English and History BA (UCAS VQ32)
Discover more about our English and History degree at Warwick
We’re used to thinking of Literature and History as separate and distinct subjects. But are they? Both produce knowledge of the past; both focus on the reading and interpretation of texts; and both are concerned with narrative, or stories. Perhaps instead we should think of history as literature based on a true story, and of literature as a kind of living, imaginative history.
General entry requirements
A level typical offer
AAA or A*AB to include grade A in English Literature or English Language and Literature (combined) or History.
You will also need one other Social Sciences or Humanities A level. Please see the subjects listed below under Additional Requirements.
A level contextual offer
We welcome applications from candidates who meet the contextual eligibility criteria and whose predicted grades are close to, or slightly below, the contextual offer level. The typical contextual offer is ABB including an A in English Literature or English Language and Literature (combined) or History. Applicants only taking one of the above will require one further Social Sciences or Humanities subject. See if you're eligible.
General GCSE requirements
Unless specified differently above, you will also need a minimum of GCSE grade 4 or C (or an equivalent qualification) in English Language and either Mathematics or a Science subject. Find out more about our entry requirements and the qualifications we accept. We advise that you also check the English Language requirements for your course which may specify a higher GCSE English requirement. Please find the information about this below.
IB typical offer
36 to include 6 at Higher Level in English Literature or English Language and Literature (combined) or 6 at Higher Level in History.
You will also need one other Social Sciences or Humanities subject at Higher Level. Please see the subjects listed below under Additional Requirements.
IB contextual offer
We welcome applications from candidates who meet the contextual eligibility criteria and whose predicted grades are close to, or slightly below, the contextual offer level. The typical contextual offer is 32 including 6 at Higher Level in English Literature or English Language and Literature (combined) or History. Applicants only taking one of the above will require one further Social Sciences or Humanities subject. See if you're eligible.
General GCSE requirements
Unless specified differently above, you will also need a minimum of GCSE grade 4 or C (or an equivalent qualification) in English Language and either Mathematics or a Science subject. Find out more about our entry requirements and the qualifications we accept. We advise that you also check the English Language requirements for your course which may specify a higher GCSE English requirement. Please find the information about this below.
We welcome applications from students taking BTECs alongside A level English Literature or English Language and Literature (combined) or History.
You will also need one other Social Sciences or Humanities A level. Please see the subjects listed below under Additional Requirements.
General GCSE requirements
Unless specified differently above, you will also need a minimum of GCSE grade 4 or C (or an equivalent qualification) in English Language and either Mathematics or a Science subject. Find out more about our entry requirements and the qualifications we accept. We advise that you also check the English Language requirements for your course which may specify a higher GCSE English requirement. Please find the information about this below.
International qualifications
English Language requirements
All applicants have to meet our English Language requirements. If you cannot demonstrate that you meet these, you may be invited to take part in our Pre-sessional English course at WarwickLink opens in a new window.
This course requires: Band B
Learn more about our English Language requirementsLink opens in a new window
Additional requirements
The Social Sciences and Humanities subjects we will accept include:
- Art
- Business
- Classics
- Creative Writing
- Design
- Drama
- Economics
- English Language
- English Literature
- English Language and Literature (combined)
- Environmental Studies
- Geography
- History
- History of Art
- Journalism
- Languages (modern or classical)
- Law
- Media
- Music
- Philosophy
- Politics
- Psychology
- Religious Studies
- Sociology
- Theatre Performance
Frequently asked questions
Warwick may make differential offers to students in a number of circumstances. These include students participating in a Widening Participation programme or who meet the contextual data criteria.
Differential offers will usually be one or two grades below Warwick’s standard offer.
All students who successfully complete the Warwick IFP and apply to Warwick through UCAS will receive a guaranteed conditional offer for a related undergraduate programme (selected courses only).
Find out more about standard offers and conditions for the IFP.
We welcome applications for deferred entry.
We do not typically interview applicants. Offers are made based on your UCAS form which includes predicted and actual grades, your personal statement and school reference.
Course overview
The unique English and History degree at Warwick explores these ideas through modules that span time and geography: from the ancient to the contemporary, and from Europe to Asia, Africa, and the Americas.
As well as choosing from a wide range of modules in both departments (and in others), you will study special core modules that are exclusively for English and History students, bringing the two subjects together and thinking about how literature helps us to understand the past, and how history can illuminate works of literature. You will examine the literary techniques employed in historical writing, and consider how the past is represented in poetry, plays, and novels.
At all times, we will encourage you to develop your own ideas and arguments, to critically analyse what others say and write, and to think in new and imaginative ways about how we know the past through texts.
Study abroad
As a student on our English degrees, you will have the opportunity to spend your third year at one of our partner institutions in the USA, Europe, China, Australia or Japan.
You will then return to Warwick to complete the fourth and final year of your degree. You will be able to apply to transfer to the four-year course when you are in your second year at Warwick, subject to the availability of places from the University's International Office.
Core modules
The first year of your degree provides a thorough grounding in the methods and techniques of history and literary studies. The core module, History and Textuality, is specially designed for this degree programme and gives you an advanced training in the most innovative approaches to historical and literary scholarship.
In your second year, you’ll choose modules from the two departments alongside another specially-designed core module, Writing History, which explores the relationship between history and literature through a series of source-based case studies (which in previous years have included the revolutionary Atlantic, colonial India, the Harlem Renaissance, and 9/11).
Finally, in your third year you’ll complete an independent research project and choose from a range of modules offered by the two departments (and others), tailoring your studies to your own interests.
By the time you graduate you will have acquired an exceptional intellectual training for further study in either discipline—or both—and for a range of careers beyond academia; and you’ll never think about literature or history in quite the same way again.
Year One
History and Textuality
For historians and literary scholars alike the past is irretrievable, yet inescapable. On History and Textuality you will explore how the two disciplines address this dilemma, focusing particularly on issues that have been marginalised in traditional historical inquiry—such as the emotions, the ‘primitive’, and the non-human—and on the ways in which history has been shaped by operations of power. As the first-year core module for the English and History degree, this module also has a programme of assessments designed to help you make the transition from school to university-level study.
Read more about the History and Textuality moduleLink opens in a new window, including the methods of teaching and assessment (content applies to 2021/22 year of study).
Making of the Modern World
We live in the here and now. But what got us here? This module studies the string of major social, political, and cultural developments that established our modern world. Radical (and not so radical) ideas from the Enlightenment, the industrial revolution’s structural transformations of how we work, build and buy things, and the struggles and stumbles of imperialism, capitalism and globalisation have gone far to set terms of life in the twenty-first century. The module will also help you develop your critical voice as a historian while asking comparative questions about historical difference across the world.
Read more about the Making of the Modern World moduleLink opens in a new window, including the methods of teaching and assessment (content applies to 2021/22 year of study).
Medieval and Early Modern Literature
Taking you from the mythical court of King Arthur to the real world of ambition, intrigue, and danger in the courts of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, this module introduces you to early literature written in a range of genres (romance, epic, fabliau) and poetic forms. You will study texts like Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, Thomas More’s Utopia, Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene, and Shakespeare’s sonnets to explore some of the period’s highest ideals—‘trawthe’ or integrity—as well as some of humanity’s darkest impulses: greed, deception, revenge, and desire.
Read more about the Medieval and Early Modern Literature moduleLink opens in a new window, including the methods of teaching and assessment (content applies to 2022/23 year of study).
or
Epic into Novel
Tracking the transition from the epics of the ancient world to their incarnation as texts of modernity, this module introduces you to some of the most influential and formative works of world literature. You will study central texts of the classical world, such as Gilgamesh, Homer’s Iliad, Virgil’s Aeneid, and Catullus; ancient epics from India and Africa; Milton’s Paradise Lost; as well as responses to ancient epic by Tennyson, Margaret Atwood, Seamus Heaney, and Maria Dahvana Headley. Reading across history and cultures, between languages and genres, you will develop the skills to analyse narrative, character, and style.
Read more about the Epic into Novel moduleLink opens in a new window, including the methods of teaching and assessment (content applies to 2022/23 year of study).
Plus one further first-year English or first year History module of your choice
Year Two
In your second year, you will study 30 CATS of English modules, 30 CATS of History modules, and 30 CATS of your choice (which can be English or History modules, or selected modules from other departments). Your module choices for this year must include at least 30 CATS of early-modern (pre-1800) material. In addition, you will take our core module:
Writing History: Truth, Memory, and Fiction
‘Writing History’ explores how knowledge of the past is constructed, and contested, in texts. It examines a sequence of four historical episodes and considers how they have been portrayed as cohesive and meaningful events in history, to widely varying intellectual and political ends. You will develop your ability to historicise and critically evaluate historical and literary texts and enhance your understanding of how narrative and artistic representation shape historical knowledge and ‘truth’.
Read more about the Writing History: Truth, Memory, and Fiction moduleLink opens in a new window, including the methods of teaching and assessment (content applies to 2021/22 year of study).
Year Three
In your third year, you will study 30 CATS of English modules, 30 CATS of History modules, and 30 CATS of your choice (which can be English or History modules, or selected modules from other departments). In addition, you will take our core module: the English and History Dissertation.
English and History Dissertation
The English and History dissertation enables you to undertake a substantial independent, inter-disciplinary research project, and to produce an article-length essay. It provides the opportunity to work in a way similar to a literary scholar or historian: identifying a research topic; mastering the relevant scholarship; identifying and critically analysing primary texts; and articulating and sustaining a coherent argument. As the final-year core module, it completes the intellectual training that has been provided in your earlier work on the degree, particularly the two core modules.
Read more about the English and History Dissertation moduleLink opens in a new window, including the methods of teaching and assessment (content applies to 2021/22 year of study).
Optional modules
Optional modules can vary from year to year. Example optional modules may include:
- American Horror Story
- The English Nineteenth-Century Novel
- Literature, Environment, Ecology
- US Writing and Culture
- Literature, Environment, Ecology
- US Writing and Culture, 1780-1920
- Romantic and Victorian Poetry
- Shakespeare and Selected Dramatists of his Time
- The Global Novel
- Latin America: Themes and Problems
- Mind, Body and Society
- A History of Africa, 1830-1980
- Slavery and Slave Life in the American South, 1619-1865
- From the Blues to Hip Hop
- The Drug Trade in the Americas
- Slavery, Memory and Memorialisation
Assessment
Assessment will usually take the form of both coursework and examination, but some of your modules might have creative options as well. Coursework can include essays, reports, oral presentations, video-essays, blogs, vlogs, and mini-projects. In your final year you will complete an English and History Dissertation based on your own research.
Teaching
At Warwick you will experience a varied combination of seminars, tutorials, lectures, and workshops. Some of your modules might include field trips. In your first year you lay the foundations for your future studies, and you will study modules that give you a strong grounding in the different approaches and skills central to the study of English and History.
Class sizes
Targeted teaching with class sizes of 10-15 students (on average).
Typical contact hours
Guided learning of typically eight contact hours per week, plus extra-curricular workshops and reading groups. Seminars are usually 1, 1.5 or 2 hours each; lectures are an hour.
Tuition fees
Tuition fees cover the majority of the costs of your study, including teaching and assessment. Fees are charged at the start of each academic year. If you pay your fees directly to the University, you can choose to pay in instalments.
Undergraduate fees
If you are a home student enrolling in 2024, your annual tuition fees will be £9,250. In the future, these fees might change for new and continuing students.
How are fees set?
The British Government sets tuition fee rates.
Undergraduate fees
If you are an overseas or EU student enrolling in 2024, your annual tuition fees will be as follows:
- Band 1 – £24,800 per year (classroom-based courses, including Humanities and most Social Science courses)
- Band 2 – £31,620 per year (laboratory-based courses, plus Maths, Statistics, Theatre and Performance Studies, Economics, and courses provided by Warwick Business School, with exceptions)
Fees for 2025 entry have not been set. We will publish updated information here as soon as it becomes available, so please check back for updates about 2025 fee rates before you apply.
Fee status guidance
We carry out an initial fee status assessment based on the information you provide in your application. Students will be classified as Home or Overseas fee status. Your fee status determines tuition fees, and what financial support and scholarships may be available. If you receive an offer, your fee status will be clearly stated alongside the tuition fee information.
Do you need your fee classification to be reviewed?
If you believe that your fee status has been classified incorrectly, you can complete a fee status assessment questionnaire. Please follow the instructions in your offer information and provide the documents needed to reassess your status.
Find out more about how universities assess fee status.Link opens in a new window
Additional course costs
As well as tuition fees and living expenses, some courses may require you to cover the cost of field trips or costs associated with travel abroad.
For departmental specific costs, please see the Modules tab on this web page for the list of core and optional core modules with hyperlinks to our Module CatalogueLink opens in a new window (please visit the Department’s website if the Module Catalogue hyperlinks are not provided).
Associated costs can be found on the Study tab for each module listed in the Module Catalogue (please note most of the module content applies to 2024/25 year of study). Information about module specific costs should be considered in conjunction with the more general costs below:
- Core text books
- Printer credits
- Dissertation binding
- Robe hire for your degree ceremony
Further information
Find out more about tuition fees from our Student Finance team.
Scholarships and bursaries
Learn about scholarships and bursaries available to undergraduate students.
We offer a number of undergraduate scholarships and bursaries to full-time undergraduate students. These include sporting and musical bursaries, and scholarships offered by commercial organisations.
Find out more about funding opportunities for full-time students.Link opens in a new window
If you are an international student, a limited number of scholarships may be available.
Find out more information on our international scholarship pages.Link opens in a new window
You may be eligible for financial help from your own government, from the British Council or from other funding agencies. You can usually request information on scholarships from the Ministry of Education in your home country, or from the local British Council office.
Warwick Undergraduate Global Excellence Scholarship
We believe there should be no barrier to talent. That's why we are committed to offering a scholarship that makes it easier for gifted, ambitious international learners to pursue their academic interests at one of the UK's most prestigious universities.
We provide extra financial support for qualifying students from lower income families. The Warwick Undergraduate Bursary is an annual award of up to £3,000 per annum. It is intended to help with course-related costs and you do not have to pay it back.
As part of the 'City of Sanctuary' movement, we are committed to building a culture of hospitality and welcome, especially for those seeking sanctuary from war and persecution. We provide a range of scholarships to enable people seeking sanctuary or asylum to progress to access university education.
Further information
Find out more about Warwick undergraduate bursaries and scholarships.
Eligibility for student loans
Your eligibility for student finance will depend on certain criteria, such as your nationality and residency status, your course, and previous study at higher education level.
Check if you're eligible for student finance.
Tuition Fee Loan
You can apply for a Tuition Fee Loan to cover your tuition fees. It is non-means tested, which means the amount you can receive is not based on your household income. The Loan is paid directly to the University so, if you choose to take the full Tuition Fee Loan, you won’t have to set up any payments.
Maintenance Loan for living costs
You can apply for a Maintenance Loan towards your living costs such as accommodation, food and bills. This loan is means-tested, so the amount you receive is partially based on your household income and whether you choose to live at home or in student accommodation.
If you’re starting a course on or after 1 August 2021, you usually must have settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement SchemeLink opens in a new window to get student finance.
Tuition Fee Loan
If you are an EU student and eligible for student finance you may be able to get a Tuition Fee Loan to cover your fees. It is non-means tested, which means the amount you may receive is not based on your household income. The Loan is paid directly to the University so, if you choose to take the full Tuition Fee Loan, you won't have to set up any payments.
Help with living costs
For the 2024 academic year, you may be eligible for help with your living costs if both of the following apply:
- You have lived in the UK for more than 3 years before the first day of the first academic year of your course
And
- You have Settled Status (see further details on Settled Status)Link opens in a new window
If you are coming to the UK from 1st January 2021, you may need to apply for a visaLink opens in a new window to study here.
Please note: Irish citizens do not need to apply for a visa or to the EU Settlement Scheme.
Find out more about government student loans for EU studentsLink opens in a new window
Repaying your loans
You will repay your loan or loans gradually once you are working and earning above a certain amount. For students starting their course after 1 August 2023, the repayment threshold is £25,000. Repayments will be taken directly from your salary if you are an employee. If your income falls below the earnings threshold, your repayments will stop until your income goes back up above this figure.
Find out more about repaying your student loanLink opens in a new window.
Your career
Graduates from these courses have gone on to work for employers including:
- Archant
- Barclays
- Bloomsbury
- British Council
- Civil Service
- Maidstone Borough Council
- Newsquest Media Group
- Pan Macmillan
- Royal Opera House
- The Sunday Times
- Teach First
- Tesco
- Weber Shandwick
They have pursued roles such as:
- Journalists
- Newspaper and periodical editors
- Publishers
- Creative directors
- Arts officers, producers and directors
- Authors, writers and translators
- Musicians and composers
- Teachers
- Advertising accounts managers
- Business sales executives
- Solicitors and legal associate professionals
- Management consultants and business analysts
- Marketing associate professionals
- Academics and researchers
Helping you find the right career
In addition to a dedicated professionally qualified Senior Careers Consultant to support students studying English Literature, students also take an Academic Enrichment Programme in their first year focused on career skills, academic writing, and how to prepare for a future career while studying. Our Careers consultant also offers impartial advice and guidance, together with workshops and events throughout the year. Previous examples of workshops and events include:
- Careers following your English and Comparative Literary Studies Degree
- Discovering Careers in the Creative Industries
- Careers in Publishing and Journalism
- Freelancing
- Careers in the Public Sector
- Warwick careers fairs throughout the year
English and Comparative Literary Studies at Warwick
Have the freedom to follow your own path
We’re fond of freedom at Warwick. Freedom to learn, through an enormous array of modules to suit your interests, and through a range of innovative assessment techniques. You’re also free to explore the award-winning Warwick Arts Centre on campus or you can travel further afield and visit the home of Shakespeare in Stratford or immerse yourself in the poetry scene in Leamington Spa and Birmingham.
We were ranked first in the UK for our research in the latest Research Excellence Framework 2014, which means you’ll feel well connected and ahead of the game.
Find out more about us on our websiteLink opens in a new window
Explore our new Faculty of Arts building
The department recently moved into the brand new £57.5 million Faculty of Arts building.
This means, as an Arts student at Warwick, you’ll find your home amongst brand new teaching, learning and social spaces, including specialist facilities, all designed to support collaborative working and to enable your creativity and innovation to flourish.
The sustainably built, eight-storey building is located next to the newly refurbished Warwick Arts Centre in the heart of the University’s creative and cultural arts quarter.
Explore our new Faculty of Arts building further.
Our courses
Related degrees
- Classics and English (BA)
- English and Classical Civilisation (BA)
- English and French (BA)
- English and German (BA)
- English and Hispanic Studies (BA)
- English and Italian (BA)
- English Literature and Creative Writing (BA)
- Film and Literature (BA)
- Liberal Arts (BA)
- Philosophy, Literature and Classics (BA)
- Philosophy and Literature (BA)
Life at Warwick
Within a close-knit community of staff and students from all over the world, discover a campus alive with possibilities. A place where all the elements of your student experience come together in one place. Our supportive, energising, welcoming space creates the ideal environment for forging new connections, having fun and finding inspiration.
Find out how to apply to us, ask your questions, and find out more.
Warwick Accommodation
Finding the right accommodation is key to helping you settle in quickly.
We have 12 self-catering undergraduate halls of residence on campus.
Our student property management and lettings agency manages more than 8,000 rooms both on and off campus, and provides advice to all full-time undergraduates.
Our campus
You won't be short of ways to spend your time on campus - whether it's visiting Warwick Arts Centre, using our incredible new sports facilities, socialising in our bars, nightclub and cafés, or enjoying an open-air event. Or if you need some peace and quiet, you can explore lakes, woodland and green spaces just a few minutes’ walk from central campus.
Food and drink
We have lots of cafés, restaurants and shops on campus. You can enjoy great quality food and drink, with plenty of choice for all tastes and budgets. There is a convenience store on central campus, as well as two supermarkets and a small shopping centre in the nearby Cannon Park Retail Park. Several of them offer delivery services to help you stay stocked up.
And don't miss our regular food market day on the Piazza with tempting, fresh and delicious street food. Soak up the atmosphere and try something new, with mouth-watering food for all tastes.
Clubs and societies
We currently have more than 300 student-run societies.
So whether you’re into films, martial arts, astronomy, gaming or musical theatre, you can instantly connect with people with similar interests.
Or you could try something new, or even form your own society.
Sports and fitness
Staying active at Warwick is no sweat, thanks to our amazing new Sports and Wellness Hub, indoor and outdoor tennis centre, 60 acres of sports pitches, and more than 60 sports clubs.
Whether you want to compete, relax or just have fun, you can achieve your fitness goals.
Studying on campus
Our campus is designed to cater for all of your learning needs.
You will benefit from a variety of flexible, well-equipped study spaces and teaching facilities across the University.
- The Oculus, our outstanding learning hub, houses state-of-the-art lecture theatres and innovative social learning and network areas.
- The University Library provides access to over one million printed works and tens of thousands of electronic journals
- Three Learning Grids offering you flexible individual and group study spaces.
Travel and local area
Our campus is in Coventry, a modern city with high street shops, restaurants, nightclubs and bars sitting alongside medieval monuments. The Warwickshire towns of Leamington Spa and Kenilworth are also nearby.
The University is close to major road, rail and air links. London is just an hour by direct train from Coventry, with Birmingham a 20-minute trip. Birmingham International Airport is nearby (a 20-minute drive).
Wellbeing support and faith provision
Our continuous support network is here to help you adjust to student life and to ensure you can easily access advice on many different issues. These may include managing your finances and workload, and settling into shared accommodation. We also have specialist disability and mental health support teams.
Our Chaplaincy is home to Chaplains from the Christian, Jewish and Muslim faiths. We provide regular services for all Christian denominations and a Shabbat meal every Friday for our Jewish students. There is also an Islamic prayer hall, halal kitchen and ablution facilities.
How to apply
Learn more about our application process.
Key dates
Key dates for your application to Warwick.
Writing your personal statement
Make an impression and demonstrate your passion for your course.
After you've applied
Find out how we process your application.
Our Admission Statement
Read Warwick's Admission Statement
3 ways to connect
Talk to us
Join us at a live event. You can ask about courses, applying to Warwick, life at Warwick, visas and immigration, and more.
Warwick Experience
Take a virtual, student-led campus tour. Then join an interactive panel session, where you can hear from and chat to our current students and staff.
Student blogs
Explore our student blogs in OurWarwick. You can read about campus life from students themselves, and register to post questions directly to students.
Explore campus with our virtual tour
Our 360 tour lets you:
- Watch student videos
- View 360 photography and drone footage
- Learn about facilities and landmarks
Explore our campus virtually through our 360 campus tour now
Come to an Open Day
Don’t just take it from us, come and see for yourself what Warwick is all about. Whether it's a virtual visit or in-person, our University Open Days give you the chance to meet staff and students, visit academic departments, tour the campus and get a real feel for life at Warwick.
Sign up for updates
Discover more about our courses and campus life with our helpful information and timely reminders.
