History and English Literature BA (Hons)

Our joint honours BA History and English Literature course allows you to explore the richness of English literature alongside the rich history and variety of human experience. <br/><br/>Discover a thousand years of history whilst experiencing all the specialist areas on offer at the University of Reading. The History Departments expertise covers a wide range of regions, from Europe and Africa to America, South Asia and the Middle East. Module choices cover diverse periods and topics, from the Crusades to Cold War Berlin and from Medieval Magic to the Rwanda Crisis. The University of Reading is ranked in the top 125 universities in the world for Arts and Humanities and those offering History, Philosophy and Theology. (Times Higher Education World University Rankings by Subject 2024.) <br/><br/>In your English literature modules, you will read more of authors and genres that you may already know (from tragedy to Gothic, from Shakespeare and Dickens to Plath and Beckett). But you will also encounter aspects of literary studies that may be less familiar to you, from children’s literature to publishing studies and the history of the book. Our academics have published research on everything from medieval poetry to contemporary American fiction.<br/><br/>For more information, please visit the programme page: https://www.reading.ac.uk/ready-to-study/study/subject-area/history-ug/ba-history-and-english-literature

There are so many reasons to choose the University of Reading in Clearing this year. Join a diverse and supportive community where lecturers will inspire you with their discoveries and guide you in making your own. Reading’s award-winning parkland campus offers the spaces and places you need to make the most of your studies and student life.<br/><br/>The University of Reading is a research-intensive university. It works with governments, international agencies, businesses, and charities to tackle some of the biggest problems facing the world today, such as climate change, heart disease, and international conflict.<br/><br/>Named The Sustainable University of The Year, 2025, this year Reading launched one of the UK's largest ever undergraduate scholarship schemes, designed to develop future Global Sustainability Leaders Scholarships. The scholarship offers £6000 per year (for up to 4 years of study) towards living expenses and will be available to apply to, for those entering Clearing and who meet the scheme's criteria. With over 150 clubs and societies, Reading knows how important life is beyond your studies too and with the student union in the heart of the campus, there's little doubt making the University of Reading your first call in Clearing will be one of the best decisions you ever made.