English Literature (with Foundation Year) Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)

* Join a community passionate about the study of literature and the broad subject of English 


* Benefit from small class sizes and individual attention


* Use the transferable skills of analysis and writing to enter the career of your choice


* Add an extra string to your bow by taking your English degree further with an MA \
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Guided by our supportive teaching staff, who are all part of the university’s thriving literary research culture, you study the ideas of the most exciting critical thinkers in contemporary cultural debate, using innovative learning and teaching methods. And there’s the flexibility to add to your study of literary texts with modules in English Language and/or Creative Writing.

A Foundation Year is the perfect way to boost your academic skills, build your confidence and develop your wider subject knowledge so you can succeed at Winchester. This course offers an extra year of study at the start (Year 0) which leads onto a full degree programme (Years 1, 2 and 3).

A Foundation Year is ideal if you are returning to education after a break; haven’t quite achieved the entry qualifications required; are wanting more support during the transition to studying at university; or are unsure about which subject you wish to pursue.

In Year 0, you will study a set of modules from across the School of Humanities which are designed to develop your academic and practical skills. This broader focus in your first year introduces you to studying at university level and provides you with a better understanding of English Literature and related subjects.

Guided by our supportive teaching staff, who are all part of the university’s thriving literary research culture, you will study the ideas of the most exciting literary writers and critical thinkers involved in contemporary cultural debates, using innovative learning and teaching methods.

Year 1 provides the foundations for your studies of literature with modules designed to develop your skills in reading efficiently, critical analysis, research and writing. This is achieved through the study of a wide range of fiction, poetry and drama from across the historical periods. You will study both literature in its context, as well as the latest literary theories, as two different ways of finding out what and how a text means.

In Year 2, you will study what literature is 'out there' in modules devised to furnish you with a clear overview of the range of the literary periods. Unless you know how literature changed and developed from the beginning, then you cannot understand why it became what it is now. You will learn how and why the dominant literary form, the plays of William Shakespeare and others, turned to the novel as the next dominant literary form. You will explore the Romantic era which changed everything, and was thought to be the highest point of literary achievement.

You will discover why in the twentieth century, once again 'everything changed,' as the Modernists and Postmodernists challenged the expectations of what literature could be. Alongside the coverage modules, you will have a chance to choose two modules which will introduce you to thematic concerns in modules such as Victorian Literature; Children's Literature and Young Adult Fiction; Medieval Literature and Gothic Literature.

In Year 3, you will write a dissertation on the topic of your choice – based on what you’ve learned from the coverage and thematic modules in your second year. This will be a piece which you will work on with your chosen tutor, and will take the whole year to write. Alongside this, you will study Fantasy and Science Fiction, the most popular, and also the most complex and difficult of literary genres. You will choose optional modules closely related to the research interests of teaching staff and engage with cutting-edge developments in the discipline. Topics could be Literature and Film and Women's Writing in the Eighteenth Century.