BA (Hons) English (with Foundation Year option)

Core units

• Academic & Professional Practice: You will build your confidence in both academic and professional skills. This unit will cover the academic skills which will be required at degree level study and you’ll practice them throughout the unit with support from key university services including the library and study skills team. There will also be the opportunity for you to reflect on and develop your own professional skills through interactions with employers, careers services and online resources. 
• Collaborative Communication Project: The unit focuses on the centrality of communicaiton, both as a process and as a project. Through the collaborative development of a communication solution to a specific communication problem, the unit aims to promote the principles and practices of team-based iterative project work. 
• Understanding Contemporary Britain: During this unit you will be introduced to key aspects of culture and society in Britain today. You will develop an understanding of the relationship between developments in culture, politics and society in the making of modern Britain and be able to identify a number of different critical perspectives on those developments. 
• Law & Government: You will trace a case study through the United Kingdom's political and legal system, following the case study from its inception in a political party's election manifesto, through the legislative process, to how the judiciary interprets its provisions within a court of law. Building out from this case study you will develop an understanding of practical and theoretical underpinnings of politics and law. 

Core units

• Media & Society: This unit looks into the core mass communication media such as newspapers, radio, TV and the internet with particular emphasis on Public Service Broadcasting, regulation, globalisation and the relationship between politicians/government and the media.
• Adaptation: Here you’ll focus on key theoretical perspectives and debates. Case studies will include adaptations from across a wide range of media, including film, television, comic books and the internet, and encompassing both classic and popular texts.
• Academic & Writing Skills: Introducing you to the practical skills of academic study, ensuring you make a smooth transition to Higher Education. You will also begin to develop high level skills in academic writing, journalistic and creative writing, this unit emphasises the differences between audiences and appropriate types of writing.
• Language Matters: This unit examines attitudes and approaches towards styles of English, and the various uses of language in everyday situations and contexts, across a range of media uses.
• Forms & Contexts: Introducing you to the main literary forms of fiction, drama, and poetry, and associated critical perspectives. You will understand how literature is influenced by its historical, social, and cultural context.
• Approaches to Literature: You will learn the different methods and critical approaches required for the study of literature at degree level. You will gain a thorough underpinning of the skills and attributes required when studying a greater range of literary texts throughout your three years.

Core units

• Modernism & Postmodernism: Through a selection of texts, you’ll explore two of the major literary and artistic movements in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, as well as their historical and cultural perspectives and influences.
• Gender & Sexuality: In this unit, representations of gender and sexuality will be considered in examples of novels, plays and other writing from the last 200 years.
• Children’​s Literature: This unit examines the relationship between narrative form and content, and the literary, social and cultural context in which children’s literature has been produced.
• Narrative Structures: You’ll develop analysis and evaluations of a variety of contemporary narrative texts from sources such as film, television, journalism, magazines, the internet and prose fiction.
• Writing for the Media: This unit aims to strengthen your professional writing abilities and to develop your understanding of the formats and conventions employed in writing for a range of media.

Option units (choose one)

• Popular Texts & Intertexts: Texts from across popular media including literary, cinematic, televisual and graphic genres will be examined.
• Media: Messages & Meanings: This unit examines how messages are constructed, conveyed and received over a range of media and by different audiences.
• The Changing Coastal Resort: This unit introduces you to the changing state of the coastal resort in history, culture, politics and society from the eighteenth century to the present. Taking an interdisciplinary approach that combines critical perspectives and methodologies from tourism and hospitality, historical and cultural studies, you will explore the significance of coastal spaces and cultures in relation to diverse yet connected topics such as personal, social and national identity, politics and policy, (literary) tourism, heritage and conservation, public health and leisure, gentrification and urban regeneration.

Please note that option units require minimum numbers in order to run and may only be available on a semester by semester basis. They may also change from year to year.

You can choose either a four-week placement or optional 30-week placement (minimum), designed to develop your abilities and understanding of the workplace. It also provides a platform for successful entry into the workplace following graduation.

Core units

• Dissertation: You’ll undertake original and independent research to produce a 10,000-word dissertation on a topic or problem of your choice, using a discursive approach.

Option units (choose four)

• News & Journalism: This unit seeks to provide you with a critical perspective on journalistic outputs and the ability to report and produce news and other forms of journalism in a digital world.
• Writing, Editing & Publishing: A practical unit which combines study of publishing processes and practices with creative writing.
• Fact & Fiction: This unit explores the diverse panorama of non-fiction works produced in the realm of literary, or narrative, journalism. It will analyse ethical issues such as objectivity, accuracy, and the social and historical context of the genre over the centuries.
• New Media Narrative: You’ll examine the evolution of narrative forms in relation to the development of digital media, especially exploring non-linear and interactive narratives.
• Crime & Terror: Studying the development of crime and gothic literature over the last 200 years, this unit will explore the cultural and historical context of the genre with reference to a range of critical approaches.
• Post-Colonial Texts: Exploring the ways in which the legacy of colonialism has impacted on writing and other cultural forms, the unit will consider key issues raised in postcolonial discourse while also interrogating some of the very terms on which those issues are debated.
• Alternate Worlds: This unit considers the uses of alternate worlds as motifs and narrative strategies in the development of both classic and contemporary literature. Ancient literature, Jacobean drama, utopian and dystopian visions, science fiction and fantasy are among the genres discussed.
• Transient Literature & Serial Storytelling: You will explore relationships between storytelling and the publishing formats and media used to deliver those stories. Through the study of key texts and critical perspectives you will consider how elements of materiality such as serialisation and format effectively coordinate with market, audience and content.
• Space, Place & Environment: This unit focuses on critical representations of space, place and environment in literature and culture from industrialisation to the present. You will explore the significance of space and the environment in relation to diverse yet connected topics such as globalisation, personal, social and national identity, politics and policy, global transmission of literatures, literary tourism, conservation, biophilia and urban regeneration.
• Media & Trauma: This unit aims to explore critical and cultural responses to traumatic experience and death across a range of media or texts from print and broadcast journalism to filmic and literary representation. The unit will focus on how trauma is interpreted, recorded, represented, constructed and produced across a range of media and in a variety of social, professional and medical contexts.

Please note that option units require minimum numbers in order to run and may only be available on a semester by semester basis. They may also change from year to year.

The emphasis of this course is in guided independent learning, which helps you develop into a self-motivated learner. When not attending lectures and seminars, you will be expected to read around the subject.

Your typical week’s activities will include reading books and journal articles, working on group projects, preparing presentations, conducting library research and writing your assignments. The hours below give an indication of how you can expect to spend your time during each year of this course.

Year 1 – 18% of your time will be spent in timetabled learning & teaching activities

• Learning and teaching: 206 hours
• Independent learning: 994 hours

Year 2 – 19% of your time will be spent in timetabled learning & teaching activities

• Learning and teaching: 208 hours
• Independent learning: 992 hours

Year 3/4 – 13% of your time will be spent in timetabled learning & teaching activities

• Learning and teaching: 115 hours
• Independent learning: 1045 hours.

Programme specifications provide definitive records of the University’s taught degrees in line with Quality Assurance Agency requirements. Every taught course leading to a BU Award has a programme specification which describes its aims, structure, content and learning outcomes, plus the teaching, learning and assessment methods used.

Whilst every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the programme specification, the information is liable to change to take advantage of exciting new approaches to teaching and learning as well as developments in industry.

If you have been unable to locate the programme specification for the course you are interested in, it will be available as soon as the latest version is ready. Alternatively please contact us for assistance.

This international prize – a result of a partnership of Bournemouth University and if:book UK – promotes the best in new media writing and you can enter your exciting and inventive stories that integrate a variety of formats, platforms and digital media.

Fresher is a publishing press, established at Bournemouth University to nurture the publishing talent of the future and support writers everywhere. Fresher runs the Bournemouth Writing Prize, an annual international short story and poetry competition, designed to boost your career as a writer.

A placement should be a highly rewarding experience for you and the employing company and we do our best to ensure that everyone involved feels that they have got the most that they can from the experience. 

The benefits to you as a placement student are many. You will have the chance to:

• Put the theory learnt throughout the course into professional practice
• Enhance your study and help you decide on subject options (where appropriate)
• Learn a wide range of skills such as time management, problem solving and team work (all of these are important to succeed in any career)
• Make contacts, as it is not uncommon for our students to be offered permanent positions to return to after graduating
• Gain a real insight into how the industry operates in roles that would be almost impossible to achieve for an outsider
• Many of our students, during their placement, are given responsibilities normally associated with graduate trainees.

You will begin your placement after completion of your second year of study and can choose to complete four weeks (on the three-year version of the course) or a minimum 30-week placement (on the four-year version).

The faculty running your course will offer the support of a Placement Coordinator. 

They’ll help you plan your placement so make sure you get the right experience for you. That includes offering help and support if you need to move to another part of the UK – and even another country – to get the most out of your time.

We’ve also built close industry links over the years – so our network of employers that are keen to work with placement students is always growing. Or if you’d prefer to arrange your placement independently, we can offer advice on how to do that too.

• Ranieri Communications
• Redpin Publishing Ltd
• TLC Marketing
• Jargon PR
• The Walt Disney Company.

We select candidates for this course by looking at your application; there are usually no interviews or selection activities needed. For that reason, make sure your application really stands out from the crowd, and leave us in no doubt as to why you should be joining BU. You can find some handy hints about filling in your UCAS form on our how to apply web pages.

We look at individual applications and make a tailored offer based on your potential to succeed on the course considering a range of factors, including your academic achievements, work and other experience, reference and personal statement, and in some cases, your performance at an interview or a portfolio review. Typically, we make an offer at the bottom of the tariff range.

AccessBU gives you the chance to tell us more about you and your life experiences if you haven’t had the same educational opportunities as other applicants. If you are eligible for AccessBU, your offer could be up to 16 UCAS Tariff Points below the published tariff.

Our offer-making will typically be based on your most recent qualifications, including any required subjects where applicable. We'll consider all qualifications when assessing your application, although these may not be part of our offer.

If you do not meet the criteria of your original offer, we may still offer you a place. We will review your whole application and consider all academic qualifications (including those not in the offer) to see if you have the academic potential to succeed on the course. If we feel the answer is yes, we will confirm your place.

AccessBU: AccessBU provides you with the opportunity to tell us about your circumstances that are not always evident in your UCAS application. This widening access initiative also considers relevant criteria such as being in care or if you live in an area with a low participation rate in Higher Education - if you are eligible, your offer could be up to 16 UCAS tariff points below the published tariff.

Apprenticeships: We recognise the transferable knowledge and skills gained through apprenticeships and welcome applications from students with a Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship recognised by the Institute for Apprenticeships. Each application will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Deferred entry: We are happy to consider eligible applicants for deferred entry. If you have already submitted your application, please submit your deferral request through our website.

Direct entry: We welcome applications from students who have previously studied at degree level at other institutions and wish to transfer onto a BU course. Our Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) procedure enables credit awarded from one institution to contribute to a BU award, subject to an application process. Please visit our RPL webpage for more information.

Mature applicants: We recognise that mature applicants may have a wealth of experience rather than formal qualifications, so we’ll consider your application on these merits if included in your application. You’ll need to apply to BU in the usual way through UCAS and you may be invited to an interview to discuss your suitability for the course based on the experience you tell us about in your application.

There are a wide range of careers open to you once you graduate, including:

• Content editor
• Freelance writer and video producer
• Marketing and PR executive
• English teacher
• Underwriter

Typical sectors you might choose to work in include marketing, digital media, education and media publishing.

However, the skills you’ll develop on the course will be valuable across a broad range of contexts – so you could find yourself working for businesses or organisations involved in a variety of industries.

Once you have completed an undergraduate Honours degree, you can further develop your education by studying for a postgraduate degree. Please visit our Postgraduate section for further details about our range of Master's degrees.

What’s included in your tuition fee?

Your tuition fee covers expenses associated with your course including tuition materials, access to facilities, mandatory field trips and the following:

• Materials for laboratory and field-based teaching activity
• Support for finding placements (UK or abroad) and fieldwork, and non-financial support whilst on placement if this is part of your course of study
• A range of student services – advisors, help desks, counsellors, placement support and careers service
• The Library – access to a wide range of electronic resources (databases, e-journals and e-books), print and multimedia collections, subject librarians and study spaces
• Access to Brightspace, our virtual learning environment, which offers a responsive and personalised learning experience with powerful learning analytics capabilities, integrated social media and advanced video features.
• IT labs (some open 24/7), wireless network, AV equipment to borrow
• Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) scheme
• Disability and additional learning support, according to individual circumstances
• The BU Language Centre to help you develop/improve foreign or English language skills
• 24 hours a day, 365 days a year security team.

Additional costs

We are committed to offering you value for money and ensuring there are no hidden costs while you are studying with us, therefore we have listed below any additional costs you may incur that are not covered by your tuition fee:

• Laptops, tablets and mobile devices and any software used on personal devices. Access to a personal computer is strongly recommended for your study. If you are experiencing financial difficulty, visit our website for information regarding hardship funds.
• Textbooks, general stationery and other supplies. Our award-winning library is stocked with a large range of textbooks and online resources, free of charge. The Students’ Union shops stock a wide range of stationery supplies on both campuses.
• Accommodation and living costs. Our accommodation price guide can be found on our website.
• Travel costs for optional field trips, outdoor wear and footwear for mandatory and optional field trips (if applicable).
• Travel costs to and from the University campus. An annual bus pass can be purchased alongside your rent if you are living in halls of residence/Unilet accommodation or may be purchased separately.
• Clothing or equipment costs required for your placement.
• Travel costs to and from your placement (both in the UK and overseas) if this is part of your course of study. Information about funding your placement year can be found on our website.
• Sport BU membership

While all aspects of the programme, including required field trips, are included in the fee, additional, optional or extra curricula activities may be available for which a student contribution is required.

If you need to repeat one or more units during your studies (with or without attendance) the pricing will be pro-rata of the full-time fee.

Once you are have enrolled as a student at BU, there is a wide range of help and support available, depending on your particular needs.

• Library & Learning support
• Additional Learning support
• Peer Assisted Learning (PAL)
• Transport and travel.

Roy is a Lecturer in English and Communications, and has taught at a number of universities and colleges alongside a career in senior education management, from which he has recently returned. Roy has worked at Bournemouth University since 2015, and has published on Robert Lowell, psychoanalytic criticism, and ethics in Business. Papers/sessions at conferences include those on Psychoanalysis and Robert Lowell, writing on tablecloths (really) and Jimi Hendrix.

Roy is the Programme Leader for BA English. He is interested in supervising research in many areas of modern and contemporary British and American literature, especially projects that explore the construction of self and the emerging field of autofiction.

Julia is a Principal Lecturer in Bournemouth University’s Faculty of Media and Communication, Deputy Head of the Narrative Culture and Community Research Centre, and Programme Leader for the MA English and Literary Media Course.

She is an award-winning writer and scholar whose research examines the intersections of Gothic, comics and children’s literature. Her books include Gothic for Girls: Misty and British Comics (University Press of Mississippi, 2019, winner of the Broken Frontier Award for Best Book on Comics), Gothic in Comics and Graphic Novels: A Critical Approach (McFarland, 2014), and the co-edited collection Real Lives Celebrity Stories (Bloomsbury, 2014). 

I am interested in the relationship between culture and social and political change, especially in relation to political devolution in the 4 nations of the UK. I explore these things in detail in my monographs After Raymond Williams: Cultural Materialism and the Break-Up of Britain (2nd edition, University of Wales Press, 2013) and Postmodern Fiction and the Break-up of Britain (Continuum, 2010) as well as numerous other articles, book chapters and conference presentations. I have recently completed a comparative study of Welsh, Scottish, English and Irish literature in the aftermath of Brexit, entitled 'Compatriots or Competitors?'

Simon studied and received his Masters and Phd in Denmark, pursuing a career in publishing, translation and arts before academia, joining Bournemouth University in September 2012 as Senior Lecturer in English. Simon is a senior editor for Oxford University Press ORE (Oxford Research Encyclopaedia) and is on the editorial board of two French and one international (Anthem) book series.

After working in further education teaching and a brief stint in music journalism, I completed my MA in Twentieth Century Literature at Goldsmiths, University of London, in 2008 before moving to the University of Exeter to begin my PhD. After completing my PhD in 2012, I was an Honorary Research Fellow at Exeter 2012-13. I joined BU as Lecturer in English & Communication in 2013.

I joined Bournemouth University in Autumn 2016 as a full-time Lecturer in Communications & English. I was previously a part-time lecturer in film and screen studies at the University of Brighton, an associate tutor in English and film at the University of Sussex, and an invited lecturer at the Scottish Universities' International Summer School based at the University of Edinburgh. I am a Fellow of The Higher Education Academy (FHEA) and a member of the British Association for Contemporary Literary Studies (BACLS).