BA (Hons) English Literature with a Foundation Year
Key Details
- Award
- Degree of Bachelor of Arts
- UCAS Course Code
- Q30F
- Typical Offer
- CCC
- Contextual Offer
- CDD
- Course Length
- 4 years
- Course Start Date
- September 2027
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Graduate Outcomes Survey 2024-25Course Overview
Why BA English Literature with a Foundation Year at UEA?
Looking for a springboard onto your future literature degree? Our BA English Literature with a Foundation Year will prepare you for that.
Why choose UEA
- Prepare for your future: Strengthen your critical and creative literary skills, so you’ll thrive on your degree
- Inclusive and encouraging atmosphere: Our supportive lecturers and supervisors will provide professional advice and wellbeing support
- The City of Stories: Explore Norwich’s diverse cultural heritage and use its vibrant creative community to spark new ideas in your writing
What is BA English Literature with a Foundation Year?
The English Literature Foundation Year is your platform on which to build a toolkit of essential academic skills. By forming your own goals and objectives you’ll have the know-how to engage confidently with the Humanities at degree level. Your learning is in your own hands.
You’ll explore how Literature intersects with other Humanities disciplines, including History and Politics, expanding your curiosity in the world around you. You’ll have access to all the opportunities and resources that UEA and Norwich, the first UNESCO City of Literature, have to offer. You can attend events such as the acclaimed UEA Live and be inspired by hearing current authors discuss their work live!
Careers
Career Pathways
After graduating with a degree in English Literature or a similar Arts and Humanities discipline, there are many different roles you could progress onto as you launch your career, for instance:
- Commissioning editor: Find, evaluate, and manage new content for publication, act as the main point of contact between authors and the publishing process
- Journalist: Write, research and edit arts-focused reports for a variety of print and digital media
- Communications officer: Manage communications and public messaging for organisations in the cultural, arts or public sectors
- Teacher or trainer: Share your love of literature and work with children or adults to improve their communication and writing skills. It could be in a range of educational or corporate settings
- Marketing manager: Employ your creativity to communicate strategically with an organisation’s market
Career Support
During your foundation year, you’ll start your journey towards your ideal future career. We’ll help you identify how your academic interests and burgeoning attributes can link to real career possibilities. You’ll have access to networking opportunities, workshops, and personalised one-to-one appointments.
No matter what stage you’re at with deciding on your next steps, you’ll be supported throughout your degree and beyond by UEA’s award-winning careers service, which offers guidance on CV writing, applications, internships and professional development.
Discover more on our Careers webpages.
After the Course
After successfully completing your foundation year, you’ll progress straight onto the BA English Literature degree. Alternatively, you can request to transfer onto one of a selection of other undergraduate courses within the Faculty of Arts and Humanities. This may be subject to taking certain required prerequisite modules. If you wish to move onto a degree with Creative Writing, you’ll need to submit a short portfolio of your writing (c. five pages) for approval by the creative writing team. You’ll have an academic adviser who will offer you support and guidance through this process. During your BA English Literature with a Foundation Year degree, you’ll develop your own set of unique academic interests and passions, allowing you to be well-placed to progress onto the degree that’s the best fit for you. Use the foundation year as a springboard to the degree of your choice and take control of your future studies.
Study and Modules
Structure
In this year, you’ll have compulsory and optional modules, which allows you to tailor your studies based on your passion.
You’ll develop essential critical thinking and analytical skills while exploring a range of literary approaches and methodologies. Working with your lecturers and peers, you’ll engage with key ideas in the humanities and examine how important texts connect to their political, social, historical, and cultural contexts. For instance, you might explore topics such as ideology and myth, postcolonialism, gender and sexuality, or power.
You also can build core academic skills that will support your progress and confidence throughout your studies. This includes learning how to research effectively, write academic assignments, reference sources correctly, and make full use of the wide range of study and support resources available at UEA.
A central focus of the year is understanding how new knowledge in humanities is created. By combining your interests with what you learn across the course, you’ll begin to design your own project. With guidance and support, you’ll learn how to break larger tasks into manageable stages, gaining practical experience in planning, research, and problem-solving. These skills will not only be essential for your future degree but are also highly valuable for long-term professional success.
This structured, step-by-step approach will help you build confidence while showing how complex ideas develop and connect over time. As you move through each stage of the process, you’ll strengthen your creativity, resilience, and ability to work as an independent learner.
Throughout your foundation year, you can choose from a range of subject-specific topics. You may focus on areas such as history, literature, visual culture, or politics, or you might decide to study a language. By combining disciplines, you’ll explore key aspects of your future degree while gaining an interdisciplinary perspective. This gives you the chance to deepen your knowledge in subjects closely related to your degree or even try something entirely new.
For information on subsequent years, please see the full BA English Literature course.
Compulsory Modules
Optional A Modules
(Credits: 20)Whilst the University will make every effort to offer the modules listed, changes may sometimes be made arising from the annual monitoring, review and update of modules. Where this activity leads to significant (but not minor) changes to programmes and their constituent modules, the University will endeavour to consult with students and others. It is also possible that the University may not be able to offer a module for reasons outside of its control, such as the illness of a member of staff. In some cases optional modules can have limited places available and so you may be asked to make additional module choices in the event you do not gain a place on your first choice. Where this is the case, the University will inform students.
Teaching and Learning, and Assessment
Teaching and Learning
We’ll provide a supportive and rewarding learning environment where you’ll study with dedicated lecturers from UEA’s Interdisciplinary Institute for the Humanities. This will shallow out the curve between your previous learning experiences and your future degree programme. Modules are delivered through a variety of methods, with a range of study tasks to prepare you for the different types of learning and teaching you’ll meet later on.
Through seminars, interactive training sessions and supportive feedback, you’ll develop key skills in areas such as essay writing, research, and understanding and critically evaluating scholarly arguments. Your Foundation Year will be taught by award-winning lecturers who are specialists in their fields. Our teaching is informed by cutting-edge subject research and a strong commitment to innovative and engaging teaching practice.
Your Foundation Year will be an intensive course. You’ll need to work independently between classes to make sure you’re fully prepared for seminars, workshops, and assessments. We’ll help you to make the most of the resources and facilities available to you at UEA. We’ll support you as you develop your ability to study independently, cultivating skills that will be of great benefit in your degree, and your later career.
Assessment
During your Arts and Humanities Foundation Year, you’ll be assessed in a variety of ways. This might include essays, posters, reflective work, and literary criticism-focused assignments. This will allow you to explore different learning styles and become familiar with the format and expectations of degree-level assessment.
We use innovative methods to enable you to learn from your peers as well as from teaching staff. This will help you to build confidence in your abilities and develop into a more independent learner. You’ll receive feedback, allowing you to continue to develop, hone and improve your written work over the year.
You’ll also benefit from the support of one of the course lecturers as an adviser. You’ll attend individual tutorials to ensure you’re progressing well and are achieving your full potential.
Entry Requirements
- This course is open to
UK fee-paying students only. The entry point is in September each year.
We welcome and value a wide range of qualifications, and we recognise that some students might take a mixture of different qualifications. We have listed typical examples that we accept for entry.
You should hold or be working towards the specified English and Mathematics requirements and one of the examples of typical entry qualifications listed below. If your qualifications aren’t listed, or if you are taking a combination of qualifications that isn’t specified, please contact Admissions.
- English and Mathematics
All applicants must hold or be working towards GCSEs in English Language and Mathematics at minimum grade C or grade 4.
In place of Mathematics GCSE we can also consider Functional Skills Level 2 Mathematics.
We accept a wide range of English Language qualifications, please see our English Language equivalencies(opens in a new window) page.
- Contextual Offers
UEA are committed to ensuring that Higher Education is accessible to all, regardless of their background or experiences. One of the ways we do this is through our contextual admissions schemes(opens in a new window).
- Typical UK Entry Requirements
A Levels
CCC
Contextual offer: CDD
BTEC
Level 3 Extended Diploma: MMM
Contextual offer: MMP
Access to HE Diploma
Access to Humanities & Social Sciences pathway. Pass the Access to HE Diploma with 45 credits at Level 3.
T Levels
Obtain an overall Pass any subject is acceptable
- Further Examples of Typical Entry Requirements
We welcome applications from students with non-traditional academic backgrounds. If you have been out of study for the last three years and you do not have the entry grades for our three year degree, we will consider your educational and employment history, along with your personal statement and reference to gain a holistic view of your suitability for the course. You will still need to meet our GCSE English Language and Mathematics requirements.
International Baccalaureate
28 points overall
Irish Leaving Certificate
6 subjects at H4
Scottish Highers
BBCCC
A combination of Advanced Highers and Highers may be acceptable
Scottish Advanced Highers
DDD
A combination of Advanced Highers and Highers may be acceptable
- English Foreign Language
Applications from students whose first language is not English are welcome. We require evidence of proficiency in English (including writing, speaking, listening and reading):
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IELTS: 6.0 overall (minimum 5.5 in all components)
We also accept a number of other English language tests. Review our English Language Equivalencies(opens in a new window) for a list of example qualifications that we may accept to meet this requirement.
Test dates should be within two years of the course start date.
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- Deferred Entry
We welcome applications from students who have already taken or intend to take a gap year. We believe that a year between school and university can be of substantial benefit. You are advised to indicate your reason for wishing to defer entry on your UCAS application.
- Admissions Policy
Our Admissions Policy applies to the admissions of all undergraduate applicants.
- Progression
Once enrolled onto a course at UEA, your progression and continuation (which may include eligibility for study abroad, overseas experience, placement, or year in industry opportunities) is contingent on meeting the assessment requirements which are relevant to the course on which you are enrolled.
Progression from a Foundation Year may also be dependent on meeting the prerequisite module requirements of the course you wish to progress to. Please note subsequent changes to study or course can affect your tuition fee liability and the amount you are required to pay.
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Fees and Funding
Tuition fees for the Academic Year 2027/28 are:
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UK Students: £5,760
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International Students: £24,250
We estimate living expenses at £1,171 per month.
Further Information on tuition fees can be found here(opens in a new window).
Scholarships and Bursaries
We are committed to ensuring that costs 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. View our range of Scholarships(opens in a new window) for eligibility, details of how to apply and closing dates.
Course Related Costs
Please see Additional Course Fees for details of course-related costs.
How to Apply
UCAS Hub is a secure online application system that allows you to apply for full-time undergraduate courses at universities and colleges in the United Kingdom.
Your application does not have to be completed all at once. Register or sign in to UCAS to get started.
Once you submit your completed application, UCAS will process it and send it to your chosen universities and colleges.
The Institution code for the University of East Anglia is E14.
View our guide to applying through UCAS for useful tips, key dates and further information: