English and History (Full-time) (BA Hons)
The Joint Honours English and History degree offers you the chance to explore two fascinating and interrelated subjects. This course allows you to study both English literature and history, and the intersections between them, developing the intellectual tools to approach these subjects from a variety of perspectives.
The English part of the degree covers a wide range of genres and periods of literature, from Shakespeare to contemporary fiction, and explores key themes and ideas that have shaped the development and understanding of literature. You will engage with both literary theory and the practice of literary analysis, learning to interpret texts in their historical context and reflecting on how literature reflects and shapes society. You will also have the opportunity to produce creative responses to texts.
The History part of this degree explores the history of Europe, the US, and beyond, ranging from Ancient Rome to the modern period. It will allow you to explore a range of thematic approaches to history, including political history, social history, and cultural history, encouraging you to consider the richness and diversity of human experience across time.
You will learn textual and source analysis, an understanding of narrative and critical thinking skills. These skills will be tested through a range of assessments, from essays to archive and library projects, to creative responses.
Both subjects work together to improve your communication skills, with a focus on how to present complex ideas clearly and persuasively. These skills are valuable not only in an academic context, but for a range of careers after graduation. By the end of the course, you will be able to critically assess historical and literary materials, providing evidence-based interpretations of the past and engaging with cultural, literary and historical debates in a meaningful way.
This Humanities joint honours degree provides an opportunity to build a coherent and engaging academic experience, offering flexibility to create combinations of modules that best suit your interests. By studying English and History, you’ll gain a deep understanding of the historical periods that have shaped our world and develop the analytical and creative skills necessary for interpreting both literature and history.
Course details
- Full-time
- On-campus
- English
Tuition Fees 25/26
Home (Full-time): £9,535 per year
Overseas (Full-time): £15,525 per year
Why choose this course?
What you will learn
The Joint Honours English and History programme is designed to foster critical thinking, creativity, and independent learning. Through a series of interdisciplinary studies, students will develop the skills necessary to analyse and interpret both literary and historical texts. With a focus on critical thinking, creative writing, and the historical context of literature, students are encouraged to engage with complex ideas and viewpoints.
In the first year, students focus on building a foundation in creative and critical writing. Compulsory modules introduce short story techniques, critical theory, and the essentials of writing as a career through “The Art of the Pitch.†Optional modules range from Shakespearean studies to ecocriticism, with unique opportunities to explore rare collections at the Roderic Bowen Library and Archives.
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Year 2 deepens critical engagement, with compulsory modules exploring 20th and 21st-century writing, speculative fiction, and Renaissance literature. Creative skills expand into writing for TV, film, and radio, alongside “The Art of the Pitch,†which develops professional writing insights. Students may also select from options like performance poetry and a professional placement, offering real-world experience.
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In the final year, students refine their independent project, bringing together creative and research skills. Compulsory modules provide advanced critical theory and practical industry insight. Students may choose from diverse topics, including philosophy in literature and Renaissance poetics, while special collections research offers access to historical texts, fostering advanced research skills for future careers in writing or academia.
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Course Disclaimer
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The modules outlined above provide examples of what you can expect to learn on this course based on recent academic teaching. We continuously review our courses to ensure quality enhancement and to manage our resources. 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. Where your course includes optional modules, these are to provide an element of choice within the course. The availability of optional modules may vary from year to year and will be subject to minimum student numbers being achieved. This means the availability of specific optional modules cannot be guaranteed.
You’ll typically complete 120 credits per year of study on a full-time course. For more information visit our Student Agreement.
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Staff
Our People
You will be taught and supported by a wide range of professional staff and teams here to help you get the university experience you are looking for. Our teaching staff were ranked 2nd in Wales for Teaching, Assessment and Feedback and Academic Support (NSS 2024) meaning that the support and feedback you get will help you learn and develop strong academic skills. Our students have placed us 1st in Wales for Learning Opportunities and Student Voice (NSS 2024) meaning that there are a wide range of opportunities available to enhance your studies and that students play an active role in shaping their learning experiences. Our commitment to your learning has seen our students place us as 1st in Wales and joint 3rd in the UK for student satisfaction (Times Higher Education, 2024, ‘Overall Positivity’ measure). Find out more about our academic staff who teach across our courses.
Further information
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Grades are important; however, our offers are not solely based on academic results. We are interested in creative people that demonstrate a strong commitment to their chosen subject area and therefore we welcome applications from individuals from a wide range of backgrounds.
To assess student suitability for their chosen course we normally arrange interviews for all applicants at which your skills, achievements and life experience will be considered as well as your qualifications.
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The programme is assessed in a variety of ways and will include several of the following types of assessment: essays of 1,000 to 4,000 words in length, document analyses, book reviews, short reports and reflective journals, timed tests, take-home exams, field journals, posters, group and individual presentations, dissertations of 10,000 words, wikis, commentaries and film evaluations.
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The Faculty has estimated on the assumption that students buy new copies of the books. Students may also choose to spend money on printing drafts of work.
Students may spend up to £300 per year on books and additional related materials.
Students are expected to submit two hard copies of their final project, the estimated cost for binding these is £20.
Optional Field trip:
Faculty works to ensure that there are a range of fieldwork and field trip options available both locally and internationally. Thus students can opt to take either more expensive or less expensive placements. The Faculty subsidises these but the cost each year is dependent on airfare, location, and currency exchange rates. Below are the upper end of expected costs based on where students have currently done placements.Fieldwork (depending on where student decides to do fieldwork): c. £500 - £1,500
Individual trips: c. £5 - £50 -
You may be eligible for funding to help support your study. To find out about scholarships, bursaries and other funding opportunities that are available please visit our Scholarships and Bursaries section.
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Career and employment opportunities are very broad and include:
- Administrative and managerial jobs
- Community Work
- Freelance work such as copywriting, editing
- Independent and commissioned creative writing
- Marketing and fundraising
- Publishing
- Teaching
- Writing for film, television and media