English Degree vs English A-level

Hi, I am currently doing English at A2 level and there are a lot of essays involved. Will it be the same at uni, or will there be, for example, more reading?

Thanks!

I was watching a vlog about someone's first year experience doing English lit at Exeter and they said it's just more reading and more analysis - she even said it was easier than A-levels

Thank you! Will there be more essays?

I'm wondering the same. Where are you applying?

Hi, I am currently doing English at A2 level and there are a lot of essays involved. Will it be the same at uni, or will there be, for example, more reading?

Thanks!

Honestly, A-Levels was the most unpleasant experience of my life. Pressure from teachers, intensity of 3/4 courses at once etc and at a young age (16-18 for most). University life was more me, much more pleasant and it's a much better environment to learn. HOWEVER, it is not easier, but rather different and more developed

At undergraduate, the amount of analysis is more intense, length of essays will be longer but for me this was a gradual development and you won't notice it too much if you're first year is taken seriously and taught well.

However the main jump is in reading. I was basically given 2 books minimum to read a week, closer to 3-4 with a lot of supplementary reading. Most schools / sixth form colleges have no where near the amount of reading, i mean no where close, or maybe my course was just quite intensive.... I was only in for 10 hours a week in my last year but was reading probably 30 more (i was a bit of an anorak and im not that clever so I had to do every bit of work to develop my grades)

The other hard part of undergrad is that (at least on ym course) it was very seldom they would look at any draft of your work. For this reason, reading feedback is SO important. So if you get 60% (the 2.1 cut off) and you want to improve, you really have to re-read your next essay and almost check off the feedback (if relevant, different tutors mark differently) to make sure you've developed to the feedback. Finally, you will need to choose modules you will enjoy, not just because your friends are doing them. Doing 3/4 modules at once is tasking, but if you enjoy them all then it is much more rewarding and enjoyable

Things that are easier is that the first year is an unofficial "trial period". Money aside, from an academic point of view in the UK VERY few courses mark first year students. Nearly al institutions grade 2nd and 3rd year (mine was 100% 3rd year marks or 60% 3rd year /40% 2nd Year depending on which averaged higher). Thus, you have the time to get used to the workload, not have teachers tell you you have to undertake 5 volunteer jobs or you won't get into your insurance uni choice etc.

they key thing is love your subject, work hard and you'll be fine

Hi, I am currently doing English at A2 level and there are a lot of essays involved. Will it be the same at uni, or will there be, for example, more reading?

Thanks!

Of course there will be more essays and more reading!

Now, how many readings you do is totally up to you. Essays is a "meh" feelings. You can't really revise for English other than practice your essay writing for exams. But once you get that a technque that suits you, you should be fine. With uni exams, they have a bunch of questions that will suit you and your taste which is why I love English at uni - it's so diversified.

The reading is a lot, but not that much. As I said, most secondary reading isn't really compulsory. But if you want to get a 2:1 or higher you need to do a lot more reading. For example, at my uni a 1,700 worded English Lit essay, they expect you to referenced at least 12 books. That's a lot of academic essays you have to write. They are written in such a way it makes it 10x dense than normal writing. That's the hardest part of uni in general - you have to do a lot more academic reading.

Essays tend to be usually a little bit longer as the years go up. For instance 1st years usually around 500-2000 words. Second year is 1500-4000 words and finally, third year is usually 3000-10,000 words. So if you pick a lot of modules that have coursework, they you're in for a big shock because the workload does get on top of you and for a subject like English, you need to have social life or you will go insane!

I do English Lit and Philosophy and the hardest challenge of doing two subjects in having to switch different writing styles and thinking differently. For instance i had one English exam this morning and a Philosophy one 2 hours after and it's hard to switch between the two. Same with lectures and stuff.