The University of Buckingham is:
- Home of the two-year degree, the University of Buckingham, based in the South East of England, is ranked 6th for Student Satisfaction in the UK (National Student Survey, 2020).
- We are proudly independent and not-for-profit, and offer courses in Allied Health, Business, Computing, Education, Humanities, Law, Medicine, Psychology and Security and Intelligence. We are one of the few universities in the UK that offer September and January start dates for almost all of our courses.
- Based in Buckingham on a riverside campus, we are only 20 minutes’ from Milton Keynes central station and a short drive from Bicester, Aylesbury, Banbury and Northampton. There is free parking on-site and we are within easy reach of London and Oxford.
- Our award-winning small class tutorials ensure every student is known by name and supported throughout their studies, including by dedicated personal tutors.
- As pioneers of the two-year degree, we offer a condensed version of the traditional three-year degree, meaning you can gain a full honours degree and complete your studies a whole year earlier. Alternatively, you can complete both your undergraduate and master’s degree with us in just three years: saving you time and money.
English Literature here is taught to small groups by energetic and enthusiastic staff, led by Oxford-trained academics with international research profiles in 19th- and 20th-century studies. Ideas developed in core seminars are taken forward in weekly small-group tutorials, where half a dozen students are encouraged to discuss and interpret specific passages of writing, under the watchful guidance of their tutor.
Our students are expected to read widely, and to develop strong lines of argument and personal responses to what they find, anchored in an informed understanding of the discipline and with reference to the critical debates that animate it. We believe, as Jeanette Winterson says, that ‘learning how to read deeply – and that means diverse and sometimes difficult texts – trains the brain and improves your sense of self. Learning how to write, even reasonably well, gives fluency to the rest of life’.
The degree is structured around a combination of period study, thematic study, and modules inculcating theoretical and practical skills. Victorian literature modules cover prose from Dickens to Gaskell, and poetry from Browning to Hardy; 20th-century literature topics range from Rhys, Hurston, Woolf, and Plath to Hemingway, Forster, Larkin, and Beckett. Shakespeare is one central focus. Other earlier writers who are studied include Marlowe, Donne, Webster, Herbert, Milton, Dryden, Centlivre, Swift, Pope, Blake, Wordsworth, Austen, Keats, and Shelley. Thematic study encourages students to analyse contextually based on sociological variations, gender, contemporary politics, and psychological influences. We encourage the understanding of contemporary literary and cultural theory while never losing sight of the values of liberal / aesthetic education.
This is the 3-year format of the BA degree (UCAS code Q321), which allows you the traditional summer break. Starting each September, there are 3 terms per year, leading to an assessment period in early June. Then the summer is free, before the return for the new academic year in late September. This allows you more time for reading and reflection.
Our recent graduates have gone on to pursue careers in the media, creative writing, teaching, academia, business, and marketing.
Course Details - Modules
Creative Writing 1,
Creative Writing 2,
Dissertation,
Eras of English,
Fiction and Theory,
Film Studies,
Gothic, Sensation, and Science Fiction,
Literary Journalism (1642-present),
Modern American Literature,
Modernist Writing,
Plays in Performance,
Poetry and Poetics,
Renaissance Literature,
Restoration and Augustan Literature,
Rewriting Empire,
Romantic Literature,
Shakespearean Drama,
Synoptic Study Unit,
20th-Century Theatre,
Victorian Fiction,
Victorian Poetry,
Women’s Writing,
Course Details – Assessment Method
Teaching is carried out through a combination of lectures supported by seminars, workshops, tutorials and informal one-to-one discussion.. A key feature of the Buckingham teaching method is the use of small tutorial groups which provide the most effective means of ensuring that the students benefit from the academic expertise at their disposal. It is also the philosophy of Buckingham’s faculty to be available to students outside the scheduled tutorial times and to encourage good working relationships between staff and students.
We believe in the surpassing value of the reading, discussing and understanding of great works of literature, not simply as processes that lead to higher levels of employability and the development of valuable critical skills (which they undoubtedly do) but as ends in themselves which are enriching and, ultimately, liberating. The assessment of individual modules within each course varies according to the subject. Assessment is usually by examination, assessed coursework, or a combination of the two.
Course Details – Professional Bodies
Professional Bodies are not listed for this Course.
How to Apply
26 January This is the deadline for applications to be completed and sent for this course. If the university or college still has places available you can apply after this date, but your application is not guaranteed to be considered.
Application Codes
Course code:
Q321
Institution code:
B90
Campus Name:
Main Site
Campus code:
Points of Entry
The following entry points are available for this course:
Year 1
Entry Requirements for Advanced Entry (Year 2 and Beyond)
Entry Requirements for Advanced Entry are not listed for this Course.
International applicants
Standard Qualification Requirements
Typical Offer
From relevant National Diploma
Applications to Buckingham are individually considered by the Admissions Team and other factors may be taken in to account. Applicants with BTEC qualifications are welcome to apply, including if you have a mix of BTEC and A levels.
An EPQ will be considered alongside A levels.
Foundation options are also available. Please contact the Admissions Office (admissions@buckingham.ac.uk or +44 (0)1280 820313) for more information.
Applicants must also have GCSE English and Maths at Grade C / Grade 4, or above (or equivalent). IELTS requirements are as follows: (Academic) 6.5 Average of 6.5 (with 6.0 or above in each component).
Please click the following link to find out more about qualification requirements for this course
Minimum Qualification Requirements
Minimum Further Information are not listed for this Course.
English language requirements
Test
Grade
AdditionalDetails
IELTS (Academic)
6.5
Average of 6.5 (with 6.0 or above in each component)
