debates in Music

  • Solo Performance

  • Creative Ensemble Performance

  • Introduction to Composing with Music Technology

Year 2

  • Studies in Music Analysis

  • Studies in Composition

  • Studies in Music History

  • Studies in Ethnomusicology

  • Studies in Music, Media and Technology

  • Practical Performance I

Year 3

  • Special Study: Dissertation

  • Special Study: Solo Performance

  • Special Study: Composition

Optional Modules

Below is a taster of some of the exciting optional modules that students on the course could choose from during this academic year. Please be aware these do change over time, and optional modules may be withdrawn or new ones added.

Year 1
  • All modules are core
Year 2

  • Solo Performance

  • Ensemble Performance

  • Composition Portfolio

  • Practical and Creative Orchestration

  • Composing with Technology 1

  • Introduction to Jazz: Theory, Practice and Contexts

  • Popular Music and Musicians in Post-War Britain and North America

  • Korean Percussion Performance

  • Practical Ethics

  • Musical Aesthetics

  • Mozart's Operas

  • Issues in Sound, Music and the Moving Image

  • Intercultural Performance: Theory and Practice

  • Music and Society in Purcell's London

  • Contemporary Music Performance

  • Music, Power and Politics

  • Ideas of German Music from Mozart to Henze

  • Music and Gender

  • Hearing the Orient: Critical and Practical Approaches to the Middle East

  • Middle English Poetry

  • Tolkien's Roots

  • Medieval Dream and Vision

  • Strange Fictions: Romance in the Middle Ages

  • Renaissance Literature

  • Intensive Shakespeare: Comedy, History, Tragedy

  • Drama and Witchcraft

  • Early Modern Bodies

  • Literature after the Conquest: 1066-1340

  • Victorian Literature

  • Romanticisms

  • Creative Writing: Structure and Style

  • Literature of the Fin de Siècle, 1883-1903

  • Contemporary Debates in Literary and Critical Theory

  • Modernisms

Year 3

  • Musical Aesthetics

  • Mozart's Operas

  • Issues in Sound, Music and the Moving Image

  • Intercultural Performance: Theory and Practice

  • Music and Society in Purcell's London

  • Contemporary Music Performance

  • Music, Power and Politics

  • Ideas of German Music from Mozart to Henze

  • Music and Gender

  • Hearing the Orient: Critical and Practical Approaches to the Middle East

  • Practical Performance 2

  • Composing with Technology 2

  • Ideas in Contemporary Fiction

  • On Murder

  • Advanced Shakespeare: The Problem Plays

  • Literature and Philosophy

  • Brexit, Literature and Discipline of English

  • James Joyce: Revolutions of the Word

  • Nineteenth-Century Literature and Culture

  • Reading Like a Victorian

  • First World War Literature

  • The Girl in the Book

  • Children's Literature

  • The Post-Colonial Novel

  • The 1930s British Fiction and the Road to War

  • Special Author: Virginia Woolf

  • Special Author: Chaucer

  • Special Author: Charles Dickens

  • Special Author: Herman Melville

  • Reading the Waste Land

  • Creative Writing Special Focus (Term 1)

  • English Dissertation

https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/studying-here/undergraduate/music/music-and-english/

Assessment method

This course has a modular structure, whereby you take 12 course units at the rate of four per year. Some course units are compulsory while others are elective thereby offering flexibility and choice.

You will be taught through a combination of lectures, seminars, tutorials and instrument/vocal lessons. Private study and preparation are essential parts of every course, and you will have access to many online resources and the University's comprehensive e-learning facility, Moodle. When you start with us, you are assigned a Personal Advisor in Music every week, and each course unit is supported by weekly tutorials in small groups of ten to twelve students.

In year one in the Department of English, you will also work in small groups of just four or five students focusing on study skills such as close reading, essay writing and presentation and self-editing. As you progress throughout your degree, these tutorials focus on your own personal development, for instance working on your CV.

You will also take a study skills course during your first year, designed to develop the writing and research skills you will need to be successful in your degree. This course does not count towards your final degree award but you are required to pass it to progress to your second year.

Assessment is carried out by a combination of examinations, which take place in the summer term, along with extended essays, assessed coursework, recitals and portfolios of compositions and other practical work, and performance recitals.

Ways to study this course

Campuses

  • Main Site

Study options

  • Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) • Full-Time • 3 Years

Start dates

  • 20 September 2027

Apply by
13 January 2027

This is the equal consideration deadline. You can still apply after this date, but your application may not receive guaranteed consideration.

Application codes

Course code:
WQ33
Institution code:
R72
Campus name:
Main Site
Points of Entry:
Year 1

Royal Holloway, University of London has participated in the Teaching Excellence Framework. These ratings were awarded in 2023, for four years.

See why these ratings were awarded
What does this TEF outcome mean?

How to apply

Apply by
13 January 2027

This is the deadline for applications to be completed and sent for this course. If the university or college still has places available you can apply after this date, but your application is not guaranteed to be considered.

Application codes

Course code:
WQ33
Institution code:
R72
Campus name:
Main Site

Points of entry

The following entry points are available for this course:

  • Year 1

Entry requirements

Typical qualification requirements

A level
ABB-BBB

Where an applicant is taking the EPQ alongside A-levels, the EPQ will be taken into consideration and result in lower A-level grades being required.
Socio-economic factors which may have impacted an applicant’s education will be taken into consideration and alternative offers may be made to these applicants.

Required:

Music A-Level or Grade 7 in Music Theory with Pass plus Grade 7 Music Performance and A Level with B in an essay based subject.

Applicants without A-level in Music or pass Grade 7 in Music Theory may be eligible for the Intensive Theory entry. This requires Music GCSE grade A/7 or equivalent, plus performance at Grade 7 level. In term 1 you will be required to take Fundamentals of Music Theory, an intensive music literacy course.

Students wishing to take Solo Performance options will need to be of Grade 8 level in performance at point of entry.

In some cases, a theory test may need to be completed and performance sample provided upon request in order to meet specific Music requirements

UCAS Tariff
Not accepted

Scottish Higher
AABBB

AABBB including Music or Grade 7 Music Theory at pass plus Grade 7 Music performance and an B in essay based subject.

Access to HE Diploma
Distinction: 27

and the remaining level 3 credits at Merit. Distinction required in all level 3 English units, plus evidence of A-Level standard Music proficiency Grade B equivalent or Grade 7 Music Theory at Pass and Grade 7 Music performance.

GCSE/National 4/National 5

We require English Language and Mathematics at grade 4 (C).

Scottish Advanced Higher
ABB-BBB

Including Music or pass Grade 7 in Music Theory plus Grade 7 Practical and B in an essay based subject.

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

in a relevant subject and A-Level B in an essay based subject and Grade 7 Music Theory plus Grade 7 Music performance

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
Offer: 32

6,5,5 at Higher Level OR 32 points overall, including Music and HL 5 in an essay based subject  If Music is not taken then Grade 7 Music Theory plus Grade 7 ABRSM Music performance is required.

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

including distinctions in all essay units and Grade 7 Music Theory at Pass plus Grade 7 Music performance.

Leaving Certificate - Higher Level (Ireland) (first awarded in 2017)
H2H2H3H3H3

H2,H2,H3,H3,H3 at Higher Level including Music or Grade 7 Music Theory at pass plus Grade 7 Music performance and H3 in an essay based subject at Higher Level

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

Plus A Level BB, including Music or pass Grade 7 in Music Theory, plus B in an essay based subject, plus Grade 7 Music Theory and Grade 7 Practical.

Welsh Baccalaureate - Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate (first teaching September 2015)

Requirements are as for A-levels where one non-subject-specified A-level can be replaced by the same grade in the Welsh Baccalaureate - Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate

Cambridge International Pre-U Certificate - Principal

Applicants with the Cambridge Pre-U are strongly encouraged to apply to Royal Holloway. Offers will be made on the basis of equivalent A-Level grades as can be found on the Royal Holloway website.

Combinations of qualifications will be considered on an individual basis, please contact us on admissions.enquiries@rhul.ac.uk to discuss your situation.

Contextual admissions

Universities and colleges consider more than grades when assessing applications and may make offers based on a range of criteria. Learn more about contextual offers.

At Royal Holloway, we know every student approaches university with different experiences and backgrounds. We look at each application individually, and different factors can affect the exact offer a student receives. For instance, our contextual offer scheme means students from disadvantaged socio-economic background can receive a different offer. For full details please see our website.

Learn more on the Royal Holloway, University of London website

Historical entry grades data

This section shows the range of grades that students who received offers were previously accepted on to this course with (learn more).

It is designed to support your research but does not guarantee whether you will or won't get a place.

Admissions teams consider various factors, including interviews, subject requirements, and entrance tests. Check all course entry requirements for eligibility.

Not enough data available

We are unable to show previous accepted grades for this course. This could be because the course is new, it's a postgraduate course, there isn't enough historical data, or the provider has opted out of sharing their entry grades data for this course - learn more.

Fees and funding

Tuition fees

Per year tuition fees

LocationFeeYear
EU & International£28500*
England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland & Channel Islands£9790*

* This is a provisional fee and subject to change.

Tuition fee status depends on a number of criteria and varies according to where in the UK you will study. For further guidance on the criteria for home or overseas tuition fees, please refer to the UKCISA website.

Additional fee information

Other essential costs: Students are recommended to purchase a laptop before starting their course, to assist with their studies. The optional residential field courses incur an extra fee.

*The tuition fee for Home (UK) undergraduates is controlled by Government regulations. This figure is the fee for the academic year 2026/27 and is shown as a guide. The fee for the academic year 2027/28 has not yet been confirmed.

*This figure is the fee for EU and international students starting a degree in the academic year 2026/27 and is shown as a guide. The fee for the academic year 2027/28 has not yet been confirmed.

Royal Holloway reserves the right to increase tuition fees annually for all students. For further information see fees and funding: https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/studying-here/fees-and-funding/

Sponsorship information

Scholarships and bursaries 2

https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/studyhere/undergraduate/feesandfunding/bursariesandscholarships/home.aspx

Related courses

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