English with Foundation Year

If you are passionate about literature, culture, ideas and writing, our BA English offers you a varied and flexible course with teaching that builds on the rich literary and cultural history of the local area. You will study some of the most cutting-edge authors, deepen your analytical capacity, expand your knowledge and understanding, and become a skilled reader, writer and communicator.

Why choose this course?

• On this BA English, you will be supported to be the best thinker, reader and writer you can be. Our classrooms are inspiring, stimulating and welcoming, and our academics regularly receive teaching awards.

• We offer you an exciting and varied curriculum with opportunities to choose modules that match your interests. You will have the opportunity to discover groundbreaking texts that include medieval, Gothic, Victorian and contemporary literatures.

• We welcome and support an international and intergenerational community of students that want to explore the role of literature, the humanities and the arts, in addressing the most urgent issues of our times.

What you will learn

We focus on three main approaches to studying English: storytelling, making stories and understanding texts.

We pride ourselves on offering you a wide range of modules that expand the boundaries of literature and your understanding of the world, but also support your career aspirations. These span the medieval to contemporary periods and include creative writing, theatre, film, poetry, science fiction and more.

You will study fiction, non-fiction, autobiography, biography, literary criticism, essays, poetry and plays in interdisciplinary contexts to understand how literature shapes, and is shaped by, our contemporary cultural climate as well as traditions and legacies of the past.

How you will learn

You will be taught in lectures, small seminar groups and workshops. You will engage in literary study in a cultural and global context while finessing your writing skills, and participate in events involving internationally acclaimed critics, writers, actors and philosophers.

This course is available to study full- or part-time. It has an evening timetable with classes taking place in the evening.

Foundation Year

If you opt for the Foundation Year route, this will fully prepare you for undergraduate study. It is ideal if you are returning to study after a gap, or if you have not previously studied the relevant subjects, or if you didn't achieve the grades you need for a place on your chosen undergraduate degree.

Highlights

• Birkbeck was ranked 2nd in the UK for its English Language and Literature research in the 2021 Research Excellence Framework.

• Based at the heart of one of the world's most exciting cities, we combine lectures, seminars and workshops with visits to theatres and other cultural and artistic institutions, and we frequently collaborate with leading arts, cultural, theatre and dance and performing arts organisations.

• If you opt for the three-year full-time or four-year part-time course, you can apply to take part in a competitive industry placement module.

Careers and employability

On successfully graduating from this BA, you will have gained an array of important transferable skills, including:

• collaboration and group work skills

• cultural understanding and communication skills

• a sophisticated use of written and spoken English

• an ability to understand, critique and defend complex and important ideas

• planning and organisation skills.

You can find our graduates in a wide range of roles including:

• writing

• publishing

• editing

• education

• journalism

• creative industries

• public relations

• research.