If you love literature and want to develop new skills and cultural understanding, come and study English Literature surrounded by the iconic scenery which inspired some of Britain’s greatest writers – including Wordsworth, Ransome, Potter and Ruskin.
Many of our students use this two year course as a gateway to the full BA (Hons) English Literature degree – you’ll study exactly the same modules and if you pass those you will have the opportunity to transfer onto the full degree programme.
You’ll explore the development of English Literature from the Renaissance to the present in global and regional contexts, against a backdrop of the Lake District National Park – now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
You’ll write essays and a dissertation, just as you would on any other English Literature degree, but in addition you’ll also develop the skills required for the contemporary workplace by scripting and recording a mock radio programme, designing a webpage, and even submitting a ‘job application’ assessed by academic and careers staff.
Why choose University of Cumbria?
This is not your average English Literature course – it’s much more.
- Excellent working relationships with cultural organisations such as Brantwood, Dove Cottage and the National Trust
- Fieldtrips to places which inspired some of Britain's literary greats, to enrich your studies
- Opportunities to design and implement real world projects - such as web design and writing - to boost your CV
- You’ll be taught by tutors who all research and publish in their specialist areas
- Small class sizes enable us to guide and work closely with you throughout your studies
- You’ll have opportunities to take part in local literary festivals
- By developing contemporary communication skills, you’ll boost your job prospects
- You’ll study on a dedicated and creative arts campus within Carlisle’s thriving literary scene
You’ll be based at our Brampton Road campus in Carlisle, where the River Eden - once described by the poet William Wordsworth as his “life’s neighbour” - flows through the adjacent and beautiful parkland.
Guaranteed accommodation
Apply to any Undergraduate course before 30 September 2017 and we can offer you a guaranteed place in University of Cumbria owned or partnered accommodation.
Explore our accommodation Terms and conditionsCourse outline
Course summary
All students follow a common pathway in the first year, providing a solid foundation for the study of English literature and developing a range of skills in critical and cultural analysis. You will have the opportunity to study a wide variety of texts drawn from different cultures and socio-historical contexts, and to explore the treatment of literature and literary topics within the contemporary media industry.
In your second year you develop a more in-depth understanding of major shifts in the development of an English literary tradition, focusing on significant literary periods, contexts, and developments. This will include at least one module exploring eighteenth or pre-eighteenth century literature which, apart from increasing your understanding of the development of English Literature, will also equip you to cover the National Curriculum should you be interested in teaching at a later stage. As part of our concern to develop your understanding of how literary texts live on in the world, all our students also follow a compulsory module applying knowledge of literature to real-world contexts. You will visit and study a regional cultural heritage site, and gain insights into the cultural heritage industry. You will develop new skills on this module, including designing and producing a webpage.
Most DipHE students progress to the third year of the BA (Hons) English Literature. See our BA (Hons) pages for what you would study in your final year.
Modules
Year one
Compulsory modules
- Texts and Contexts
- Introduction to Literary Studies
- Texts and Readers
- Travels in Poetry
- Literature in the Media
- Reading for Writing
Year two
Compulsory modules
- Early Modern Writing
- Texts in the World
- Research Skills for English
- Literature and the Environment
Optional modules (subject to availability and demand)
- British Romanticism: Literature in an Age of Revolution
- Literature in the Victorian Period
- Gothic Literature
- Literature and Film
- Shakespeare
- Poetry and Place
Programme Specification
For detailed summary of all course content please read our programme specification for this course.
Entry requirements
2017 entry
56 UCAS tariff points - to preferably include an A-level in English Literature.
Find out more about qualification options from the UCAS tariff table.
Please check selection criteria for any additional entry requirements.
2018 entry
56 UCAS tariff points - to preferably include an A-level in English Literature.
Please check selection criteria for any additional entry requirements.
Selection Criteria
Apart from looking at predicted grades, we read the UCAS form carefully, paying particular attention to personal statements.
We value applicants with non-traditional entry profiles and welcome informal approaches to discuss how other qualifications and experience may be relevant to an application for a place.
The programme seeks to widen access by means of a flexible admissions policy and applicants who do not present the normal entry requirements may be required to submit a short piece of work to enable us to assess their aptitude for the progamme.
Application information
Full-time courses
Apply online through the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS), between September and January; they will send your application on to us. Applications submitted after this date will be considered late and the course you have applied for might be full by this time; however, we will consider you for alternative suitable courses.
Their website provides all the information you need about universities, courses, locations, entry requirements and financial support. You are allowed to select up to five course choices. You need to use the correct UCAS campus and course codes as not all courses are offered at every campus. You will be asked for the following information when you apply online:
Institution code name: UoC
Institution code: C99
Campus location:
- A Ambleside
- B Brampton Road, Carlisle
- E University of Cumbria at Energus, Workington
- F Fusehill Street, Carlisle
- L Lancaster
- T University of Cumbria in London
- Y University of Cumbria at Furness College, Barrow-in-Furness
Part-time courses
Applications should be made online directly to the university; visit our website or contact enquirycentre@cumbria.ac.uk for details and guidance. There is no official closing date but we would encourage you to apply as early as possible, as many courses are competitive.
What makes a good application?
We consider all aspects of your application, not simply your qualifications and grades. We look at your academic background and performance, relevant experience (particularly for professional courses where some voluntary or paid experience is required) and your reference. Above all, we look for motivation, commitment and potential-evidence that you can benefit from study at higher education level.
Make sure you include:
- Relevant qualifications/evidence of ability: check our website for the specific entry requirements required for each course. Tell us your previous academic results and your projected grades.
- A supportive reference, from an employer or your school or college.
- A good personal statement.
- Explain clearly what attracts you to the course and tell us about your wider interests and experience. If you are applying for a course that incorporates professional training and placements, you should include any relevant experience or visits you have made in the workplace. Highlight your individual strengths and qualities, personal skills, capacity for teamwork, contribution to the community and your enterprise, originality and determination. Select some activities which bring out these qualities.
What next?
When we receive your application, we will send you an acknowledgement and if you are successful at this stage you will get either an offer (with an invitation to visit the campus to which you have applied), or an invitation to interview on a particular date. If we are not able to offer you a place on your chosen course we will usually try to offer you a place on a similar course and will contact you to discuss this. Alternatively, if we think you are suitable, but cannot offer you a place on your preferred campus because of the level of competition, we will offer you a place at another campus if one is available.
And if I accept?
The admissions team will contact you and send further information from February onwards about accommodation, and from May/June onwards about preparing to join the university. If you have any other queries, please telephone the admissions offices for information and advice on 0845 6061144.
Deferred entry
We welcome applications for deferred entry on some courses. If you have specific plans during your year out, indicate these on your personal statement as they may be relevant to your course and could enhance your application.
International students
Applications for full-time undergraduate study are made through UCAS. Please see the international pages of our website for full details of our entry requirements (including English-language skills) as well as contacts for advice and support.
From 2009 the UK Border Agency introduced a Points-Based Immigration System (PBS) for students coming to the UK from outside the European Economic Area (EEA). Students entering higher education will need to obtain a Confirmation of Acceptance (CAS) plus finance confirmation to obtain a Tier 4 student visa. UK education providers are licensed by the UK Border Agency. When students apply for their visa (or entry clearance) they will need a valid Certificate of Acceptance of Studies from the university. Please note that a CAS is not a guarantee that a visa will be issued.
See the following websites for further details:www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/studyingintheuk
Additional costs
Students will be issued with reading lists in advance of each year of study indicating primary texts which you will need to purchase. In addition two key fieldtrips are included in the programme - a visit to Brantwood and a visit to Dove Cottage. Students contribute to the costs but the remainder is subsidised by the department.
Additional costsGraduate destinations
A DipHE in English Literature suits a range of careers demanding high-level analytical, interpretative, written and oral communication skills. Most of the students enrolled on the DipHE programme progress onto and complete the full BA (Hons) English Literature degree. Recent graduates from the BA have gone into teaching, lecturing, the cultural heritage sector, and work with major national organisations and companies.
Many English Literature graduates use their degree as the basis for further study and training in order to pursue high level ‘graduate’ work in a wide variety of fields. For the latest on what English graduates see the publication ‘What do graduates do?’.
How my Cumbria English degree helped land me my dream job
English Graduate Chandni Asher's story
After leaving, I went straight onto a Graduate Scheme with Network Rail entitled MSc Project and Programme Management. It is specially designed by Network Rail to prepare their candidates for entering the business after a year long Masters Course in a Project Management capacity. The Scheme is open to any graduate in any discipline from any UK university – they don’t usually take English graduates!
When looking at the job specification, I first identified the core skills from my time at university: time management, research, analysis and application. But it wasn’t just the skills I gained from the degree that helped me. The opportunities you have being a part of the department and the university are invaluable. Whilst with UoC, I took on extra responsibilities to gain experience. Being a cohort student rep, for example, can present you with unusual communication tasks that you may have never come across before since your role is to act as a go-between/buffer for students and tutors and, sometimes, university staff.
What’s important about this English degree is that it doesn’t just develop essential skills in for your work life. The tutors make the effort to push you (gently) out of your comfort zone to show you exactly how much you can do. That is why when doing modules such Literature in Media and English in the World is so important: it will challenge you and help you understand your own personal skill set. It was through the English in the World module that I found myself being good at project management!
Resources and facilities
One of our most important resources is our proximity to the Lake District, a beautiful part of England with a rich literary heritage. The programme team have long standing arrangements with key literary organisations in the region, including Brantwood, Dove Cottage, the National Trust, and the Words by the Water Literary festival and we use these excellent working relationships to enhance your studies with input from external speakers and a fieldtrip.
The course is taught at the Brampton Road Arts campus in the historic border city of Carlisle. The campus has a friendly and lively atmosphere and offers a great environment for your studies. Just across from the campus is the beautiful Rickerby Park. The River Eden, described by the poet Wordsworth as his ‘life’s neighbour’, flows through the park and from here you have views across to Carlisle’s castle and medieval Cathedral, at which your graduation ceremony will take place.
The campus itself has its own theatre and art gallery, and Carlisle has a vibrant literary and cultural scene. It also has one of the best Independent Bookshops in the country as well as its own annual literary festival, Borderlines.
Awards and recognition
English Literature staff were awarded a Vice-Chancellor's Teaching Excellence Award for 2011, making English the top-rated teaching team in the university's higher education provision for the academic year 2010-11. The award citation said that tutors "demonstrated a highly innovative and adventurous approach to the design of a single honours English degree, taking a usually traditional disciplinary area and introducing elements which address a range of agendas to enhance the engagement of students with English in the world and the development of skills and attributes for employability and further study."
English at Cumbria was also shortlisted for the Student Experience award byEducate North (June 2015).
Programme Leader, Dr Penny Bradshaw’s new critical edition of Ann Radcliffe’sObservations during a Tour to the Lakes was runner up for Lakeland Book of the Year in 2015. Penny is an Editorial Board Member for Romanticism: Life, Literature and Landscape (a digital resource published by Adam Matthew Digital and Adam Matthew Publications using archives held by The Wordsworth Trust) and she reviews for Green Letters, the journal of the Association for Literature and the Environment.
Dr Paul Ferguson reviews for the journal Literature, Interpretation, Theory and has been invited to give a lecture at the Scottish Universities’ Summer School at Edinburgh University in 2016.
Steve Longstaffe has had an article on employability and the English Degree published in The Times Higher Education Supplement in 2015. He reviews for a variety of journals and has acted as external consultant for curriculum reviews of Drama, English, and Creative Writing at Bath Spa University and London Met. He also reviews theatre for The Stage and Northern Soul.