StudyQA — Bachelor: English — University College London (Page 32)

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Description Contents Requirements

The MSc in English at University College London offers an in-depth exploration of English language, literature, and cultural studies, providing students with a comprehensive understanding of the development, usage, and influence of the English language across different contexts and periods. This programme is designed for students who wish to deepen their knowledge of English linguistics, literary traditions, and cultural histories through rigorous academic analysis and research. Throughout the course, students engage with a wide range of texts, from medieval to contemporary literature, and examine the evolving nature of the English language, including phonetics, syntax, semantics, and corpus linguistics. The programme also emphasizes critical thinking, analytical skills, and scholarly writing, preparing graduates for careers in academia, publishing, communications, or related fields. Students will have the opportunity to work closely with leading experts in the field of English studies and participate in seminars, workshops, and projects that enhance their research capabilities. The MSc programme fosters an interdisciplinary approach, encouraging exploration of areas such as digital humanities, language variation and change, and the interface between language and society. With access to extensive resources at UCL’s modern libraries and research centers, students can tailor their studies according to their interests and career ambitions. The programme is suitable for those holding an undergraduate degree in English, linguistics, literature, or a related discipline, and aims to produce well-rounded professionals equipped with advanced knowledge and skills to contribute to the understanding and development of the English language and its literature. Graduates of this programme will be well-prepared for doctoral research, teaching, or specialist roles within literary and linguistic fields.

In the first year of your degree you will take four modules which constitute a foundation for the study of English literature. Students study eight further modules across years two and three (four in each year). Two of those eight are compulsory, the other six modules are chosen from a list covering many periods of English literature and various themes within the discipline.

The first year of the English BA acts as a foundation for the two following years, covering major narrative texts from the Renaissance to the present, an introduction to Old and Middle English, the study of critical method, and the study of intellectual and cultural sources (texts which influence English literature but which are not in themselves necessarily classified as such).

In second and third year you will study compulsory modules on Chaucer and Shakespeare and will choose six further modules from a wide range: from Old Icelandic to The Romantic Period to Literary Representations and the History of Homosexuality, and many more. American literature and literature in English from other countries also feature strongly.

Within these compulsory and optional papers you will work with your tutor and in seminars to focus your reading and essay writing around topics that interest you, within the parameters of your chosen modules. The degree thus combines breadth and depth with individual freedom to explore writers and ideas.

The course is deliberately structured to allow you to take whichever modules you want in whichever combinations you want.

Courses are assessed by a combination of regular tutorial essays and final exams at the end of the second and third years. Towards the end of the third year you will also write a longer research essay about a topic of particular interest.

A levels

Grades

AAA

Subjects

English Literature (or combined Literature and Language) required.

GCSEs

English Language at grade B, plus Mathematics at grade C. For UK-based students, a grade C or equivalent in a foreign language (other than Ancient Greek, Biblical Hebrew or Latin) is required. UCL provides opportunities to meet the foreign language requirement following enrolment, further details at: www.ucl.ac.uk/ug-reqs