BA Classical Studies and English Literature

With our BA Classical Studies and English Literature degree, explore the extraordinary legacy of the classical world and its enduring influence on modern literature and culture.

Study texts written in every era, from ancient Greece to the Renaissance, and contemporary writing in English from across the globe.

In classical studies, you will learn about the literature, history and culture of ancient civilisations. Through the study of translated texts you can explore genres and themes like poetry, tragedy and love in classical literature, and their influence on the modern world. You can also enhance your knowledge of the ancient world through Latin and Greek language modules or gain an understanding of the period through different media, for example through drama and films from Ben-Hur to Gladiator.

In the Department of Classics, 95% of our research is of international standing (REF 2021, combining 4*, 3* and 2* submissions – Classics). Our findings feed directly into your learning, with 97% of our students saying the course is often intellectually stimulating (National Student Survey 2024, 96.55% of responders from the Department of Classics).

In English literature, you will read more of authors and genres that you may already know (from tragedy to Gothic, from Shakespeare and Dickens to Plath and Beckett). But you will also encounter aspects of literary studies that may be less familiar to you. This may include studying topics such as children’s literature, publishing and the history of literature.

Our academics in the Department of English Literature have published research on everything from medieval poetry to contemporary American fiction, and 100% of our research is of international standing (REF 2021, combining 4*, 3* and 2* submissions – English Language and Literature). 100% of students in the Department of English Literature said that teaching staff are good at explaining things. (National Student Survey 2024, responders from the Department of English Literature). In the Guardian University Guide 2025, we are ranked 9th for English.

As you progress through your degree, your module choices become more diverse and specialised. Topics of study can range from archival work, to the politics of literature, to the representation of the ancient world in film.

Everyone in the Department of English Literature, from new lecturers to professors, teaches at every level of the degree: this gives you the benefit of our expertise and makes you part of the conversation about our research and its impact outside the classroom. In both the Department of English Literature and the Department of Classics, we place a strong emphasis on small-group learning within a friendly and supportive environment. In your first and second years, you will have a mix of lectures and seminars.

You'll be able to take advantage of our own unique collection of Greek and Egyptian antiquities in the 黑料不打烊's Ure Museum.

You will receive careers and employability training in your first and second years and you can also study a modern language as part of your degree.

We encourage all our students to gain direct experience of ancient sites through independent travel, for which scholarships are available. You can also apply to study at the British School at Athens and the British School at Rome, which both offer summer school opportunities to 黑料不打烊 students.

Overview

With our BA Classical Studies and English Literature degree, explore the extraordinary legacy of the classical world and its enduring influence on modern literature and culture.

Study texts written in every era, from ancient Greece to the Renaissance, and contemporary writing in English from across the globe.

Learning

You'll be able to take advantage of our own unique collection of Greek and Egyptian antiquities in the 黑料不打烊's Ure Museum.

You will receive careers and employability training in your first and second years and you can also study a modern language as part of your degree.

Entry requirements A Level BBB

Select 黑料不打烊 as your firm choice on UCAS and we'll guarantee you a place even if you don't quite meet your offer. For details, see our firm choice scheme.

Our typical offers are expressed in terms of A level, BTEC and International Baccalaureate requirements. However, we also accept many other qualifications.

Typical offer

BBB, including grade B in A level English Literature or related subject.

Related subjects include: English Language, English Language and Literature, Drama and Theatre Studies, Creative Writing.

International Baccalaureate

30 points overall including 5 in English at higher level

Extended Project Qualification

In recognition of the excellent preparation that the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) provides to students for University study, we can now include achievement in the EPQ as part of a formal offer.

BTEC Extended Diploma

DDM (Modules taken must be comparable to subject specific requirement)

English language requirements

IELTS 7.0, with no component below 6.0

For information on other English language qualifications, please visit our international student pages.

Alternative entry requirements for International and EU students

For country specific entry requirements look at entry requirements by country.

International Foundation Programme

If you are an international or EU student and do not meet the requirements for direct entry to your chosen degree you can join the 黑料不打烊’s International Foundation Programme. Successful completion of this 1 year programme guarantees you a place on your chosen undergraduate degree. English language requirements start as low as IELTS 4.5 depending on progression degree and start date.

Learn more about our International Foundation programme

Pre-sessional English language programme

If you need to improve your English language score you can take a pre-sessional English course prior to entry onto your degree.

Find out the English language requirements for our courses and our pre-sessional English programme

Compulsory modules

Texts, Readers and Writers

Develop the knowledge and skills required to succeed in academic study of the ancient world including the literature, writing and numeral systems of ancient Greece and Rome.

Theories and Practice of Writing

Discover the key concepts that shape our understanding of literature from the perspective of composition and of critical work. Consider how writers are connected to other authors, editors and publishers as you articulate your own and others’ ideas in a portfolio of written work.

Poetry in English

From the Renaissance to the present, uncover the history of poetry as you explore key genres related to love, politics, pastoral, elegy, satire, the sonnet, the ode, and the dramatic monologue. You’ll study poems drawn from the wider English-speaking world including Ireland, the Caribbean and North America, encountering the diversity of voices found in gender and sexuality.

Ancient Song

Discover a range of lyric poetry from ancient Greece and Rome and consider a range of thematic approaches to reading the surviving texts.

Optional modules

Roman History: The Rise and Fall of the Republic

Investigate a period marked by profound socio-political changes in Rome and discover the evidence for ancient history and modern methodological approaches, considering the relevance of Roman antiquity to issues in the modern world.

Latin 1-3

You’ll be taught elements of the Latin language, literature, and culture to enable you to read the language at an elementary level.

Ancient Greek 1-3

Learn elements of the Ancient Greek language, literature, and culture, enabling you to read the language at an elementary level.

Optional Language Modules

Learn one of ten languages offered by the University at a level appropriate for you.

Presenting the Past: An Introduction to Museum Studies

Examine how contemporary museum practice contributes to social challenges. Visits to museums, case studies and theory will help you to consider the origins of museums along with how information is collected and presented to different audiences.

These are the modules we currently offer for 2024/25 entry. They may be subject to change as we regularly review our module offerings to ensure they're informed by the latest teaching and research methods.

Please note that the University cannot guarantee that all optional modules will be available to all students who may wish to take them.

You can also register your details with us to receive information about your course of interest and study and life at the 黑料不打烊.

Optional modules

Ancient Epic

Discuss interpretations of Greek and Latin epic hexameter poetry such as the Iliad, Odyssey, and Aeneid.

Greek Sculpture and Architecture

Gain knowledge of sculpture and architecture in the Greek world, from its beginnings to the end of the Hellenistic period and consider how, why, where and when these media developed.

Greek History: Persian Wars to Alexander

Discover the Greek classical age (479-323 BC), how to interact with sources, and principles and methods central to the study of ancient history.

My Mother's Sin and Other Stories

Discover Greek poetry and fiction from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. You’ll consider historical, sociocultural, and wider literary developments of the period and how they illustrate attitudes to the ancient past.

Latin 1-4

Further your knowledge of the grammar, syntax, and vocabulary of Latin to increase your confidence when reading authors in the original Latin.

Ancient Greek 1-4

Develop your skills to become competent reading ancient Greek authors and further your knowledge of grammar, syntax, and vocabulary of the language.

Careers for Classicists and Ancient Historians with Placement

Complete a work or academic placement in summer to enhance your employability. You’ll relate your experience of exploring career paths to selected careers in the ancient world.

Careers for Classicists and Ancient Historians

Set yourself targets in order to make impactful job applications following your graduation, relating your experience of exploring career paths to selected careers in the ancient world.

Ancient Drama

Discover ancient drama by examining their content, themes, and performance style and uncovering the context in which they were produced.

Roman History: From Republic to Empire

Gain knowledge of the historical, political, social, and economic developments of the imperial era of Rome, using various sources to investigate the impact of the Roman world on the present day.

Myth, Legend and Romance: Medieval Storytelling

Explore storytelling in medieval England as you take in the fantastical tales of ancient heroes, drama that blends comedy and religious devotion, and magic and supernatural beings. You’ll consider the stark contrast of narrative structure, character development and language use by medieval writers in contrast to our own.

Victorian Literature

Victorian literature consists of a period where authors began to consider people’s place in the world with God, the workings of the mind, and the role of class and gender in the construction of identity. You’ll engage with these ideas as you consider some of the greatest works of the period – from Dickens and Hardy to Tennyson and Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

Contemporary Literature

Study a selection of fiction from the 1980s to the present day, exploring the formal, thematic and cultural diversity of Anglophone fiction produced in this period. You’ll consider these texts within a number of social, political and historical contexts, such as multiculturalism, feminism and globalisation.

Modernism

Examine the concepts of modernity, modernism, and the history of early twentieth-century poetry and fiction. You’ll explore experimentation and innovation in poetic and narrative form, and their relation to wider social upheaval and cultural movements in the period.

Writing in the Public Sphere

Study literature designed to prompt social and political change as you examine speeches, pamphlets, tracts and political posters from the early modern period to the present. Consider how such literature shapes debates on race, class, religion, nationality and women’s rights across Britain and Ireland.

Optional Language and University Wide Modules

Study a module from outside your department to enhance your understanding of history and culture. Alternatively, you can learn one of ten languages offered by the University at a level appropriate for you.

Museum Learning and Engagement

Critically examine the learning role of museums in society and discover resource design, evaluation, and visitor research. Talks from museum-based professionals and museum visits will allow you to contextualise and apply your learning.

Curatorship and Collections Management

Explore the methods used by professionals to store, catalogue, and research objects, and to communicate their meanings to the public. You’ll receive an induction to these methods and undertake assignments based on objects in the University’s collections.

Writing America: Perspectives on the Nation

Examine the construction of American national identity in American literature from a range of different perspectives. You’ll study a diversity of American voices and central themes including myths of the frontier, Manifest Destiny, personal and political liberty, and the construction of race, gender and sexuality.

Critical Thinking

Approach familiar ideas and issues from unfamiliar angles that prompt you to re-examine the unspoken grounds on which common-sense ways of thinking are based. You’ll take part in exciting and rewarding discussions on issues of language, power, and identity, ideology, gender, and race.

Early Modern Literature

Discover the rich and fascinating literary culture of the early modern or Renaissance period. You'll explore the ways that English literature was shaped by, and helped to re-shape, English culture in the years between the Reformation and the Civil Wars.

The Business of Books

You’ll cover the history and development of modern trade publishing and have focused sessions on some of its key players, including publishers and literary agents. Through a combination of theoretical, methodological, and hands-on teaching sessions and workshops, you’ll study the role and function of books in historical and institutional contexts including libraries, bookshops, publishing houses, and board rooms.

Enlightenment, Revolution and Romanticism

Study the political revolutions that shook British society to its core during Age of Enlightenment (c.1680-1790): England’s bloodless ‘Glorious Revolution’ of 1688; the colonial revolution of American independence; and the French Revolution of 1789.

Entertainment and Leisure in Roman Society

Examine the social, political and economic connotations of entertainment, from top-down spectacles in the circus, the amphitheatre, and the theatre which were organised by social and economic elites to bottom-up, DIY activities like board games.

Roman Satire

Explore humour and invective in the Roman world, considering what caused the indignation of Horace, Persius, and Juvenal and how they included mockery in their writings.

Greek Religion and Mythology

Gain knowledge and an understanding of key aspects of ancient Greek religion, the ancient evidence and salient scholarly approaches.

Ancient Egyptian Language and Hieroglyphs

Study elements of the Ancient Egyptian language and learn how to read Egyptian, in the hieroglyphic script, at an elementary level. There will be instruction in grammar and the Egyptian hieroglyphic script, and practice in translation.

Please note that the University cannot guarantee that all optional modules will be available to all students who may wish to take them.

You can also register your details with us to receive information about your course of interest and study and life at the 黑料不打烊.

Optional modules

Dissertation in Classics

Investigate a topic within classics to form the basis of an extended piece of original research or an original artistic production. To prepare for the dissertation you’ll participate in workshops and submit an assessed proposal.

Independent Project in Classics

Conduct research, explication and documentation of a topic presented in a format different from the traditional dissertation. You’ll prepare for the project by participating in workshops and submitting an assessed proposal.

Dissertation in English Literature

Complete a substantial work of literary-critical argument based on sustained independent research under the guidance of a supervisor. Engage in depth with a topic of particular interest as you develop the skillset accumulated during your first two years of study.

Latin 1-6

Practice unseen translation to improve your language skills and achieve greater fluency in Latin with increased knowledge of the language’s grammar, syntax, and vocabulary.

Ancient Greek 1-6

Increase your fluency in Ancient Greek by practicing unseen translation and developing advanced knowledge of grammar, syntax, and vocabulary.

Greek and Roman Painting

Investigate and critique Greek and Roman painting by exploring the styles and techniques used to decorate architecture and free-standing objects in the ancient world.

‘Race’ and Ethnicity in the Ancient Greek and Roman Worlds

Challenging the notion that ‘race’ and racism are modern concepts, you’ll explore racial and ethnic otherness in Greek and Latin texts along with how classical texts continue to shape our thinking on these issues.

From Classroom to Courtroom: Mastering the Art of Persuasion in the Ancient World

Consider the relationship between theory of rhetoric and the practice of oratory in antiquity by examining the construction of ancient speeches and the skills required for composing and delivering them.

Lyric Voices, 1340-1650

Explore lyric poetry from the Middle Ages and the renaissance. You’ll look at the presentation of themes such as love and longing, grief, and the fear of death, and compare the ways in which authors make use of literary conventions to present such themes.

British Black and Asian Voices: 1948 to the Present

Examine a range of British texts (poetry, drama, novels, short stories, films) by writers of Black and Asian descent. You’ll read theoretical and historical material as you examine issues of cultural capital, national identity, and minority communities.

Literature and Mental Health

Discover how literature engaged with mental health in the first half of the twentieth century, a crucial turning point in psychology. You’ll consider the de-stigmatisation of mental health in the wake of World War I, the disciplines of psychiatry and psychology that emerged from it, and how literature engages with trauma, anxiety and obsession.

Optional Language and University Wide Modules

James Joyce

Trace the literary development of one of the most important and influential writers of the twentieth century through an intensive study of Joyce's experimental and influential novel Ulysses, and get an introduction to what is arguably the most challenging and wonderful book of the Twentieth Century, Finnegans Wake.

From Romance to Fantasy

Explore the role played by fantastical or wondrous elements in English literature from the middle ages to the present day. Focus on a range of key narrative structures (such as the quest), persistent motifs such as magical objects, and influential modes, such as the gothic.

Placing Jane Austen

Examine the movements of Austen’s characters through rooms and houses, the patterns of their dances in assembly halls, the paths of their journeys through town and country. Investigate how these movements sometimes represent changes of heart or class, of mind or fortune and how they are always significant for the carefully drawn lines of her narratives.

Decadence and Degeneration: Literature of the 1890s

Engage with iconic texts in English literature, including Stoker’s Dracula, Stevenson's Jekyll and Hyde, and Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, while exploring what's meant by these terms 'decadence' and 'degeneration', calling, amongst many other things, on portrayals of 1890s' foppishness, Darwinian models of evolution, the emergent New Woman phenomenon, the Wilde trial, and the portrayal of prostitution.

Women Writing Poetry

Explore writing primarily by (but also about) women in the nineteenth century, including Christina Rossetti’s Goblin Market and Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s Aurora Leigh. Ask how women found a voice in a predominantly patriarchal society, what subjects were deemed suitable for female poets, and how such poets overcame the limitations of expectation.

Children's Literature

Explore issues surrounding children’s literature and its criticism. Questions and analyse critical assumptions and formulations around authorship, memory, observation, readership, and identity.

Margaret Atwood

Discuss dystopia, speculative fiction, the uncanny, ideology, postmodernity and questions of language and narration, engaging with Margaret Atwood's novels The Edible Woman, The Handmaid's Tale, Alias Grace, The Blind Assassin and The Testaments via close analysis and critical/theoretical readings of the texts.

The Bloody Stage: Revenge and Death in Renaissance Drama

Explore the representation of revenge and death in revenge tragedies performed on the Renaissance stage. Analyse the staging of death scenes and whether there are differences in the ways that men and women die on stage.

Modern and Contemporary Poetry

Study key trends in poetry's engagement with changing circumstances in England, Wales, and Scotland in the twentieth century and beyond. Consider issues including the aftermaths of modernism, gender and poetry, British poetry and post-war retrenchment, the 'poetry wars' of the 1970s and the perpetuation of 'Movement' ideals down to the present.

History, Culture, and Society in the Time of Nero

Investigate whether Nero's legacy as a cruel leader reflects his true self or is a biased image based on exaggerated portrayals by his contemporaries. Understand how contemporary Romans experienced his rule and affected his later memory.

Aristotle: Philology, Philosophy, Politics

Undertake a close analysis of the language, themes, and significance of Aristotle’s philological, political, and philosophical works. Explores the origins of philosophy and its relation to science by discussing On the Soul, Physics, Metaphysics.

Gender and Classical Antiquity

Study the ways in which gender relations were constructed in the literature, art, culture and institutions of ancient Greece and Rome, and the impact of such constructions on ideas about gender in the modern world.

Romans and the Natural World

Understand the contribution of the natural world to the social, economic, political, religious and cultural lives of Romans in the Early Imperial period.

Ancient Biography

Gain an understanding of the ancient genre of biography and especially of Plutarch’s Parallel Lives, and of key historical figures from antiquity and the evidence on which our knowledge of them is based.

Xenophon's Anabasis

Explore a rarely taught text: Xenophon’s Anabasis, which shows us many aspects of Classical Greek life which are normally left out of view.

Ancient Ethiopia: The Aksumite Kingdom

Find out about the Aksumite kingdom of the Ethiopia and Eritrea in the period c. 1-500 AD, and how it interacted with neighbouring states in ancient Sudan and South Arabia, and with the Greek, Roman and Egyptian world.

Please note that the University cannot guarantee that all optional modules will be available to all students who may wish to take them.

You can also register your details with us to receive information about your course of interest and study and life at the 黑料不打烊.

Fees

New UK/Republic of Ireland students: £9,535 per year for 2025/26 then fixed per year at this fee for the standard duration of your course.

New international students: £25,250 per year for 2025/26 then fixed per year at this fee for the standard duration of your course.

Tuition fees

To find out more about how the 黑料不打烊 sets its tuition fees, see our fees and funding pages.

Additional costs

Some courses will require additional payments for field trips and extra resources. You will also need to budget for your accommodation and living costs. See our information on living costs for more details.

Financial support for your studies

You may be eligible for a scholarship or bursary to help pay for your study. Students from the UK may also be eligible for a student loan to help cover these costs. See our fees and funding information for more information on what's available.

Flexible courses (price per 10 credit module)

UK/Republic of Ireland students: £795

International students: £2105

Careers

A degree in Classical Studies and English Literature will help you develop a range of transferable skills, including critical thinking; research and writing; ability to analyse a diverse range of materials; time-management; adaptability; independence; and a high degree of cultural literacy.

Previous graduates have gone on to a wide variety of careers, including work in accountancy and banking, government and the civil service, law, heritage and museums, teaching, publishing, public sector management, libraries and archives, and media research and production. Recent employers include GCHQ, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Oxford University, the British Museum, the NHS, the Environment Agency, and Sotheby's.

91% of graduates from Classics are in work or further study within 15 months of graduation. (Based on our analysis of HESA data (c) HESA 2024, Graduate Outcomes Survey 2021/22 includes all Classics responders)

96% of graduates from English Literature are in work or further study within 15 months of graduation (based on our analysis of HESA data © HESA 2024, Graduate Outcomes Survey 2021/22; includes first degree English Literature responders).

黑料不打烊