English Lit&Lang or just Lit?

Hi,
I've just started my A-Levels but am thinking of dropping one to take up something else; probably either English Literature or the combined Lit and Lang. The difference doesn't seem massive and I'm really into books and literature, but seeing as I'll be joining late I think it's more likely I'll get a place on the combined course.
What's the difference, and do Uni's value the courses differently?
Thanks

Reply 1

alleycat393

If you can't see much of a difference then there isn't one. In terms of how unis view the courses have a look at entry requirements to get an idea.

Reply 2

Sophiej36

I've done AS lit/Lang and I loved it. So much so I actually ended up doing four A2's until last week (got a bit much for me- two of my courses were linear). I took the dual because I was equally good at both of them and I couldn't decide. My course was edexcel we studied Gatsby, Larkin poetry (for the lit side) and an anthology of texts for language. I personally preferred the lit side because I am a huge book worm but doing dual meant I got to do more fun texts and less Shakespeare stuff, I wouldn't have minded doing Shakespeare, I just think it's harder. My teachers said unis prefer the dual and it leaves you open to doing either one or the combination at uni! So if you're not sure I'd say go for the dual :smile:

Reply 3

thedayismyenxmy

My English teacher told me (I do Lit at A Level) that the combined subject receives poor results nationally, so it's completely up to you. He described it as language - more scientific, and literature more.. English. It's completely up to you but English Literature as a course gets a higher success rate, as well as being listed by the universities as a founding subject (it's what they get impressed with when they see it on your UCAS application).

Reply 4

Sophiej36

Original post by thedayismyenxmy

I think perhaps the singular lit might actually be slightly more recognised.. I just did some research. I don't know about nationally but my college had a 100% pass rate this year in the lit/language course, and I got an A :smile:

so it doesn't necessarily perform badly, but like I said I don't know the national results.

Perhaps look at the course(s) you want to do at university and then see what they want in the required a levels bit. Or maybe even contact them?

If you preferred lit GCSE and didn't like language, do the straight lit! No point doing something you don't want to do x

Reply 5

rebbeccaehx

It depends on what you you would rather study. I done English lit and lang at A-Level and regretted it. It was very much focused on language, whereas I much prefer literature. We studied 2 or 3 books (the catcher in the rye, huckleberry Finn and the crucible) but the study was not in depth and the majority of the course revolved around annotating transcripts, adverts, articles etc and studying the language techniques. My friends did English lit and had a much more interesting reading list.
I now study English literature at university and love it, so if you are more interested in reading and analysing classic books then I would definitely go with literature rather than lit and lang, but then again you may still enjoy the language side of the course, everyone is different.

Hope this helps!

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