Frequently asked questions

If you're thinking of applying to study English at Warwick, you might have lots of questions. We've tried to answer the most common questions below but if you can't find the answer you're looking for, please contact the Undergraduate Admissions Team.

What will the courses offer me?

Our English degrees are designed to give you a firm grounding in English Literature from the Middle Ages to the present day and to be as flexible as possible, so you can broaden your knowledge and tailor your degree to your own interests from a huge range of options.

The English Literature degree gives you a comprehensive foundation in English Literature and provides different pathways you can choose to follow in years two and three. This gives you the freedom to tailor your degree to your particular interests such as North American literature, world and comparative literature or literary theory.

Our joint degree in English Literature and Creative Writing is one of the most popular arts degree courses in Europe. You'll benefit from a comprehensive English Literature programme combined with an intensely practical course to develop your imagination, creative writing and reading skills.

On the joint degree in English and Theatre Studies you'll be taught by experts from two departments – the Department of English and Comparative Literary Studies and the School of Theatre Studies. This provides a wide range of insight, teaching methods and approaches to literary analysis of texts and understanding plays and performance.

Literature and History are vitally intertwined. On this course you'll think about, question, and blur the line between them: how history always involves modes of representation that are themselves literary, and how literature has imagined and influenced the political and social contours of history.

How will I be taught?

Studying English at Warwick, you'll be working in a department whose world-class research is rated number 1 in the UK for excellence andyou'll be taught by the same world-class teachers who are producing that research. We're a department that's dedicated to undergraduate teaching excellence. Our staff is diverse and international. Among us we hold fourteen WATEs (Warwick Award for Teaching Excellence) and three of us are National Teaching Fellows. We put our teaching where our research is. In Warwick's English Department you can study everything from Arthurian Literature and its legacy to alternative lifeworlds fiction, from dissonant voices in the Middle Ages to texts that make sense of global chaos today, from Shakespeare and the law to critical theory to new literatures in English from Asia and Africa. Following on from our first year modules that give you a solid foundation for understanding genre, form, context and the history of ideas, we've structured our course along four pathways. These allow you to follow your passions and focus your interests (on English Literature, Critical Theory, World and Comparative Literature, North American Literature). But we offer flexibility: you can always conduct cross-border raids onto other pathways. We've preserved traditional university teaching methods (lectures, seminars, personal tutoring). But we've also pioneered innovation: 'Shakespeare Without Chairs' is taught in a black-box studio using rehearsal methods to understand Shakespeare by putting him on his feet; 'States of Damage' uses film and graphic novels to explore contemporary experiences of the global market, digital culture, and student politics; 'Literature, Environment, Ecology' has students do fieldwork in car parks to examine how petroleum shapes our imagination and environment. To match teaching innovation, we've developed creative forms of assessment and examination: at Warwick, you'll learn to write research-informed academic essays, but you'll also be given the option of keeping commonplace books, making short films, constructing installations that respond to your reading, writing scenes a playwright 'forgot'. In our department, you'll be helped to discover and launch your own intellectual project. Most importantly, you'll be treated as a collaborator. You'll be teaching the teachers as much as they'll be teaching you. And you'll be setting yourself on a course to follow English graduates into lives beyond Warwick that make a difference.

Most core modules are taught by means of one lecture and one seminar per week in terms one and two. Optional modules are normally taught by means of one seminar per week (1.5 hours duration). Many of the drama modules include workshops or theatre visits. On the joint degree in English Literature and Creative Writing, you'll also be taught by practising writers in workshops.

How will I be assessed?

The courses are assessed through a combination of traditional essays and written examinations together with creative projects, portfolios and performance. For example, in our Shakespeare and Selected Dramatists of his Time module, student creative work recently included film and radio adaptations, musical compositions, painting, sculpture and photography inspired by Shakespeare's texts.

What grades will I need?

Refer to the entry requirements page for typical offers of places on our English degrees. Also, be sure to check the University Prospectus for entry requirements and typical offers.

What about General Studies and Key Skills?

Offers normally exclude General Studies at A or AS level. The University welcomes Key Skills qualifications, but they will not be included in the offer.

Can I take a gap year?

We welcome applications for deferred entry though you should be aware that competition is intense.

What opportunities are there to study abroad?

You will have the opportunity to spend your third year at one of our partner institutions in Europe, China or the USA. You will then return to Warwick to complete the fourth and final year of your degree. You will be able to apply to transfer to the four-year course when you are in your second year at Warwick, subject to availability of places from the University's International Office.

When are open days and when can I visit the department?

Warwick open days are the perfect opportunity to visit our campus and experience what it's like to be a student at Warwick. Staff from the Department of English and Comparative Literary Studies run sessions where you can learn about what studying English at Warwick involves and you can ask questions.

Open days are extremely popular – around 8,000 people attend each open day – so booking is essential. Check the University's open days page for upcoming dates and booking information.

How do I apply?

Refer to the University Prospectus for information on how to apply. Information on making your application through UCAS (Universities and Colleges Admissions Service) is available on the UCAS website. The UCAS institution code for the University of Warwick is W20.

When should I apply?

Applications are considered between October and January each year. We strongly advise you to submit your application as early as possible and before 15 January (the UCAS deadline). We're committed to considering all applications as quickly as possible but, in the interests of fairness, some decisions may be delayed until we've received all applications submitted by 15 January.

Will I be interviewed?

We do interview selected candidates before making an offer. The majority of our offers for Q300 (English Literature) & QP36 (English Literature and Creative Writing) will be made without interviews. QW34 (English and Theatre Studies) will continue to selected by interview in person. In the case where an interview is offered, it is tailored to each candidate and designed to explore their individual suitability for studying at Warwick.

Since 2012-13, we have piloted a scheme with the English Literature degree (Q300) to help identify students from especially challenging or non-traditional backgrounds. Students in this scheme will be continue to be offered an interview when, in the past, they might otherwise have been filtered out in the selection process. We hope this encourages more applications from talented students who have excelled in challenging circumstances and who show every sign they would thrive in the department.

When do interviews take place?

If being interviewed in person, we will normally interview candidates in January and February in the year of entry. If being interviewed on-line, this can take place from November to February.

How do I get to the department?

The main English Department is located on the 5th floor of the Humanities Building on the Central Campus. The Writing Centre is based in Millburn House.