English and Cultural Studies
The English and Cultural Studies Degree offers the opportunity for a broadly-based study of English and culture. This degree also offers an excellent opportunity to develop foreign language skills.

The degree is designed to be fully supportive to those who are new to university study, whatever your age. You follow a central core of modules taught by the Department of English and Comparative Literary Studies but can choose other relevant modules from other departments.
There are no prescribed entry qualifications for the degree. Applicants are normally interviewed by the course selector in the Department of English, who will look for evidence of academic ability and commitment and, in addition, for evidence of serious interest in the study of literature. This evidence might be obtained from study of literature in an Access, 'A' Level or a CLL course, or a less formal engagement with literature.
While this degree offers flexibility, it is highly recommended that students complete 120 credits of Level 4 modules prior to Honours Level (5 and 6) study in order to prepare well for this.
The degree requires you to take 120 Level 4 credits followed by a further 240 Honours Level credits. At Level 4, there is one compulsory module, Modes of Reading, which is taken by all Warwick students, full and part-time, taking degrees in English. The module offers an introduction to the practices of criticism and will address form, genre and literary inheritance. You are strongly encouraged to take a second module in English to increase your knowledge and skills in literature. The following are offered:
- Modern World Literatures
- The Epic Tradition
- Medieval to Renaissance English Literature
Other introductory modules in English and Cultural Studies are offered by the Departments of Film and TV Studies, History, Classics and Ancient History, History of Art and the Language Centre.
Honours Level
At Honours Level you must take a minimum of four of the eight Honours Level modules available from the English Department. This is an indicative list of the modules that have been offered:
- • The European Novel
- • U.S. Writing and Culture, 1780-1920
• North American Women Writers
• Romantic and Victorian Poetry
• Seventeenth Century: The First Modern Age of English Literature
• Literary and Cultural Theory
• The Practice of Poetry
• Screenwriting TBC
• Arthurian Literature and its Legacy
• The English Nineteenth Century Novel - evening class on offer for 2016/17
• Modern American Poetry
• New Literatures in English
• Devolutionary British Fiction
• Explorations in Critical Theory
• The Global Novel
• Literature, Environment, Ecology
• Shakespeare and Selected Dramatists of his Time (Traditional/Hybrid/Practical versions available. Please note the Hybrid and Practical versions are available only to finalist students)
• European Theatre
• Twentieth Century US Literature
• Dissertation (application to be approved in advance; deadline to submit a fully approved form is Friday week 1, term 3 - see module webpage for full details, application form and useful workshop to help prepare you over the summer)
• Othello - 15 CATS Term One only
• English Literature and Feminisms 1799-1899
• Eighteenth-Century Literature
• Crime Fiction, Nation and Empire: Britain 1850-1947
• Literature and Psychoanalysis
• States of Damage
• Shakespeare and the Law - 15 CATS Term One only
• Restoration Drama - 15 CATS Term Two Only
• Early Modern Drama - 15 CATS term One Only• The European Novel
• Dissonant Voices of the Middle Ages: Satire and Debate 1325-1525
• Fiction Now: Narrative, Media and Theory in the 21st Century
• Disasters and the British Contemporary
• Queer and There: Queer Theory and the History of Sexuality in the Global Context - 15 CATS Term One Only
• Literature, Theory and Time
• Cultures of Abolition: Slavery, Prison, Debt, and Data
• Writing Out Loud: Slam, spoken word, and performance poetics
• The Marriage Plot: romance, sex and feminism in English Fiction - 15 CATS Term Two Only
• Inventing Selves 1 - 15 CATS Term Two Only
• Remaking Shakespeare
• Commodity Fictions: World Literature and World-Ecology
• Global City Literature: Image, Theory, Text
• Exophony or Writing Beyond the Mother Tongue - 15 CATS Term Two Only
You may take optional modules from other departments in the Faculties of Humanaities and Social Sciences with the agreement of the course director and academic coordinator
There are a variety of assessments and these may include coursework assignments, formal examinations, presentations and research projects. You can study between one and three 30 credit modules per year. You can expect to commit to around 10 hours a week for each module you take, which includes contact time and independent study. Tutors are experts in their field and have extensive teaching experience, including working with adult learners. Throughout your degree programme you will be provided with considerable support and guidance.
Applications are 2020/21 are now closed.
The University will charge Home students £1,540 for each 30 credit module in 2020-21. Fees for subsequent years of the course have yet to be confirmed.
See Student fees and funding for more information and view potential additional fees.
The University of Warwick is not currently sponsoring students on part time or distance learning courses with a Tier 4 visa and so if you require a visa to study a part time/distance learning course in the UK which is longer than 6 months, you may wish to consult the 'right to study' page on our Student Immigration & Compliance website: https://warwick.ac.uk/study/international/immigration/othervisas/whatvisa before you make an application.
Classes are on located on Main Campus, The University of Warwick. Times dependent on modules taken; please contact us for more details
Applications for 2020/21 are closed
Key facts
Starts: September 2021
Level: Undergraduate
Length: Four - Eight Years
(Part-time)
Venue: University of Warwick
Finance information
See our finance information page for more information regarding financing your studies.
Have a look at our funding scenarios to see what support might be available for prospective students.
Success stories
"I felt very brave. I have found it challenging but I would encourage anyone to do it. Warwick University has great facilities and support for students of all ages and disciplines which I look forward to sharing with all those I meet."
Emma, current Part-time student