English Literature and History BA Honours

Clearing - How to apply

What is Clearing?

Each year, universities may have spaces left on their courses after the application window has closed in June.

UCAS Clearing is your opportunity to snap up one of these places, even if you didn't apply to the university prior to the June deadline.

It also gives you a second chance to go to university if you didn't get the grades you needed for your firm and insurance offers.

How do I get in touch?

Our Clearing entry requirements may differ from those advertised; contacting our friendly advisers is the best way to find out if you’re eligible for a place.

You can get in touch through live chat or our hotlines. Call us on 0800 073 5050, or if you’re an international student calling from outside the UK, call: +44 191 222 5000.

Not available in Clearing

This course is not available in Clearing 2024.

This means there are no spaces available for Clearing 2024. If you can't find vacancies in your original course or subject area, try exploring other subjects in a related field.

Search our courses in Clearing

Course overview

Our English Literature and History BA Honours degree brings together cutting-edge research in two disciplines.

Study the latest, most advanced thinking, whether that relates to the early medieval period or the very recent past.

Choose topics that range from postcolonial theory to medieval theology. From Renaissance bodies to climate change protests.

Collaborate with distinguished researchers from History and English Literature, developing your skills in both subjects.

Plan your research around topics that fascinate you. Draw on what you’ve learnt across your degree to create new ideas and insights of your own.

We develop graduates into informed, sophisticated thinkers, comfortable with complexity and nuance. You'll also gain subject-specific research skills and the ability to think between disciplines.

At the end of our degree, you’ll be a confident, knowledgeable, and independent learner.

Download information about this course as a PDF

Your course and study experience - disclaimers and terms and conditions  
Please rest assured we make all reasonable efforts to provide you with the programmes, services and facilities described. However, it may be necessary to make changes due to significant disruption, for example in response to Covid-19.

View our Academic experience page, which gives information about your Newcastle University study experience for the academic year 2024-25.

See our terms and conditions and student complaints information, which gives details of circumstances that may lead to changes to programmes, modules or University services.

Quality and ranking

Professional accreditation and recognition

All professional accreditations are reviewed regularly by their professional body.

Modules and learning

Modules

The information below is intended to provide an example of what you will study.

Most degrees are divided into stages. Each stage lasts for one academic year, and you'll complete modules totalling 120 credits by the end of each stage. 

Our teaching is informed by research. Course content may change periodically to reflect developments in the discipline, the requirements of external bodies and partners, and student feedback.

Featured module

SEL3445: Envious Show: Wealth, Power and Ambition in Narratives of the Country House, 1550-2000

Trace the history and impact of the country house and estate in Britain and Ireland over five hundred years. Consider how the country house forms a crucible in which ideologies of gender, race and class intersect with money, power and ambition.

Optional module availability
Student demand for optional modules may affect availability.

Full details of the modules on offer will be published through the Programme Regulations and Specifications ahead of each academic year. This usually happens in May.

To find out more please see our terms and conditions

This year is all about expanding your skills and knowledge, while supporting you in making the transition to university study. Your two compulsory modules will provide you with the core skills of analysis and interpretation for the study of literature and history.

These skills will underpin your learning and success in your four optional modules in Literature and History which cover a chronological, geographical and cultural range of topics.

You may swap one of these modules for an ‘outside’ module in a third subject of your choice. There are many options available to you such as creative writing, a language, or politics.

Modules

Compulsory Modules	Credits
Evidence and Argument	20
Doing Criticism	20

Optional Modules	Credits
Slavery	20
Global Middle Ages	20
Stuff: living in a material world	20
Global Ancient Histories	20
Historical Sources and Methods	20
History Lab I	20
History Lab II	20
Introduction to Public History	20
What is History For?	20
Transformations	20
Beginnings	20
Revolutions	20

You will advance your understanding of literature and history by choosing five modules from a generous range of options. You can study courses from the Anglo-Saxon period to the contemporary moment, with rich choice in Renaissance and Romantic Literature, in global and European histories, and in Modern and Contemporary Literature.

Your interdisciplinary Independent Research Project provides you with the exciting opportunity to bring together history and literature in a single project. Supported by scholars in each discipline, you will plan and write an essay on a topic you have studied together.

Modules

Compulsory Modules	Credits
Research Project in English Literature and History	20

Optional Modules	Credits
Africa: History of a Continent	20
Oral History and Memory	20
Greece, from ancient to modern	20
Communication in the Medieval World, from Europe to Asia: Prayer, Poetry, Pictures, and Travel	20
Crafting History: The Dissertation Proposal	20
Famines in History	20
History and Film: Representing the Past	20
East Asia: from Antiquity to the Nineteenth Century	20
Violence in the American South: From the Colonial Era to Civil Rights	20
Researching History	20
The Aftermath of War in Europe and Asia, 1945-56	20
Revolutions of the Mind: European Thought, 1550–1750	20
The Supernatural: The Cultural History of Occult Forces	20
Destroying Nature: Disasters, Diseases and Environmental Injustice	20
Diversities of Sexuality and Gender in History	20
A History of Contemporary Britain	20
The Mediterranean: a connected past	20
Career Development for second year students	20
Renaissance Bodies	20
Writing New Worlds, 1688-1789	20
Revolutionary Britain, 1789-1832	20
Victorian Passions: Victorian Values	20
Contemporary Cultures	20
Modernisms	20
Creative Practice	20
Monsters, Misery & Miracles: Heroic Life in Old English Poetry	20
Stagecraft in Early Drama	20
Literatures of Decolonisation	20
Overseas Exchange (Semester 1)	60
Overseas Exchange (Semester 2)	60

You only take one of the following modules if you undertake the Study Abroad exchange programme:

Overseas Exchange (Semester 1)

Overseas Exchange (Semester 2) 

This year builds in further opportunities to pursue the topics that interest you.

You will conduct a major piece of original, independent research, through a jointly-supervised interdisciplinary dissertation, on a topic chosen by you.

Your dissertation could be inspired, for example, by an archive in the University’s broad and impressive range of holdings, such as the Gertrude Bell archive.

Modules

Compulsory Modules	Credits
Dissertation in English Literature and History	40

Optional Modules	Credits
Semester One Substitute for Stage 3 HIS Capped Special Subject	20
Semester Two Substitute for Stage 3 HIS Capped Special Subject	20
Reading History	20
Writing History	40
The British Revolutions, 1640-1660	20
The Irish Revolution, 1879-1923	20
Reconstruction and the New South, 1865-1900	20
British Foreign Policy since Suez	20
Birth Control in the 19th and 20th Centuries	20
Civil Rights and Armalites Northern Ireland since 1969	20
Civil Rights in America, 1948-1975	20
Women in Colonial South Asia: Tradition, Reform and Modernity	20
Europe and the Ottoman Empire, 1453-1798	20
Punishing the Criminal Dead: Crime, Culture, and Corpses in Modern Britain	20
The Rise and Fall of the Berlin Wall, 1961-1990	20
The Rising Generation: Youth, Age and Protest in Cold War Britain	20
Haitian Revolution	20
Healthy Spaces for Healthy Bodies: Medicine, Humans, Places	20
Buddhism and Society in Medieval Japan	20
The Renaissance World of Florence, 1450-1550: Machiavelli, Mayhem, and Strife	20
The Gulag: A History of the Soviet Camps - Origins, Experiences and Aftermaths	20
Nineteenth Century Aotearoa New Zealand: Maori, Pakeha & Tauiwi	20
War and Remembering: Recalling War in Oral Histories, c.1950-2022	20
British Colonialism in Sudan: Violence, Gender and Race, 1899-1956	20
Career Development for final year students	20
Sex and Money: Economies of the Victorian Novel	20
Documentary Storytelling: Theory and Practice	20
Documentary Storytelling: Theory and Practice	20
Landscapes of American Modernism	20
Enlightened Romantics: A Revolution in Feeling	20
Time, Change, and the Life Course in Literature of the Long Nineteenth Century	20
American Poetry Now	20
Planetary Imaginations: Literature in the Time of Environmental Crisis	20
Writing Liberty in the Romantic Era	20
Fiction and the Philosophy of Terror: From the Supernatural to the Sublime	20
Freedom and Imagination: US Literature 1850-1900	20
Deep North: Modern Literature of the North East	20
Popular Romance and Contemporary Political Discourse	20
Making Young Adult Literature	20
War Writing: Heroic and Hostile Discourses in Medieval Literature	20
Envious Show: Wealth, Power and Ambition in Narratives of the Country House, 1550-2000	20
Devolutionary Fictions: Literature, Politics, and the British State since 1960	20
Border Fictions: Migration, Memory, and Transgressions in Global Anglophone Literatures, 1900-Present Day	20
Keats and Romantic Epic	20
Shakespeare and Company: Gender, Power, Theatre	20

Information about these graphs

We base these figures and graphs on the most up-to-date information available to us. They are based on the modules chosen by our students in 2023-24.

Teaching time is made up of:

• scheduled learning and teaching activities. These are timetabled activities with a member of staff present.
• structured guided learning. These are activities developed by staff to support engagement with module learning. Students or groups of students undertake these activities without direct staff participation or supervision

Teaching and assessment

Teaching methods

You can expect to spend around 10 hours per week attending lectures, seminars, workshops and film screenings.

You also spend around 25 hours per week on:

• class preparation
• reading
• writing
• other kinds of independent research recommended by your tutor

Assessment methods

You'll be assessed through a combination of:

• 

  Assessments

• 

  Assignments – written or fieldwork

• 

  Coursework

• 

  Dissertation or research project

• 

  Essays

• 

  Examinations – practical or online

• 

  Group work

• 

  Portfolio submission

• 

  Presentations

• 

  Reflective report/journal

• 

  Seminar tasks/exercises

Skills and experience

Practical experience

Many of our modules offer practical experience. In history, this might take the form of conducting interviews with people who remember a particular historical event or undertaking archival research. In literary studies, this might include staged readings of plays, editorial work, or masterclasses with outside experts.

You'll also benefit from a range of regular field trips organised by both Schools. Depending on the module, these may include visits to:

• The Wordsworth Trust (Dove Cottage) in the Lake District
• Lindisfarne and Holy Island in Northumberland
• City theatres such as Northern Stage, Live Theatre, and Theatre Royal
• Seven Stories (the National Centre for Children's Books)
• Beamish Living Museum
• The Great North Museum
• Hadrian’s Wall and other Roman sites in Northumberland
• The National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh
• Country houses and estates

Research skills

In Stage 2, you'll undertake an independent research project, and in your final year, you'll write a dissertation. These introduce you to finding, using and understanding original sources for your own research. The capstone of your degree is your own personal research project which you complete at Stage 3.

These projects will allow you to develop your skills across both disciplines and engage in interdisciplinary thinking.

Your Stage 2 and Stage 3 projects require a lot of independent working but you can also apply for a paid vacation scholarship and work alongside researchers on a shared project You'll have first-hand experience working on a project and will enhance your key skills of:

• researching original topics
• gathering, analysing and interpreting literary texts and historical sources
• working on a research project independently or as part of a team
• exploring archival collections

Employability

Employability and the engagement of literature and history with the wider world go hand-in-hand in this degree.

Our module assessments develop a wide range of skills. These can be applied to many different tasks you might be employed to do Your exceptionally strong communication, writing and reasoning skills, coupled with the creativity of your degree, might be used in:

• researching and developing policy for public services and private companies
• journalism and other writing in the public interest
• constructing marketing briefs and drafting website copy
• curating exhibitions and programming events
• teaching and training

Beyond our modules, there are plenty of extracurricular opportunities to gain work experience or develop your portfolio. These range from writing for Newcastle’s student newspaper or volunteering in local primary schools to paid internships in the department.

The Newcastle Centre for Literary Arts, in particular, hires students to work on everything from event management to app design. The centre also runs workshops with professionals in the creative industries.

Opportunities

Study abroad

You can study abroad for one semester in your second year as part of this degree. In Europe we have links with:

• Ghent University, Belgium
• Leipzig University, Germany
• Groningen University, Netherlands
• Radboud University Nijmegen, Netherlands

We also have links with universities in other parts of the world, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and the USA, including, but not limited to:

• Monash University, Australia
• University of Sydney, Australia
• McGill University, Canada
• University of Hong Kong
• University of Vermont, USA

Find out more about Study Abroad.

Work placement

During your degree, you’ll have multiple opportunities to undertake a meaningful work placement. In your second and third years, you may choose to take the Career Development Module which offers academic credit for 50 hours of placement. You can choose to carry out your placement via part-time work, volunteering or in a local school. You will be assessed through a mixture of written work, presentations, and professional skills assessment.

In addition, you'll have the option to spend 9 to 12 months on a work placement with University support from our dedicated Careers team to help you secure your dream placement in the UK or abroad. Work placements take place between stages 2 and 3.

You'll gain first-hand experience of working in the sector, putting your learning into practice, and developing your professional expertise. Previous placements have been in a range of sectors, including:

• Journalism and Broadcasting
• Sustainable Energy
• Politics
• Digital Media and Marketing
• Education
• Finance
• Museum and Heritage
• Travel and Tourism

If you choose to take a work placement, it will extend your degree by a year. Placements are subject to availability.

Find out more about work placements.

Facilities and environment

Facilities

You'll be based in the School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics. The School is located in the Percy Building, which is at the heart of our city-centre campus. You'll join a lively community of students, academics, writers, and professionals.

You'll have access to:

• a digital media lab – for students with documentary and film-making modules
• a PC cluster
• a student-led café
• plenty of spaces to work and socialise

You will have exceptional library provision from our award-winning Library Service. It houses over one million books and a huge range of electronic resources.

Our literature and creative writing teaching is linked to the Newcastle Centre for the Literary Arts (NCLA) programme. This will give you regular contact with leading creative artists. You'll also have access to a diverse programme of events, including spoken-word events and creative writing courses.

Find out more about the School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics.

Support

You'll have the support of an academic member of staff as a Personal Tutor throughout your degree to help with academic and personal issues affecting your academic progress.

Peer Mentors will help you in your first year. They are fellow students who can help you settle in and answer questions you may have when starting university.

Your future

All students on this degree acquire a range of valuable skills, which they can transfer to many different sectors. These skills include:

• researching and analysing
• reasoning and summarising
• thinking critically and creatively
• writing and speaking persuasively and lucidly
• working independently and collaboratively
• working to tight and multiple deadlines

This is excellent preparation for a wide number of professions and our graduates have gone into a variety of career areas, such as:

• journalism
• media
• publishing
• PR and marketing
• law
• teaching and education
• librarianship
• civil service

Careers support

Our award-winning Careers Service is one of the largest and best in the country, and we have strong links with employers. We provide an extensive range of opportunities to all students through our ncl+ initiative.

Visit our Careers Service website

Recognition of professional qualifications outside of the UK

From 1 January 2021 there is an update to the way professional qualifications are recognised by countries outside of the UK

Tuition fees and scholarships

Tuition fees for 2025 entry (per year)

The 2025 home fees have not yet been confirmed (see ‘Home Fee Students’ information below).

Qualification: BA Honours
Home students full time 3 years	Tuition fees (per year) Not set
International students full time 3 years	Tuition fees (per year) 23800

Home Fee Students

Home students starting in 2024 entry
£9,250 is the maximum fee that we are currently permitted to charge for home fee-paying students. This is set by the UK government.

As a general principle, you should expect the tuition fee to increase in each subsequent academic year of your course, subject to government regulations on fee increases and in line with inflation.

Home students starting in 2025 entry

In November 2024 the government increased the maximum fee level to £9,535 for 2025/26. It is expected that Parliament will approve the Government’s proposed increase in January and we intend to confirm our Home fees at this higher level following this.

As a general principle, you should expect the tuition fee to increase in each subsequent academic year of your course, subject to government regulations on fee increases and in line with inflation.

 

Read more about fees and funding

International Fee Students

Depending on your residency history, if you’re a student from the EU, other EEA or a Swiss national, with settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, you’ll normally pay the ‘Home’ tuition fee rate and may be eligible for Student Finance England support.

EU students without settled or pre-settled status will normally be charged fees at the ‘International’ rate and will not be eligible for Student Finance England support.

If you are unsure of your fee status, check out the latest guidance here.

As a general principle, you should expect the tuition fee to increase in each subsequent academic year of your course, subject to government regulations on fee increases and in line with inflation.

Read more about fees and funding

Scholarships

We support our EU and international students by providing a generous range of Vice-Chancellor's automatic and merit-based scholarships. See our undergraduate scholarship page for more information.

Year abroad and additional costs

For programmes where you can spend a year on a work placement or studying abroad, you will receive a significant fee reduction for that year. 

Some of our degrees involve additional costs which are not covered by your tuition fees.

Scholarships

Find out more about:

• scholarships for UK, EU and international students
• Student Loans and Government financial support for UK and EU students

How to apply

Apply through UCAS

To apply for undergraduate study at Newcastle University, you must use the online application system managed by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS). All UK schools and colleges, and a small number of EU and international establishments, are registered with UCAS. You will need:

• the UCAS name and institution codes for Newcastle University (NEWC/N21)
• the UCAS code for the course you want to apply for
• the UCAS 'buzzword' for your school or college

If you are applying independently, or are applying from a school or college which is not registered to manage applications, you will still use the Apply system. You will not need a buzzword.

Apply through UCAS

Apply through an agent

International students often apply to us through an agent. Have a look at our recommended agents and get in touch with them.

Visit our International pages