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What makes English Literature and Journalism at Worcester special?

Studying English Literature and Journalism as a joint honours degree lets you explore literature in a variety of contexts alongside researching and communicating current affairs. You’ll cultivate analytical skills through the study of a range of texts and apply that same mindset to the construction and delivery of news stories. You will explore a range of cutting-edge thinking in spheres as diverse as Shakespeare in performance, environmental writing and postcolonial literature. Combined with the understanding you will gain of journalism in today’s society, students will develop wide-ranging communication skills.

The course combines theoretical and practical elements through lectures, seminars, projects, and placements. Students graduate with academic and hands-on experience valued by employers in a range of different industries.

Overview

Overview

Key Features

  • Study diverse literature emanating from the sixteenth through to the twenty-first centuries – and encompassing both ‘canonical’ and ‘marginal’ texts  
  • A long, established course that has continually evolved with an excellent staff team of highly-skilled and enthusiastic lecturers who are experienced teachers and published researchers
  • Strong emphasis on the development of advanced literacy and communication skills
  • Students are taught by experienced, trained and practising journalists and also benefit from an exciting programme of guest lecturers from within the industry
  • Excellent work placement opportunities, developed in collaboration with local organisations, including the BBC. Opportunities to play an active role in local and regional literature festivals and related events
  • Tailor your course to your individual needs with a joint honours degree
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Joint 10th for Graduate Prospects in the UK

Our English courses are joint 10th for Graduate Prospects in the UK (The Complete University Guide 2024.)

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Entry requirements

Entry requirements

104
UCAS tariff points

Entry Requirements

104 UCAS Tariff points.

The University’s standard entry requirements apply: 4 GCSEs (Grade C/4 or above) and a minimum of 2 A Levels, including a minimum grade of C at A2 English. Applications are also accepted from students with equivalent Level 3 qualifications, Accredited Access and Foundation Courses, or Mature Entry Route.

T Levels may be used to meet the entry tariff requirements for this course. Find out more about T levels as UCAS tariff points here.

Study options

Full-time or part-time study available.

Candidates should have good English Language skills. The IELTS score for international applicants to Joint Honours is 6.0 (with no less than 5.5 in each component). Other English Language qualifications will be considered, for more information please visit the university's English Language Requirements page.

Worcester was the perfect fit for me. The course and study were relevant and really helped in terms of vocational skills. My lecturers and staff at the digital arts centre (DAC) gave me the confidence to give it a go.

Tom El-Shawk, BA Journalism graduate.

Toni Brookes, English Literature graduate

“Studying English at Worcester undoubtedly provided me with three of the most academically stimulating years I’ve had so far. I was given the opportunity to study literature from the 16th century through to the contemporary, with the chance to focus on specific research interests through the final year dissertation project. We covered a diverse range of periods and genres, with assessment including traditional academic essays, creative portfolios, reflective journals and group presentations. Throughout my studies I always felt supported, both personally and professionally, by academic staff who were encouraging, responsive and passionate about their subjects.

"Since graduating from the University of Worcester I have held professional roles in copywriting, marketing more generally, and currently, higher education. Having enjoyed my final year dissertation so much, I also decided to pursue postgraduate study and recently graduated with a Master’s degree in Contemporary Literature and Culture, obtaining a distinction classification. There is no doubt that the skills in critical thinking and analysis I developed throughout my degree were fundamental to successfully completing postgraduate work, and I often find myself thinking about the wonderfully transformative environment I was able to study in as an undergraduate.”

Course content

Course content

Our courses are informed by research and current developments in the discipline and feedback from students, external examiners and employers. Modules do therefore change periodically in the interests of keeping the course relevant and reflecting best practice. The most up-to-date information will be available to you once you have accepted a place and registered for the course. If there are insufficient numbers of students interested in an optional module, this might not be offered, but we will advise you as soon as possible and help you choose an alternative. 

Year 1

Mandatory

  • Introduction to Journalism 
  • Journalism Law and Ethics 
  • Introduction to Digital Techniques 
  • Literary Forms and Genres
  • Ways of Reading, Ways of Writing
  • Writing Worcester Past and Present

Year 2

Mandatory

  • Journalism, Law, Ethics and Society 
  • Exploding the Canon: Literary Theory and Practice

Optional

  • Broadcast Journalism
  • Developing Your Media Career
  • Entertainment Journalism
  • Magazine Journalism & Feature Writing
  • Reporting Politics
  • Broadcast & Social Media
  • Social Media for Journalists
  • Sports Journalism
  • Movement and Migration
  • Politics, Sex and Identity in the Early Modern World
  • Shakespeare: Stage, Page and Screen
  • Gothic and Romantic Literature
  • Spaces of Modernity
  • Children’s Literature
  • Work Project
  • UGTU1001 Introduction to Tutoring
  • Option modules from the Centre for Academic English and Skills.

Year 3

Optional

  • Advanced Digital Production
  • Advanced PR & Comms
  • Campaigning & Environmental Journalism
  • Final Project
  • Gender, Identity & Inclusivity
  • Investigative Journalism and Research Skills
  • Podcasting and Live News Production
  • Work Placement
  • Independent Research Project
  • Justice and Revenge: from Tragedy to the Western
  • Postcolonial Encounters
  • Writing and the Environment
  • War and Conflict
  • Gendering Voices
  • Partnerships and Rivalries
  • Literatures and Cultures: International Explorations
  • Queer Bodies, Queer Texts
  • Literature and Culture – Local Heritage
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Joint Honours

Discover our full range of joint degrees and read about how your degree will be structured.

Find out more about studying a joint honours course
Teaching and assessment

Teaching and assessment

For more information about teaching, learning and assessment on this course, please see the single honours course pages for English Literature BA (Hons) and Journalism BA (Hons).

Programme specification

For comprehensive details on the aims and intended learning outcomes of the course, and the means by which these are achieved through learning, teaching and assessment, please download the latest English Literature programme specification and Journalism programme specification documents.

Meet the team

You will be taught by a teaching team whose expertise and knowledge are closely matched to the content of the modules on the course.

Dr David Arnold, Senior Lecturer in English Literature

Dr David Arnold

David Arnold trained as a Classicist before moving on to doctoral work on twentieth-century American poetry. His research and teaching interests lie in poetry, American literature, ecocriticism and narrative criticism. He has published articles on the literary improvisations of William Carlos Williams and a book on American poetry: Poetry and Language Writing: Objective and Surreal (Liverpool University Press, 2007). His recent work focuses on ecophenomenological readings of modernist writing, and Buddhist American Poetry.

David teaches at undergraduate and postgraduate levels and has responsibility for modules in Literary Theory and American Writing. David is a member of both the British Association of American Studies and the Association for the Study of Literature and the Environment. He is also a member of the Green Voices Research Group.

rachel-ammonds

Rachel Ammonds

Rachel Ammonds teaches a wide range of undergraduate modules and is an experienced broadcast journalist.

She began her career at BBC radio in the Midlands before moving to the BBC in Manchester. She worked in radio and television, and was part of the team that won a Sony Award for coverage of the IRA bombing of Manchester. Rachel moved to ITV in 1997, producing the North West's regional news programme. She then helped set up ITV's health channel before moving into making documentaries for ITV, focusing mainly on its flagship current affairs programme, Tonight with Trevor McDonald, for which she worked as a producer/director.

 

Dr Lucy Arnold

Dr Lucy Arnold is a specialist in Contemporary literature, with particular research interests in contemporary gothic, narratives of haunting, contemporary women’s writing and psychoanalytic criticism. Her teaching experience spans a wide range of periods and genres but focusses on twentieth and twenty-first century literature. Her published work to date has concerned the writing of Booker Prize winning novelist Hilary Mantel, with her monograph, Reading Hilary Mantel: Haunted Decades, published with Bloomsbury in 2019.

Dan Johnson

Dan Johnson

Dan’s experience as a journalist and broadcaster stretches back 20 years and he currently combines his full-time lecturing role and Course Leader for Journalism with a part-time position as a BBC football reporter.

Careers

Careers

Employability

The Journalism aspect of this course will provide you with practical skills to work as a journalist or researcher, or in related communications jobs such as those in public relations. You will be well placed to progress to postgraduate study in journalism or in a wide range of other areas. Students have found employment in the following areas: broadcast and print journalism, radio presenting, both local and national, media research, event organising, media planning, television, theatre, marketing, public relations, social media management, campaigns, teaching and further study.

Many English Literature graduates will take a fourth year postgraduate Certificate in Education before entering the teaching profession. Other students will take a certificate in TEFL and become teachers of English as a second language at home or abroad. Many students progress to careers requiring good communication skills such as Public Relations or develop research careers with media or publishing companies.

Throughout the English Literature aspect of the course, there is a focus on developing employability which includes attractive opportunities for work experience on work project module. Students are also strongly encouraged to take up the opportunity to study abroad for a semester.

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Careers and Employability

Our Graduates pursue exciting and diverse careers in a wide variety of employment sectors.

Find out how we can support you to achieve your potential
Costs

Fees and funding

Full-time tuition fees

UK and EU students

The standard fee for full-time home and EU undergraduate students enrolling on BA/BSc/LLB degrees and FdA/FdSc degrees in the 2024/25 academic year is £9,250 per year.

For more details, please visit our course fees page.

International students

The standard tuition fee for full-time international students enrolling on BA/BSc/LLB degrees and FdA/FdSc degrees in the 2024/25 academic year is £16,200 per year.

For more details, please visit our course fees page.

Part-time tuition fees

UK and EU students

The standard tuition fees for part-time UK and EU students enrolling on BA/BSc/LLB degrees and FdA/FdSc degrees in the academic year 2024/25 are £1,156 per 15-credit module, £1,542 per 20-credit module, £2,312 per 30-credit module, £3,083 per 40-credit module, £3,469 per 45-credit module and £4,625 per 60 credit module.

For more details, please visit our course fees page.

Additional costs

Every course has day-to-day costs for basic books, stationery, printing and photocopying. The amounts vary between courses.

If your course offers a placement opportunity, you may need to pay for an Enhanced Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check.

Accommodation

Finding the right accommodation is paramount to your university experience. Our halls of residence are home to friendly student communities, making them great places to live and study.

We have over 1,000 rooms across our range of student halls. With rooms to suit every budget and need, from our 'Traditional Hall' at £131 per week to 'En-suite Premium' at £221 per week (2024/25 prices).

For full details visit our accommodation page.

How to apply

How to apply

Apply through UCAS

English Literature and Journalism BA (Hons) - QP35

UCAS is the central organisation through which applications are processed for entry onto full-time undergraduate courses in Higher Education in the UK.

Read our How to apply pages for more information on applying and to find out what happens to your application.

Part-time applications

If you would like to apply to study this course part time, please complete our online application form.

UCAS Code

QP35

Get in touch

If you have any questions, please get in touch. We’re here to help you every step of the way.

Rachel Ammonds

Course Leader, Journalism

Dr Sharon Young

Admissions Tutor, English Literature