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Undergraduate Study

BA English with Study in North America - 2025 entry

Please note: The below is for 2025 entries. Click here for 2024 entries.
UCAS code Q310
Duration 3 years
Entry year 2025
Campus Streatham Campus
Discipline English
Contact

Web: Enquire online
Phone: 0300 555 6060 (UK callers) 
+44 (0)1392 723044 (EU/International callers)

Typical offer

View full entry requirements

A-Level: A*AA
IB: 38/766
BTEC: D*DD

Contextual offers

A-Level: AAB
IB: 34/665
BTEC: DDD

Overview

  • Three-year programme with your second year spent at one of our partner universities in Canada or the USA. Combined study of diverse modules, focusing on American literature and culture. Choose from locations like New York, Florida and Vancouver.
  • You’ll develop your expertise in subjects ranging from medieval to contemporary literatures. We offer diverse optional modules so you can build a programme reflective of your literary interests.
  • Our English department includes world-class experts in the subfields of film studies and creative writing.
  • Excellent facilities on campus include our Special Collections relating to world-renowned writers, The Bill Douglas Cinema Museum which is a unique film and popular culture resource and our Digital Humanities Lab. Exeter has also recently been awarded UNESCO City of Literature status.
  • Participate in events involving internationally acclaimed authors, actors and filmmakers.

View 2024 Entry

Request a prospectus

Open Days and visiting us

How to apply

Contact

Web: Enquire online

Phone: +44 (0)1392 72 72 72

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Top 15 in the UK for English

11th in the Complete University Guide 2025; 14th in The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2025

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Top 50 in the world for English Language and Literature

QS World University Subject Rankings 2024

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Unique on-site resources: Exeter’s Special Collections archive and the Bill Douglas Cinema Museum

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Top 10 in the Russell Group for student satisfaction in all 7 themes

National Student Survey 2024: English

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Top 15 in the UK for English

11th in the Complete University Guide 2025; 14th in The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2025

Top 50 icon

Top 50 in the world for English Language and Literature

QS World University Subject Rankings 2024

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Unique on-site resources: Exeter’s Special Collections archive and the Bill Douglas Cinema Museum

Entry requirements (typical offer)

Qualification Typical offer Required subjects
A-Level A*AA B in English Literature, English Language, or English Literature & Language
IB 38/766 HL5 in English Literature, English Language, or English Literature & Language
BTEC D*DD Applicants studying a BTEC Extended Diploma will also require GCE A-Level English Literature, English Language, or English Literature & Language Grade B.
GCSE C or 4 English Language
Access to HE 30 L3 credits at Distinction Grade and 15 L3 credits at Merit Grade. To include at least 12 L3 credits at Merit Grade in an acceptable English Literature and English Language subject area.
T-Level Distinction* Applicants studying a T-Level will also require GCE A-Level English Literature, English Language, or English Literature & Language grade B
Contextual Offer

A-Level: AAB
IB: 34/665
BTEC: DDD

Specific subject requirements must still be achieved where stated above. Find out more about contextual offers.

Other accepted qualifications

View other accepted qualifications

English language requirements

International students need to show they have the required level of English language to study this course. The required test scores for this course fall under Profile B2. Please visit our English language requirements page to view the required test scores and equivalencies from your country.

NB General Studies is not included in any offer.

Grades advertised on each programme webpage are the typical level at which our offers are made and provide information on any specific subjects an applicant will need to have studied in order to be considered for a place on the programme. However, if we receive a large number of applications for the programme we may not be able to make an offer to all those who are predicted to achieve/have achieved grades which are in line with our typical offer. For more information on how applications are assessed and when decisions are released, please see: After you apply

My year studying abroad was one of the best times of my life! I made lasting friendships during my time in America. My roommate Katie was a freshman from Louisiana. We still continue to talk and I will always have that friendship. She was my rock throughout the entire study abroad. I will never forget the friendships I made.  

I’ve been really lucky with the lecturers I’ve had in Exeter. My seminar leader in first year pushed me and guided me to learn more and be inquisitive. He lit a fire underneath me. During the first term of first year there was a lot of information to understand but my lecturer made it make sense! 

Read more from Beth

Beth

BA English with Study in North America

Course content

The modules we outline here provide examples of what you can expect to learn on this degree course based on recent academic teaching. The precise modules available to you in future years may vary depending on staff availability and research interests, new topics of study, timetabling and student demand.

90 credits of compulsory modules, 30 credits of optional modules

Compulsory modules

CodeModule Credits
EAS1032 Approaches to Criticism 30
EAS1035 Beginnings: English Literature before 1800 30
EAS1038 The Poem 15
EAS1040 Academic English 15

Optional modules

CodeModule Credits
EAS SH Stage 1 Option Modules 2024-5
EAS1035 Beginnings: English Literature before 1800 30
EAS1037 The Novel 15
EAS1041 Rethinking Shakespeare 15
EAS1042 Write after Reading 30
EAS1044 Imagine This: Prompts for Creative Writing 15
EAS1016 Digital Cultures: Narrative, Creativity, Industry 15

Your year abroad will take place in Year 2.

Year Abroad in North American Institution - 120 credits of compulsory modules

You will take the number of modules usually required of students in an academic year at the host university. Two must be in North American literature and/or culture, and at least 75% of your studies must be in English or American literature and culture. The marks for the year's work will count as 120 credits towards the degree result. For each of the two semesters spent abroad, the average of the semester's marks will be treated as a single 60-credit module mark.

Compulsory modules

CodeModule Credits
EAS2110 North American Study Term 1 60
EAS2111 North American Study Term 2 60

Subject, to taking 120 credits overall: 60 credits of compulsory modules, 60 credits of optional English modules. Of the 60 credits of optional English modules, at least 30 must have substantial North American content.

a - You must select one of the following. Either EAS3003 Dissertation, or EAS3122 Creative writing Dissertation, or EAS3510 Dissertation by Collaborative Project (you cannot choose more than one module from this group).

b - You must select one of the following. Either EAS3195 Acts of Writing From Decolonisation to Globalisation, or EAS3179 Life and Death in Early Modern Literature, or EAS3234 Citizens of the World

c  - You must select at least one module from this group of modules with substantial North American content.

Compulsory modules

CodeModule Credits
EAS3003 Dissertation [see note a above]30
EAS3122 Creative Writing Dissertation [see note a above]30
EAS3510 Dissertation by Collaborative Project [see note a above]30
EAS3195 Acts of Writing: From Decolonisation to Globalisation [see note b above]30
EAS3179 Life and Death in Early Modern Literature [see note b above]30
EAS3234 Citizens of the World [see note b above]30
EAF3501 American Independent Film [See note c above]30
EAF3515 Something to See: War and Visual Media [See note c above]30
EAS3421 Picturing the Global City: Literature and Visual Culture in the 21st Century [See note c above]30
EAS3252 Poison, Filth, Trash: Modernism, Censorship and Resistance [See note c above]30
EAS3500 American Counterculture in Literature [See note c above]30

Optional modules

CodeModule Credits
English Final Stage Option Modules 2024-5
EAS3128 Writing the Short Film 30
EAS3131 Advanced Critical Theory 30
EAS3181 Visual and Literary Cultures of Realism 30
EAS3182 Encountering the Other in Medieval Literature 30
EAS3191 Writing for Children and Young Adults 30
EAS3198 The Death of the Novel 30
EAS3219 Virginia Woolf: Fiction, Feeling, Form 30
EAS3225 'Reader, I Married Him': The Evolution of Romance Fiction from 1740 to the Present 30
EAS3237 The Rise of Science 30
EAS3245 The 21st Century Museum 30
EAS3252 Poison, Filth, Trash: Modernism, Censorship and Resistance 30
EAS3311 Piracy in Early Modern Literature, 1570-1730 30
EAS3408 Poetry and Politics 30
EAS3414 Jane Austen: In and Out of Context 30
EAS3415 The Development of British Childrens Literature 30
EAS3416 Feeling Bodies: Emotions in Early Modern Literature and Culture, 1500-1700 30
EAS3417 Sex, Scandal and Sensation in Victorian Literature 30
EAS3420 Staging Space: Dramatic Geography and Audience Experience 30
EAS3421 Picturing the Global City: Literature and Visual Culture in the 21st Century 30
EAS3502 Shakespeare and Crisis 30
EAS3503 Migration, Literature and Culture 30
EAS3501 Fiction Matters 30
EAS3100 Hardy and Women Who Did: the Coming of Modernity 30
EAS3500 American Counterculture in Literature 30
EAS3504 Surrealism and its Legacies 30
EAS3228 Romance from Chaucer to Shakespeare 30
EAS3509 From Pen to Printed Page: Exeter's Literary Archives 30
EAS3511 'Mad': cultures, histories, phantasies, imaginaries of mental distress 30
EAS3312 Adventures in Technique (Poetry) 30
EAS3196 Charles Dickens: Novelist, Journalist and Reformer 30

Your year abroad

This is a three year programme and the second year is spent studying with one of our renowned partner universities in the USA or Canada.

Current Study Abroad universities

Canadian universities

  • Carleton (Ottawa, Canada)
  • Toronto (Ontario, Canada)
  • Victoria (British Columbia, Canada)

USA universities

  • Iowa State (Ames, Iowa)
  • Kansas (Lawrence, Kansas)
  • Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
  • Vassar College (Poughkeepsie, New York State)
  • William and Mary (Williamsburg, Virginia)

Participating students

In November of their first year, participating students will be invited to attend a series of meetings at which they will meet the International Officer, and also final year students who have just returned from their year abroad. They will then be asked to give three choices in order of preference and places will be allocated based upon grades, personal statement and references.

Marks obtained at the host university will be converted to Exeter marks. The conversion criteria will be found on the Year Abroad Intranet.

Fees

Tuition fees for 2025 entry

UK students: £9,535 per year
International students: £24,700 per year

Scholarships

The University of Exeter has many different scholarships available to support your education, including £5 million in scholarships for international students applying to study with us in the 2025/26 academic year, such as our Exeter Excellence Scholarships*.

Financial support is also available for students from disadvantaged backgrounds, lower income households and other under-represented groups to help them access, succeed and progress through higher education.

* Terms and conditions apply. See online for details.

Find out more about tuition fees and scholarships

Learning and teaching

How will I learn?

The nature of learning at university involves considerable self-guided study and research. You will be taught through a combination of lectures and discussion-based seminars. We also support the development of team-based learning by organising students into study groups, and we make full use of both traditional learning resources and our virtual learning environment. Lecturers and tutors are all available to provide further support in one-to-one consultations.

Most of your work will be done in group and self-directed study: reading or viewing module material, writing essays or preparing for your seminars. Active participation in seminars develops important transferable skills such as good verbal and visual communication and effective interaction with other people. You will also develop a range of professional abilities, such as time management and team working, plus valuable critical, analytical and communication skills.

We are actively engaged in introducing new methods of learning and teaching, including the increasing use of interactive computer-based approaches to learning. Through our virtual learning environment, you can access detailed information about modules, and interact through activities such as discussion forums. You will also have access to online subscription databases and websites, such as Early English Books Online (EEBO), Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO), MLA FirstSearch and JSTOR.

How will I be assessed?

You will be assessed in a variety of ways but primarily through exams and coursework. Coursework includes essays, a dissertation and presentation work. The ratio of formal exam to coursework is on average 40:60. Your first year doesn’t count towards your final degree classification, but you do have to pass it in order to progress.

Other/extra-curricular opportunities

We provide an exciting range of special lectures and seminars by visiting academics and renowned writers, actors and film directors. In addition to your academic work, the student-run English Society organises book and poetry readings, film screenings and social events, providing an opportunity to meet students who share a love of literature, culture and the arts. Students from the English department are always active on the University student newspapers, radio and TV station and in the University’s drama groups.

Optional modules outside of this course

Each year, if you have optional modules available, you can take up to 30 credits in a subject outside of your course. This can increase your employability and widen your intellectual horizons.

Proficiency in a second subject

If you complete 60 credits of modules in one of the subjects below, you may have the words 'with proficiency in [e.g. Social Data Science]' added to your degree title when you graduate.

  • A Foreign Language
  • Data Science
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Innovation
  • Law (Penryn Campus only)
  • Leadership
  • Management
  • Social Data Science

Find out more about proficiency options

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Facilities

Film students discussing artefacts at the Bill Douglas Cinema Museum

Students in the Bill Douglas Cinema Museum

We are exceptionally lucky to have some fantastic facilities and resources on the Streatham Campus.

Special Collections

We have Special Collections relating to writers such as Agatha Christie, Daphne du Maurier, and William Golding, and we integrate these into our teaching so students can share the excitement we have when discovering new insights from manuscripts, letters, and business papers.

The Bill Douglas Cinema Museum

Our unique film and popular culture resource, contains items going back hundreds of years. We regularly take students into its archives and think about the study of literature in relation to visual texts.

Digital Humanities Lab

Digital Humanities is increasingly important in all areas of humanities research, including history, archaeology, literatures and languages. This research space enables the examination, preservation and analysis of historical, literary and visual material. Facilities in the lab include:

  • a flagship seminar room equipped with a 4.2-metre video wall, encouraging interactive engagement in a shared display space
  • two state-of-the-art photography labs, including provision for the 2D digitisation of heritage material and primary sources
  • an audio-visual lab with a recording studio and sound editing suite
  • a MakerSpace equipped with 3D scanning and printing equipment

Your future

Employer-valued skills this course develops

An English degree puts you in a great position to succeed in a range of careers. Oral and written communication is at the heart of our programme and you will learn to present your ideas in a variety of formats. You will also develop strong research and analytical skills and the ability to problem solve and make informed decisions. Through a balance of independent study and teamwork you will learn to manage your time and workload effectively.

Professional experience

With practical modules on offer and opportunity to undertake professional placements, a degree in English will give you plenty of opportunity to develop your professional portfolio which will give you the skills and experience needed to be successful in your chosen career.

Career paths

Our students have progressed to a broad range of work sectors including education, arts management, publishing, journalism, marketing, finance and events management, working for companies such as:

Recent Graduates are now working as*:

  • Actor
  • Assistant Brand Manager
  • Assistant Director
  • Copywriter
  • Data Analyst
  • Journalist
  • Policy Adviser
  • Product Manager
  • Radio Producer
  • Youth Worker

Recent Graduates are now working for*:

  • European Parliament
  • Rolls Royce
  • Oxford University Press
  • Warp Films
  • Oxfam
  • Estee Lauder

Other recent graduates have progressed to postgraduate courses in:

  • MA Cultural Heritage Management
  • MA English Literary Studies
  • PGCE English primary
  • MA Magazine Journalism
  • Postgraduate Certificate in Counselling Skills

* This information has been taken from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) Surveys 14/15, 15/16, 16/17 and 17/18. Please note that, due to data protection, the job titles and organisations are listed independently and do not necessarily correspond.

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Top 10 in the Russell Group for student satisfaction in all 7 themes

National Student Survey 2024: English