21Jun
UndergraduateThis course is not open to application until the 13th May 2025.
Goldsmiths, University of London has participated in the Teaching Excellence Framework. These ratings were awarded in 2023, for four years.
Open days
Course summary
Why study BA English at Goldsmiths Bold, flexible, and richly diverse – our BA English degree will take you on a thrilling intellectual and imaginative journey.
- We ask big questions. We challenge you to read literature in all its cultural, artistic, and political contexts and you will engage in debates about what it means to be human across time.
- We are diverse. You will travel across histories, cultures and languages, and explore evolving genres such as epic, tragedy and the novel. You will learn about the history of British literature, explore theoretical approaches such as feminism and postcolonialism, and investigate literary engagements with the Transatlantic slave trade, climate change, and political activism. You will be able to study American literature, Black British literature, Caribbean writing and indigenous literatures.
- We are critical and creative. Our staff undertake cutting edge research in the fields of gender studies; environmental humanities; Caribbean literature; linguistics; Shakespeare studies; American studies, translation studies; contemporary literature; life writing; Decadence; trauma studies; critical theory; modernism; visual culture; Romantic and Victorian literature; and the novel. Home to the Goldsmiths Prize and the Goldsmiths Writers' Centre, the Centre for Comparative Literature, the Centre for Caribbean and Diaspora Studies, and the Decadence Research Centre, Goldsmiths English is at the forefront of critical and creative practice.
- We are relevant. Our research-led teaching is informed by current debates about canon formation, decolonisation, the role of the arts in cultural and political life and the politics of the archive.
- We help you succeed. We will help you to grow and develop as a critical thinker and writer. You will have the opportunity to submit drafts of your work for in-term feedback and attend 1-2-1 Effective Academic Writing sessions.
Modules
Year 1 In your first year, core modules will introduce you to a wide range of genres and historical literatures, this will provide important groundwork that will inform your later module choices. You will study canonical literary texts alongside voices outside the cultural mainstream. Writers typically studied range from Shakespeare, Chaucer and Homer to Bernardine Evaristo, James Baldwin and Maggie Nelson. Questions of gender, class, race and ethnicity will form an integral part of your syllabus. We take an expansive view of the literary and students study a range of genres and critical approaches including the novel, poetry, drama, fairy tale, life writing, the short story, speculative fiction, the graphic novel, postcolonialism, historicism, aesthetics and structuralism. Our approach to learning, teaching and research is probing, inventive and rigorous. As a small and friendly community, first-year students soon get to know many of our core academic staff. In your first year, you will take the following compulsory modules. Explorations in Literature Approaches to Text Genre Ideas in Practice Creative-Critical Project Year 2 In the second year, full-time students take these compulsory modules: Reading the Past: from Bede to Sterne The Long Nineteenth Century You will also choose one of the following modules: The Goldsmiths Project or Work Placement (English) You will have the opportunity to take the module 'Communicating the Climate Crisis' as part of the Goldsmiths Connected Curriculum or you can choose another 15-credit Goldsmiths Elective Module. Optional modules You will also choose 2 optional modules from a list provided by the Department of English and Creative Writing. Modules vary from year to year, but may include the following: Homer and Contemporary Literature Poetry since 1945 American Gothic Language and Society Creative and Life Writing Shakespeare(s): Then and Now Aesthetics Black British Literature Music in Literature Year 3 In your final year, you will take two compulsory modules: Challenging World Literature: Diversity and Difference Modern and Contemporary Literatures Optional modules You will also take 2 to 4 optional modules to the total of 60 credits, chosen from a list provided by the Department of English and Creative Writing. Modules may vary from year to year, and examples have included the below: Caribbean Women Writers Decadence Writing Lives Shakespeare’s Sisters: Contemporary Women’s Writing 1960s to the present Contemporary Indigenous Literatures and Cultures American Crime Fiction Literary London Language and Gender Please note that due to staff research commitments not all of these modules may be available every year.
Assessment method
You’ll be assessed by a variety of methods, depending on your module choices. These include coursework, examinations, group work and projects.
How to apply
This course is not open to application until the 13th May 2025.
14Jan
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.
Points of entry
The following entry points are available for this course:
- Year 1
Entry requirements
Qualification requirements
UCAS Tariff - Not accepted
A level - BBB
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016) - DDM
Access to HE Diploma - D: 30 credits
Scottish Higher - BBBBC
Scottish Advanced Higher - BBC
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme - 33 points
Leaving Certificate - Higher Level (Ireland) (first awarded in 2017) - H2, H2, H2, H2
T Level - M
We welcome students with a range of educational experiences. If you believe you may not meet the standard qualification requirements we would still encourage you to apply because we consider all aspects of your application when making a decision.
English language requirements
| Test | Grade | Additional details |
|---|---|---|
| IELTS (Academic) | 6.5 | With a 6.5 in writing and no element lower than 6.0 |
Fees and funding
Tuition fees
No fee information has been provided for this course
Tuition fee status depends on a number of criteria and varies according to where in the UK you will study. For further guidance on the criteria for home or overseas tuition fees, please refer to the UKCISA website .
Additional fee information
To find out more about fees and funding, please check our undergraduate fees guidance or contact the Fees Office https://www.gold.ac.uk/ug/fees-funding/
Provider information
Goldsmiths, University of London
New Cross
Lewisham
SE14 6NW