Both philosophical and literary works ask us to reflect deeply on human experience, but often using interestingly different methods. Our Philosophy and Literature (BA) degree gives you a chance to engage with the wide range of methods and human capacities – thought experiment, dialogue, argument, storytelling, conceptual analysis, imagination and feeling – that contribute to inquiry and understanding.
The course gives you strong training in both subjects as well as great flexibility in how you focus your studies. Year One includes an interdisciplinary core module that introduces students to joint study of Philosophy and Literature, and in Years Two and Three there is one core module and a huge array of options, including modules that combine the subjects. You have the opportunity to do a jointly supervised dissertation or independent project on a combined topic. You take module options in both departments in all years, and there is a free third year option in any subject.
You may choose to apply for an intercalated year, spent either studying abroad or on a work placement. This extends the duration of your degree to four years, with your third year spent abroad or on placement, and will be reflected in your degree qualification (i.e. BA Philosophy and Literature with Intercalated Year).
Important information
We are planning to make some changes to our course for 2027 entry as we plan on updating the title of a core module. As any changes are confirmed, they will be included in the module list on this webpage. It is therefore very important that you check this webpage for the latest information before you apply and prior to accepting an offer. Sign up to receive updates.
Entry requirements
A level typical offer
AAB to include grade A in English Literature or English Language and Literature (combined).
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 Literature and Language (combined). See if you're eligible.
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 Baccalaureate (IB) typical offer
34 to include 6 in Higher Level English Literature or English Language and Literature (combined).
International Baccalaureate (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 in Higher Level English Literature or English Language and Literature (combined). See if you're eligible.
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.
BTEC
BTECs will be considered for this course.
Scotland Advanced Highers
AA in two Advanced Highers including English Literature, and ABB/BBB in Highers in 3 further subjects OR AB in two Advanced Highers including A in English Literature, and AAB in Highers in 3 further subjects.
Welsh Baccalaureate
ABB in three A levels including A in English Literature plus grade C in the Advanced Skills Baccalaureate Wales.
Access to Higher Education Diplomas
We will consider applicants returning to study who are presenting a QAA-recognised Access to Higher Education Diploma on a case-by-case basis.
Typically, we require 45 Credits at Level 3, including Distinction in 33 Level 3 credits and Merit in 12 Level 3 Credits. We may also require subject specific credits or an A level to be studied alongside the Access to Higher Education Diploma to fulfil essential subject requirements.
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.
Warwick may make differential offers to students in certain circumstances, such as those who have participated in a Widening Participation programme or who meet the University’s contextual data criteria. These offers are usually one or two grades below Warwick’s standard offer.
Do you offer foundation programmes?
All students who successfully complete the Warwick International Foundation Programme (IFP) and apply to Warwick through UCAS will receive a guaranteed conditional offer for a related undergraduate programme, for selected courses only. Further details are available in the standard offer and conditions for the IFP.
Can I take a gap year before starting my course?
Yes, Warwick welcomes applications for deferred (gap year) entry.
Will I need to interview for this course?
Warwick does not typically interview applicants. Offers are made based on the UCAS application, including predicted and achieved grades, the personal statement, and the school reference.
Year One: 75 CATS of core modules, including 30 CATS in English, 30 CATS in Philosophy, and 15 CATS in a combined module. 45 CATS are chosen from options in English or Philosophy.
Year Two: History of Modern Philosophy (30 CATS), options in Philosophy (30 CATS), and options in English (60 CATS)
Year Three: Options in Philosophy (30-90 CATS), options in English (30-90 CATS), and up to 30 CATs of options to be chosen from any available subject.
Important information
We are planning to make some changes to our course for 2027 entry as we plan on updating the title of a core module. As any changes are confirmed, they will be included in the module list on this webpage. It is therefore very important that you check this webpage for the latest information before you apply and prior to accepting an offer. Sign up to receive updates.
Note that the module catalogue is subject to change for future years of study, as we evolve our courses in response to the latest developments in academia and industry. If optional modules are listed below, these can vary from year to year.
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
There are no core modules.
Additional Modules
Optional modules can vary from year to year. Example optional modules may include:
On 26 November 2025, the UK government announced that the tuition fee cap for UK undergraduate students for the 2026-27 academic year would increase to £9,790 from the 2025-26 rate of at £9,535.
Students who qualify for government-regulated fees are classed as ‘Home’ students for fees purposes. In future years, fees for continuing students may be subject to an increase in fees in line with any inflationary uplift as determined by the UK Government (if permitted by law or government policy).
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.
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.
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 (on Student Finance England’s Plan 5), you will repay when your income is over £25,000 a year.
Repayments will be taken directly from your salary if you are an employee. If your income falls below the earnings threshold or you stop working, your repayments will stop until your income goes back up above this figure.
Access thousands of part-time opportunities through our agency UnitempsLink opens in a new window (such as office work, retail jobs or helping at events)
Choose to apply for a job as one of our Student Ambassadors to share your own experience at events like Open Days
There are many different funding routes available, including a number of bursaries and scholarships for full-time undergraduates. If you struggle to meet your essential living costs, our Student Funding team will be on hand to offer advice and support.
Provides additional financial support for qualifying Home students from lower income families of up to £2,500 for eligible students
This bursary is paid directly into your bank account in three equal termly instalments to help with the costs of studying
There is no application for this bursary as your details will be provided directly from the student support awarding bodies (Student Finance England, Student Finance Northern Ireland, and Student Awards Agency Scotland)
A number of scholarship opportunities are open to full-time undergraduate students. These include sporting and musical bursaries, and scholarships offered by commercial organisations.
If you experience financial difficulties during your studies, you may be eligible for Hardship Funding from the University, in the form of an Emergency Loan and/or a non-repayable award
There are no scholarships available for your School or Department; however, there are other scholarships you may be eligible for - please see our Scholarships webpages for more information.
Tuition fee
If you are an overseas student enrolling in 2026-27, your annual tuition fees will be as follows:
Band 1 – £27,870 per year (classroom-based courses, including Humanities and most Social Science courses)
Band 2 – £35,530 per year (laboratory-based courses, plus Mathematics, Statistics, Theatre and Performance Studies, Economics, and courses provided by Warwick Business School, with exceptions)
Overseas Tuition fees for 2027-28 academic year have not been set. In future years, fees for continuing students may be subject to an increase in fees in line with an inflationary uplift. Please check our website for updates about 2027-28 fee rates before you apply.
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, please visit our Student Funding webpage for guidance for students ordinarily resident outside of England.
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.
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.
Eligibility for student finance will depend on certain criteria, such as your nationality, residency status, course, and previous level of study. The information below is based on the package of financial support available to students starting their course in 2026.
Eligible European Union (EU) Undergraduates can apply for a loan to help with the cost of Tuition Fees. Eligible EU students who meet additional residency criteria may also be eligible for a loan to assist with living costs.For more information please see Student Finance for Undergraduates - EU StudentsLink opens in a new window.
Access thousands of part-time opportunities through our agency UnitempsLink opens in a new window (such as office work, retail jobs or helping at events)
Choose to apply for a job as one of our Student Ambassadors to share your own experience at events like Open Days
If you are an international student, 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.
A number of scholarship opportunities are open to full-time undergraduate students. These include sporting and musical bursaries, and scholarships offered by commercial organisations.
If you experience financial difficulties during your studies, you may be eligible for Hardship Funding from the University, in the form of an Emergency Loan and/or a non-repayable award.
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.
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 2025/26 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
Are there any course specific costs?
For departmental specific costs, please see the list of core and optional core modules with hyperlinks to our Module Catalogue, where module-related costs are detailed.
Teaching and learning
Our main teaching methods are lectures, lecture-discussions, and seminars, alongside private study and study skills sessions.
Our students benefit from expert guidance from staff in developing strong analytical and critical skills, and our students highly rate the feedback they receive. In addition to compulsory teaching, we also offer many extra academic activities, including optional lectures, colloquia, discussion groups and workshops.
Seminar sizes are typically 12-18 students. Lectures vary by module from 20-500.
Typically three hours of contact time per week per module, in most cases this would be two hours of lectures and a one-hour seminar but is variable depending on teaching methods.
We track your progress and provide you with a variety of opportunities for getting feedback on your work for your course.
Your final degree classification is based on assessed essays, other assessed work (which may include, for example, class participation, viva, group work or video presentations), examinations and an optional dissertation or individual project (in Philosophy, English or jointly between the two). Your second and third year work carries equal weight in determining your final degree classification, with each counting for 50% of your degree.
We run successful undergraduate exchanges with Queen’s University, Ontario, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, enabling second-year Philosophy students (single or joint honours) to compete for the chance to spend a full year studying in North America. Modules and examinations taken at Queen’s and Madison count towards your degree.
All students have the opportunity to apply for an intercalated year abroad at one of our partner universities, which currently include: Bourgogne, Dijon; Erasmus, Rotterdam; Copenhagen; Friedrich Schiller, Jena or Cologne; Vienna; Autonoma or Complutense, Madrid or Seville; Rome or Turin; and Koc, Istanbul. The Study Abroad Team offers support for these activities, and the Department’s dedicated Study Abroad Co-ordinator can provide more specific information and assistance.
Careers
Study skills will be built into your core modules in the first year. In those modules, you will develop skills in close reading, essay writing, exam technique, critical thinking and presentation. As well as the opportunity of individual careers appointments, there are a wide range of events and workshops – including small workshops for people with no career ideas, speaker events for people interested in a certain sector, and large career fairs for organisations wanting to recruit a large number of graduates each year.
Graduates from our Philosophy single and joint honours degrees have gone on to pursue careers as:
Authors, writers and translators
Legal professionals
Marketing professionals
Management consultants and business analysts
Chartered and certified accountants
Teaching and educational professionals
Our department has a dedicated professionally qualified Senior Careers Consultant to support you. They offer impartial advice and guidance, together with workshops and events throughout the year. Previous examples of workshops and events include:
Identifying Your Skills, Strengths and Motivators for Philosophy Students
Thinking about Work Experience for Philosophy Students
Philosophy with Placement Year – “My Experience” Sessions
Sector events with industry and alumni speakers, for students who want to pursue a career in a specific sector such as Banking and Finance, Consulting, Charities and Campaigning, Law and the Public Sector
Our Student Opportunity (Careers) department offer a wide range of workshops, from developing confidence and interview techniques to learning how to articulate what you have to offer in order to impress potential employers. Online resources are also available, including training in drafting CVs and covering letters, practice aptitude and psychometric tests, practice online interviews, and other resources to help you research job opportunities. The myAdvantage databaseLink opens in a new window also advertises job, placement and internship vacancies that are from employers who are targeting Warwick students for their recruitment.
You may also choose to apply for an intercalated year, spent either studying abroad or on a work placement. Work placements provide an opportunity for you to develop skills, learn from industry professionals, and explore potential future career paths. This extends the duration of your degree to four years and will be reflected in your degree qualification (for example, BA Philosophy with Intercalated Year, or BA Philosophy with Work Placement).
See how the Department of Philosophy at Warwick helped Jasmine reach their career goals, providing the skills and connections to succeed. Discover how Warwick could shape your future.
Explore the career journeys of Warwick Social Sciences alumni. See how their university experience opened doors across industries and imagine where a degree from Warwick could take you.
Life at Warwick
This is where your journey begins. Our campus is the heart of it all. It’s more than just a campus - it's the places you visit, the people you meet, the fun that you have; the experiences you have here will be transformative.
Within a close-knit community of staff and students from all over the world, discover a campus alive with possibilities.
Our campus is where all the elements of your student experience come together in one place. You won't be short of ways to spend your time on campus - whether it's visiting Warwick Arts Centre, using our incredible 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
Follow our students around campus on our social channels to see their experiences first-hand.
Teaching facilities
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.
Oculus, our outstanding learning hub, houses state-of-the-art lecture theatres and innovative social learning and network areas
Different study spaces offering you flexible individual and group study spaces, computers, printing and scanning facilities, multimedia resources and more
Supporting you
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.
Whether you live in a campus residence or in partnership accommodation off campus, you’ll be part of a community to get the most from your experience at Warwick.
Societies and sports play a huge part in community life at Warwick. With over 300 to choose from, getting involved is one of the easiest ways to make friends and share in experiences. Whether you’re into films, martial arts, astronomy, gaming or musical theatre, you can instantly connect with people with similar interests.
Your university experience is defined by far more than your course or the career path you follow. At Warwick, it’s where you discover who you could become.
74th
Warwick is ranked 74th in the world and top 10 in all major UK league tables
Our alumni community still call Warwick home. From a few hundred in 1965 to more than 310,000 alumni, and it's ever-growing.
As Warwick graduates, our students have access to employability support for two years after graduation, including access to careers appointments, job vacancies and professional networks.
of students agree that their course is 'intellectually stimulating'
(NSS 2023)
4th
In the UK for Philosophy
(The Times/Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024)
Can living morally be too demanding? Could what you see be just an illusion? How do we know what’s going on in other people’s minds?
Explore these questions with our expert teachers and researchers. Learn how to think independently and analytically and take on different points of view. Interact with other subjects, like psychology, law, politics, economics or literature.
Join our open and friendly learning environment and become a confident communicator with the resilience to thrive in the pursuit of your goals.
We think it’s important to ensure that Philosophy students have their own identity and community.
You will have your own facilities, with a dedicated Philosophy common room which acts as a hub for students to gather, debate, and work together.
The dedicated Philosophy academic staff are located in the Social Sciences building, right in the heart of campus next to the Library, Arts Centre, and near to the main lecture theatres.
This information is applicable for 2027 entry. Given the interval between the publication of courses and enrolment, some of the information may change. It is important to check our website before you apply. Please read our web page 'Important information to consider before making an application' in advance of applying to Warwick.
Next steps
Experience campus at an Open Day. Can't visit? Receive regular email updates or ask current students and staff questions about life at Warwick.
