Curious about studying English Literature - BA (Hons)at Leeds Beckett University? We've gathered all the key details—entry requirements, modules, fees, and more. Hear from real students by checking out reviews, or take the next step by booking an open day to explore it for yourself.
Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)
City CampusC
Full Time
Sep 2027
3 Year
Explore the fascinating world of literature.
From Shakespeare's stage to the digital page, this course invites you to explore how literature has challenged ideas, reflected society, and sparked change throughout history. You won’t just read texts, you’ll interrogate them, debate them, and reimagine them. Along the way, you’ll sharpen your thinking, refine your writing skills, and develop the confidence to express your own ideas with clarity and impact. Guided by expert tutors who are active researchers and writers, you’ll build your own distinctive voice, whether analytical, creative, or both. As part of this course, you’ll: - Study a variety of poetry, drama, and prose, exploring how they respond to their historical, social, and cultural moments - Debate bold interpretations and challenge established readings - Experiment with a wide range of critical and theoretical perspectives - Discover diverse global literatures, from Romanticism to contemporary writing, including postcolonial voices from the Caribbean, South Asia, Africa, and Australia - Develop your own creative and critical style through close collaboration with leading literary researchers
Find out moreAs well as studying literature, this course also teaches you how to think differently. You’ll graduate with highly sought-after transferable skills in writing, research, communication, and critical thinking, opening doors across a wide range of careers. You’ll benefit from: - Inspired, research-led teaching that brings cutting-edge ideas and debates into the classroom - A culture of lively intellectual debate, where your perspective matters - Opportunities to interact with award-winning authors and playwrights - A dynamic, rolling programme of guest talks from published writers, industry professionals, and world-renowned researchers
Shape your future potentialFrom the day you join, you’ll start thinking about where your degree can take you. You’ll explore career options early on, shaping your path as you progress. During your second and third years, you can choose modules that feature live brief learning challenges – real-life projects designed by employers – as well as work placement opportunities to gain valuable industry experience.
Study in a city of storiesBased in Leeds – the Northern heart of culture and the arts – you’ll be surrounded by creativity. From museums, theatres, and galleries to independent publishers and festivals, the city becomes an extension of your classroom. You’ll connect with a thriving creative scene through partnerships with local organisations and major cultural events, including the Ilkley Literature Festival and Leeds West Indian Carnival.
Industry connectionsOur strong links with the cultural and creative industries across the region mean you can gain valuable insight and experience before you graduate. Students have previously completed placements with organisations such as Hallmark Studios and Peepal Tree Press, a globally recognised independent publisher based in Leeds.
Why study the English Literature course at Leeds Beckett University?-
Exceptional student satisfaction– 100% of students on BA (Hons) English Literature were positive about the way teaching staff explain things* -
Strong graduate outcomes– 100% of graduates in work or further study 15 months after graduation
-Get hands-on
with the opportunity to take an applied humanities practical module -Learn from experts
as you work with practising writers and active researchers -Gain industry insights** during guest lectures delivered by visiting professionals *National Student Survey 2025 * * Percentage of respondents from this course, HESA Graduate Outcomes 22-23
Consider examples of the three main genres into which Shakespearean texts were divided in the First Folio. You'll be encouraged to examine and problematise these categories. This module will consider the contexts of performance and reception for which this drama was produced and the contested role of theatre within Early Modern culture. By examining drama as a social practice, and exploring texts in relation to their historical moment of production, you'll explore some approaches to the contextual study of literature. Optional modules may also be available for this course.
This module will support you as you start to work at degree level and develop strategies for the interpretation of contemporary literary texts. You'll engage with a range of post-millennial texts that seek to problematize the contemporary period. Teaching will focus on literary innovations and ways in which texts interact with techniques, approaches and debates in literary studies today. Your learning will explore a range of critical approaches through a number of set texts to help you develop key skills that will inform your work. Optional modules may also be available for this course.
This module will enable you to study narrative by examining a series of short stories, introducing key concepts such as genre and subgenre, context, and theory. You'll explore specific ideas about narrative fiction such as reliability, authority, perspective, chronology, and story versus plot. Optional modules may also be available for this course.
Focus on a single, long novel from a canonical text published in an early period as you explore the formal features of the novel. You'll start to study critical theory as a means of enabling elaborate reading of a longer literary text. Optional modules may also be available for this course.
This module will introduce the principles of adaptation from literary text to a range of mediated forms. You'll focus on the study of one key chosen text, and will explore its adaptations to various other literary and media forms. This study will enable you to consider the key principles that underpin textual adaptation, explore the ways in which form impacts the production of a text, analyse the adaptation as an important ingredient in literary production. You'll respond creatively to literary text or selections of texts, by producing your own short adaptations. Optional modules may also be available for this course.
Study a wide variety of poetry written in English and gain an understanding of the development of poetry from the Shakespearean period through to contemporary times. You will be better acquainted with a range of poetry in order to develop your sense of literary history. You will study critical and theoretical perspectives and interpretive tools to enable you to approach the reading and analysis of poetry with confidence. Optional modules may also be available for this course.
Explore key features and phenomena of literature in the eighteenth century. You'll study topics such as the rise of the novel form, the development of the Gothic, and the early Romantic movement in Britain. Focusing on new literary emergences, this module will explain these in historical terms as you draw on key theoretical and critical debates on the period. Optional modules may also be available for this course.
Study a selection of literature of the 20th century and examine how literature writes about some of the key events of the for example as WWI, WWII, post-war austerity and the Cold War. You will understand key terms such as modernism and postmodernism. You will consider texts that focus on the idea of alienation and dystopia and the place of the individual in society and explore why writers of the period turned to imagining the future in order to express their concerns with their present moments. In preparation for writing your dissertation, you will be guided through the process of developing your own research question to become a more independent learner. Optional modules may also be available for this course.
Gain a conceptual and critical vocabulary for reading and analysing texts from formerly colonised regions of the world. Given the central role played by narrative and representation in the expansion of empire, you'll explore how literature has responded to, challenged, and intervened in histories and experiences of colonialism and exploitation. This module will encourage you to consider how literature explores the multiple legacies of colonialism in our present world. You'll read some of the most exciting and challenging literature written in English by writers from South Asia, Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific, so you can explore that history and its legacies in our globalised present. Optional modules may also be available for this course.
Develop critical and interpretative skills informed by an understanding of the role theory plays in literary studies. This module will enable you to become more confident and more adventurous in your study of literature. Optional modules may also be available for this course.
You will demonstrate a full range of skills, knowledge, and competencies developed over three years of study. This module provides an opportunity for you to choose and explore a field of study that has particularly engaged your interest. Optional modules may also be available for this course.
104-112 Grades/points required
Not currently available, please Contact University for up to date information.
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