Undergraduate Degrees

The BA English Literature (with Foundation Year) gives students the opportunity to progress on to the three year English Literature programme following the successful completion of a Foundation Year. This allows students who have not met the entry criteria for the BA English Literature, or a related degree course, to gain the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed on this very popular programme which takes an interdisciplinary approach to literature and examines texts within their broader historical and cultural contexts.

Course Structure

Year 1

Level 0: The Foundation Year is an intensive course where you will study alongside students who aim to progress on to a variety of degree programmes within the Faculty of Arts and Humanities. With an average of 18 guided learning hours per week you will participate in lectures, seminars, reading and study groups, as well as visits to organisations such as the East Anglian Film Archive and the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts. You will also be given individual tutorial support to ensure you are reaching your full potential and are able to progress on to the full honours programme with confidence. Over the course of the year you will be introduced to a wide range of academic subjects such as literature, history, philosophy, film, television and media, American studies, politics and the history of art. You will gain a foundational knowledge of many of the concepts, methods and techniques you will study in more detail at level 1 and above. In addition, you will develop a wide range of transferable skills in areas such as written and verbal communication, research, collegiality, time-management and language skills which will significantly enhance your employability in the future.

Year 2

Level 1: This year builds directly on the knowledge and skills you have developed during the Foundation year. You will take two year-long modules – Literature in History and Reading texts – which will introduce you to important theoretical concepts, offering strategies for both reading and writing texts, and opening up problematic questions of literature’s historical and contemporary relation to the society which produces and receives it. In each semester you will also choose one additional module from a range of complimentary subjects including American Studies, Drama, Cultural Studies, Philosophy, Film Studies, and History. In the second semester, most students will choose to study the module Writing Texts, which allows you to focus upon skills of critical and creative writing in addition to exploring the nature of the writing process itself.

Year 3

Level 2: In the third and fourth year, you choose from an extensive range of options to assemble a course that reflects your interests. There are no compulsory modules, but we do constrain your choices so that you encounter a good historical range of different kinds of writing. In the second year, you choose five modules from the wide range on offer and available modules change regularly in order to stay fresh and relevant. The main "menu" is made up of lecture-and-seminar modules devoted to quite large topics in literature as well as smaller modules that encourage you to venture outside the literary mainstream. It is at this point too, that many Literature students choose to take at least one module in Creative Writing: there are regular workshops in prose fiction, poetry, scriptwriting and literary translation. Even if you would not see yourself as "a writer", you can enrich your study of literature by trying to produce some. Your final module in the second year is "free choice" which opens up other directions of study to you.

Year 4

Level 3: Fourth-year modules are more intensive: you take only four in the course of the year and this will be more specialised seminar-based work. There are no lectures: each group works as a seminar and everyone is expected to contribute on the basis of their own reading. Details of current topics can be found in the course profile. At this level there is an emphasis on independent projects and individually tailored dissertations, and you could choose to undertake an 8,000-word dissertation. This means that instead of joining a taught module, you undertake an individual study with a member of staff as your supervisor. You can also take courses in other disciplines such as film, dramatic literature, creative writing, philosophy, or history.

Assessment

During the Foundation Year you will be assessed in a variety of ways which will allow you to exercise different learning styles and familiarise yourself with the format and expectations of assessment in Higher Education. There will be a strong emphasis on formative assessment with feedback on drafts of written work and group tutorials which will help you to clearly see how you can improve and develop, enabling you to learn from your peers as well as teaching staff. This in turn will help you to build confidence in your abilities and become a more independent learner.

Your progress will be monitored through individual tutorials to ensure that you are happy on the course and achieving your full potential. You need to achieve a minimum of 60% overall with a pass in all modules in order to progress on to the English Literature programme.

At levels 1, 2 and 3 key issues and ideas are introduced in lectures given by all members of faculty. These are accompanied by more specialist study, undertaken in small groups. You will be assessed at the end of each semester on the basis of coursework, and at the end of each year by coursework. In your final year, you will write a dissertation on a topic of your choice and with the advice of tutors. There is no final examination.

Course Organiser:Dr. Karen Schaller

The Foundation Year offers you an alternative to retaking your A-levels specifically designed to prepare you for study in Higher Education, and gives you the opportunity to study at one of the UK’s top ranked Universities.

Based in the School of Humanities, you will be taught by experienced staff who are familiar with the challenges and expectations of undergraduate study and you will receive targeted support to ensure you meet your full potential. You will receive significantly more contact time than you would in Sixth Form or at undergraduate level 1, as well as benefiting from smaller group sizes, giving you lots of opportunities to actively participate in your learning. Of course, you will also be a registered undergraduate at UEA and therefore able to take full advantage of all the excellent facilities, events and activities that we have to offer.

Following your successful completion of the Foundation Year you will transfer to the School of Literature, Drama and Creative writing which brings together writers, scholars, teachers and students in an exploration of the powers and possibilities of literature. In this school, our aim is to make creative writing and critical reading confront one another in ways that sharpen and enliven both. We teach and research across the range of English Literature from the fourteenth century to the twenty-first. This coverage is supplemented by our interests in European Literature, in postcolonial writing in English across the world, and in literary and cultural theory.

Literature at UEA is not a complete, finished object of study, but a living practice. Because we also do creative writing, translation and drama, we are aware that imaginative writing is not fixed; it is constantly being transformed, adapted, rewritten and reread. Students are invited to study these processes, and also to be part of them.

Among a diverse group of about twenty literature lecturers, there are experts on the various roles that the practice of literature can play, and has played, in society — how it can be something like praying, or like journalism, or like conversation, how it can be a form of political action, or a vehicle for ideas, or a working out of unmanageable experience, or a way of negotiating (or inflaming) differences of class and race and gender. We teach literature not in isolation, but in relation to this untidy bundle of social and psychological purposes.

It follows that we have no great respect for the boundaries that divide one academic discipline from another. We take a lively interest in the work of our colleagues in history, philosophy, film, the visual arts and music, and we encourage our students to do the same.

If, after your first semester at UEA, you decide you would like to progress on to a different programme to BA English Literature, you will be able to discuss your options with the Foundation Year Co-ordinator. Transfer decisions will need to be confirmed by January as your choice of continuing degree programme may also have an effect on which modules you select in your second semester.

Entry Requirements

A Level:

CCC including English Literature

International Baccalaureate:

28 points

Scottish Highers:

Please contact institution for further information

Scottish Advanced Highers:

Please contact institution for further information

Irish Leaving Certificate:

Please contact institution for further information

Access Course:

Please contact institution for further information

HND:

Please contact institution for further information

European Baccalaureate:

60% Overall

Students for whom English is a Foreign language

We welcome applications from students from all academic backgrounds. We require evidence of proficiency in English (including writing, speaking, listening and reading). Recognised English Language qualifications include:

• IELTS: 6.5 overall (minimum of 6.0 in Reading and Writing and no less than 5.5 in any component)
• TOEFL: Internet-based score of 92 overall (minimum 20 in Speaking component, 19 in Writing, 18 in Listening components and 20 in Reading components.
• PTE: 62 overall (minimum 55 in Reading and Writing and 51 in any component).

If you do not meet the University's entry requirements, our INTO Language Learning Centre offers a range of university preparation courses to help you develop the high level of academic and English skills necessary for successful undergraduate study.

Interviews

The majority of candidates will not be called for an interview. However, for some students an interview will be requested. These are normally quite informal and generally cover topics such as your current studies, reasons for choosing the course and your personal interests and extra-curricular activities.

Gap Year

We welcome applications from students who have already taken or intend to take a gap year, believing that a year between school and university can be of substantial benefit. You are advised to indicate your reason for wishing to defer entry and may wish to contact the appropriate Admissions Office directly to discuss this further.

Special Entry Requirements

Three A-Levels are required at CCC, this must include English Literature (combined English Literature and Language is also accepted).

Intakes

The School's annual intake is in September of each year.

Alternative Qualifications

If you are studying the BTEC National Diploma please contact us for further information.

We encourage you to apply if you have alternative qualifications equivalent to our stated entry requirements. Please contact us for further information.

GCSE Offer

All applicants are required to have a minimum of 5 GCSE's including GCSE English language and Mathematics (or equivalent) at a minimum of Grade C.

Fees and Funding

Undergraduate University Fees

We are committed to ensuring that Tuition Fees do not act as a barrier to those aspiring to come to a world leading university and have developed a funding package to reward those with excellent qualifications and assist those from lower income backgrounds.  Full time UK/EU students starting an undergraduate degree course in 2013 will be charged a tuition fee of £9,000.  The level of fee may be subject to yearly increases.  Full time International students starting an undergraduate degree course in 2013 will be charged a tuition fee of £14,400.  The level of fee may be subject to yearly increases.

Scholarships and Bursaries

Home/EU - Students studying a Foundation Year may be eligible for a bursary of £4500.00 during their first year.  Further details of eligibility can be found at http://www.uea.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/finance/university-financial-support      

International Students -  The University offers around £1 million of Scholarships each year to support International students in their studies. Scholarships are normally awarded to students on the basis of academic merit and are usually for the duration of the period of study.    Our University international pages gives you more details about preparation for studying with us, including Fees and Funding http://www.uea.ac.uk/international