English at UCL

I am looking to apply to study English at degree level this year, and I want to pick a course that gives you the opportunity to study a broad range of Literature yet still provides some flexibility. Does anyone know how much flexibility there is within the modules in the English degree at UCL? Are there set texts within each module or do you have the opportunity to pick texts that could be linked to a particular area of interest (e.g. politics, feminism, or a specific author/genre etc.)?
Also, do you have continued assessment or just exams? And what years do you take your exams in?

Thanks in advance to those who respond to this.

Reply 1

hrowe

I will be starting at UCL in September, as long as my grades are up to scratch, so I can tell you what I know. In the first year of the course, there is no flexibility in regards to modules, because the aim of the year is to level the playing field. Given the public/state school ratio at a place like UCL, there will be some evident gaps in ability which they attempt to fill in. There are four modules in the first year, with sessional exams at the end of the year.

In each of the latter two years there is a single compulsory module (Year Two = Chaucer; Year Three = Shakespeare), but besides that you get to choose your modules. Personally, I think there is a lot of choice. You can pick to study very rare, but traditional topics, such as Old English and Old Icelandic, but there is some really cutting edge stuff such as the module on Queer theory and general LGBT representation in literature. On the offer holders day, we had taster sessions in modules on graphic novels and film too, so the modules on offer seem very broad to me.

Most of the modules are tested through examinations, although a few offer the option of coursework. If I recall correctly, however, there is a limit on how much coursework you can choose do to, as they seem to prefer exams.

Within modules there seems a fair amount of freedom to look at what interests you. We were sent our reading list last week, with a short description of what/how much we should read before September. The majority of the books were listed under one module: Intellectual and Cultural Sources, which had everything from Aristotle to 'The Bible' to Mary Wollstonecraft to Freud. We've been told to read what interests us, so there does seem to be some room to cater to personal interests.

Hopefully there are some current/former students out there who can help you more; but I hope this answered at least a few of your questions!