- UCAS course code
- QV31
- UCAS institution code
- M20
Bachelor of Arts (BA)
BA English Literature and History
Duration: 3 years
Year of entry: 2026
UCAS course code: QV31 / Institution code: M20
- Typical A-level offer: A*AA including specific subjects
- Typical contextual A-level offer: AAB including specific subjects
- UK refugee/care-experienced offer: AAC including specific subjects
- Typical International Baccalaureate offer: 37 points overall with 7,6,6 at HL including specific subjects
Overview
Course overview
- Ranked sixth in the UK for English language and literature by the QS World University Rankings 2024.
- Explore more than 1,000 years of literature and culture, from medieval romance to the postcolonial and postmodern, in the context of history.
- Pursue the study of diverse historical periods, themes, cultures and sub-cultures.
- Delve into the wide range of cultural assets of Manchester, a UNESCO City of Literature.
Contact details
- School/Faculty
- School of Arts, Languages and Cultures
- Telephone
- +44 (0)161 509 2871
- ug-eac@manchester.ac.uk
- Website
- http://www.alc.manchester.ac.uk/subjects/english/
- School/Faculty overview
-
See: About us
Courses in related subject areas
Use the links below to view lists of courses in related subject areas.
Entry requirements
A-level
A*AA including History and English Literature or English Language and Literature.
Practical skills are a crucial part of science education and therefore will be a requirement to pass the practical element of any science A Level taken.
Applicants taking A Levels are normally expected to offer three full A Levels. If you’re taking more than three A Levels, these won’t be included in your offer. We will only make offers consisting of three A Levels.
A-level contextual offer
AAB including A in History and English Literature or English Language and Literature.
Practical skills are a crucial part of science education and therefore will be a requirement to pass the practical element of any science A Level taken.
Applicants taking A Levels are normally expected to offer three full A Levels. If you’re taking more than three A Levels, these won’t be included in your offer. We will only make offers consisting of three A Levels.
Contextual offers are available for applicants who:
- live in the UK and will be under the age of 21 on 1 September of the year they will start their course; and
- live in an area of disadvantage or with low progression into higher education; and
- have attended a UK school or college for their GCSEs or A-levels (or equivalent qualifications) that has performed below the national average over multiple years.
See our contextual admissions page for full details and to check your eligibility.
UK refugee/care-experienced offer
AAC including grade A in History and English Literature or English Language and Literature
Practical skills are a crucial part of science education and therefore will be a requirement to pass the practical element of any science A Level taken.
Applicants taking A Levels are normally expected to offer three full A Levels. If you’re taking more than three A Levels, these won’t be included in your offer. We will only make offers consisting of three A Levels.
UK refugee/care-experienced offers are available for applicants who:
- have been looked after in care for more than three months; or
- have been granted refugee status by the UK government or have been issued a UK visa under one of the Ukrainian schemes (Homes for Ukraine, Ukraine Family Scheme or Ukraine Extension Scheme).
See our contextual admissions page for full details and to check your eligibility.
International Baccalaureate
37 points overall. 7,6,6 in Higher Level subjects including 7 in either History or English Literature. We prefer students to offer both English Literature and History at Higher Level but will consider one subject at Higher Level and one at Standard Level. Please contact us for further advice.
Applicants studying the International Baccalaureate Career Related Programme (IBCP) should contact the admissions team prior to applying so that their academic profile can be considered.
GCSE/IGCSE
Applicants must demonstrate a broad general education including acceptable levels of Literacy and Numeracy, equivalent to at least Grade 6 or B in GCSE/IGCSE English Language and 4 or C in Mathematics. GCSE/IGCSE English Literature will not be accepted in lieu of GCSE/IGCSE English Language.
Please note that if you hold English as a second language IGCSE qualification, we may also require you to offer one of our acceptable equivalent English Language qualifications or achieve a higher grade in your IGCSE than the one stated above. Please contact the admissions team in your academic School/Department for clarification.
Other entry requirements
Other entry requirements exist for this course. You may view these by selecting from the list below.
Country-specific entry requirements
English language requirements
All applicants to the University (from the UK and Overseas) are required to show evidence of English Language proficiency. The minimum English Language requirement for this course is either:
GCSE/IGCSE English Language grade B/6, or;
IELTS 7.0 overall with 6.5 in each sub-test, or;
An acceptable equivalent qualification.
Please note that if you hold English as a second language IGCSE qualification, we may also require you to offer one of our acceptable equivalent English Language qualifications or achieve a higher grade in your IGCSE than the one stated above. Please contact the academic School for clarification.
If you need to improve your English language skills to meet the entry requirements for your academic course, the University Centre for Academic English (UCAE) summer pre-sessional courses can help. Check if your academic course offers the option of taking a pre-sessional course on the UCAE page .
The UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) requires that every student requiring a visa to study in the UK must show evidence of a minimum level of English Language (common European Framework (CEFR B2 level) to be granted a Student Route visa (previously known as a Tier 4 visa) to study at undergraduate or postgraduate level.
In addition, our academic Schools/Departments may require applicants to demonstrate English proficiency above the B2 level. Further information about our English Language policy, including a list of some of the English Language qualifications we accept, can be found here .
English language test validity
Fees and funding
Fees
Fees for entry in 2026 have not yet been set. For entry in 2025 the tuition fees were £9,535 per annum for home students, and are expected to increase slightly for 2026 entry.
Policy on additional costs
All students should normally be able to complete their programme of study without incurring additional study costs over and above the tuition fee for that programme. Any unavoidable additional compulsory costs totalling more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee per annum, regardless of whether the programme in question is undergraduate or postgraduate taught, will be made clear to you at the point of application. Further information can be found in the University's Policy on additional costs incurred by students on undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes (PDF document, 91KB).
Scholarships/sponsorships
- Find out more from student finance
- Eligible UK students can apply for bursaries and scholarships
- Funding for EU and international students is on our country-specific pages
- Many students work part-time or complete a student internship
Application and selection
How to apply
Home-schooled applicants
Non-standard educational routes
How your application is considered
Interview requirements
Returning to education
We welcome applications from mature candidates. Where appropriate, mature applicants are called for interview and/or invited to submit written work. Your qualifications to date will be considered, along with the length of time since you were last studying for a qualification - applicants need to have been in education within the last five years. If it is any longer than five years since you were last in education we may require you to take an Access Qualification and invite you along for interview.
If you are on an Access course, you will be considered individually and we will ask to see some of your recent written work.
If you have other qualifications (eg Vocational A levels, Open University) you will be considered on an individual basis and you are recommended to contact our Admissions Administrator.
Overseas (non-UK) applicants
Deferrals
All deferred applications are assessed on the same basis as applications for the current year of entry.
We do ask applicants to let us know as early as possible if they are intending to defer. This helps us to adjust the number of offers we make, in order to achieve the required number of students in a given year.
Policy for applicants who resit their qualifications
Re-applications
Transfers
Course details
Course description
BA English Literature and History allows you to study English Literature within its historical context.
You'll study English Literature and History as subjects in their own right, and explore them in an inter-disciplinary way.
Both our English Literature and History courses cover the last millennium, from Anglo-Saxon to the present day. Both subjects also offer a global reach from postcolonial literature to European, American, African and Asian history.
Lecturers are leaders in their fields and cover the full range of English literature and British history, combining the strengths of both disciplines, while maximising student choice and opportunities for specialisation.
In addition, you will be able to take advantage of Manchester's rich archival holdings (particularly in the Medieval and Victorian periods) and will benefit from being part of the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures (SALC) which has a long-established commitment to interdisciplinary study.
Special features
Placement year option
Apply your subject-specific knowledge in a real-world context through a placement year in your third year of study, enabling you to enhance your employment prospects, clarify your career goals and build your external networks.
Connect with like-minded students
Join the English Society, which puts on social and cultural events.
Its annual programme usually includes talks, readings, parties, theatre visits and a play production.
Together, these societies run an annual Student Ball.
You can also join the History Society, which plays a key role in building a community among History students at Manchester by organising trips (in the UK and on the continent) and hosting social events, and get involved with the student magazine, The Manchester Historian .
Teaching and learning
You will learn through tutor-led lectures, seminars and tutorials. For some course units you'll join in group work and other forms of collaborative learning.
Classroom time is frequently supplemented by new media, such as the virtual learning environment. You will also have access to other digital resources to support your learning.
You will spend approximately 12 hours a week in formal study sessions. For every hour spent at University, you will be expected to complete a further two to three hours of independent study. You will also need to study during the holiday periods.
The individual study component could be spent reading, producing written work, or revising for examinations.
A significant part of your study time will be spent reading, taking notes, preparing presentations and writing essays (which examine particular aspects of a subject in greater depth).
Coursework and assessment
You will be assessed in various ways, including:
- written and oral examinations;
- coursework essays;
- research reports;
- practical tests;
- learning logs;
- web contributions;
- seminar presentations and participation.
Many course units are assessed through a mixture of techniques.
In your final year, you can choose to write a dissertation.
Your second-year work counts toward 33% of your final degree result. Your third-year work accounts for the remaining 67%.
Course unit details
You will take 120 credits in each year of study.
Course content for year 1
Course units for year 1
The course unit details given below are subject to change, and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.
| Title | Code | Credit rating | Mandatory/optional |
|---|---|---|---|
| ENGL10072 | 20 | Mandatory | |
| ENGL10171 | 20 | Mandatory | |
| HIST10101 | 20 | Mandatory | |
| AMER10002 | 20 | Optional | |
| CAHE10011 | 20 | Optional | |
| CAHE10022 | 20 | Optional | |
| CAHE10101 | 20 | Optional | |
| CAHE10232 | 20 | Optional | |
| CAHE10281 | 20 | Optional | |
| CAHE10651 | 20 | Optional | |
| Displaying 10 of 38 course units for year 1 | |||
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Course content for year 2
Course units for year 2
The course unit details given below are subject to change, and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.
| Title | Code | Credit rating | Mandatory/optional |
|---|---|---|---|
| AMER20481 | 20 | Optional | |
| AMER22662 | 20 | Optional | |
| CAHE20042 | 20 | Optional | |
| CAHE20052 | 20 | Optional | |
| CAHE20061 | 20 | Optional | |
| CAHE20531 | 20 | Optional | |
| ENGL20001 | 20 | Optional | |
| ENGL20002 | 20 | Optional | |
| ENGL20231 | 20 | Optional | |
| ENGL20372 | 20 | Optional | |
| Displaying 10 of 47 course units for year 2 | |||
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Course content for year 3
Course units for year 3
The course unit details given below are subject to change, and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.
| Title | Code | Credit rating | Mandatory/optional |
|---|---|---|---|
| AMER30162 | 20 | Optional | |
| AMER30422 | 20 | Optional | |
| AMER30571 | 20 | Optional | |
| AMER30811 | 20 | Optional | |
| CAHE30881 | 20 | Optional | |
| ENGL30001 | 20 | Optional | |
| ENGL30002 | 20 | Optional | |
| ENGL30121 | 20 | Optional | |
| ENGL30122 | 20 | Optional | |
| ENGL30261 | 20 | Optional | |
| Displaying 10 of 72 course units for year 3 | |||
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Facilities
The University of Manchester owns the Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester Museum and Tabley House, giving you unique access to outstanding cultural and historical resources.
One of only five National Research Libraries, The University of Manchester Library holds extensive, internationally renowned collections in the medieval, Victorian, and American literary fields. The latter includes the Walt Whitman Collection and the Upton Sinclair Collection. Holdings also include the archive material of the Manchester Poetry Centre.
You will enjoy exclusive access to special collections of the John Rylands Library, including Shakespeare's first folio, and Elizabeth Gaskell and Ted Hughes' first archives.
Learn more on the Facilities page.
Disability support
Careers
Career opportunities
All our courses have your future in mind, whether that's further study or starting a career.
Our degrees are designed to equip you with strong critical analysis skills, the ability to articulate knowledge of concepts and theories, and the ability to work and think independently, critically and creatively; each providing you with a set of versatile skills that are highly desired by a wide range of employers.
Studying History at The University of Manchester helps to develop transferable skills including conducting research, honing analysis and critical reasoning, empathy, asserting judgment, building a critique, offering an interpretation, and time management.
The creative economy accounts for one in 11 jobs across the UIK and employs 700,000 more people than the financial services industry (Creative Industries Federation).
The University of Manchester is second the most targeted university in the UK for top graduate employers (High Fliers Research, 2024).
Our award-winning careers service provides a wealth of tools, advice, development opportunities and industry links.
You'll have access to dedicated, subject-specific support throughout your studies and for up to two years after graduation.
Our undergraduate courses are also designed to provide an easy transition into postgraduate study, if desired.
We offer a wide range of specialist master's courses within the University and even offer fast-tracked enrolment to high-achieving undergraduate students.
Our students can take part in our Stellify programme alongside their degrees, developing professional and leadership skills while contributing to their local and global communities through volunteering.
Our graduates have gone on to work in a variety of industries, including positions with: the BBC, KPMG, Deloitte, Marks and Spencer, Aviva, Accenture, Barclays, the civil service, policy and think tanks, charity and social justice work, media and journalism, marketing and public relations, and law and accountancy.
Regulated by the Office for Students
The University of Manchester is regulated by the Office for Students (OfS). The OfS aims to help students succeed in Higher Education by ensuring they receive excellent information and guidance, get high quality education that prepares them for the future and by protecting their interests. More information can be found at the OfS website.
You can find regulations and policies relating to student life at The University of Manchester, including our Degree Regulations and Complaints Procedure, on our regulations website.