How competitive is english?

Yes it is competative, but at the end of the day, someone's got to get the places! My friend wasn't quite up to an A at AS level (she got a B) and all she did was apply for a joint degree (english and french) and she had a much better chance of getting in and only has to get a B in English for most places. So if you combine english with something u like, but is less popular u'll have a better chance of getting into the best unis with lower grades. Having said that, if there's no reason why u couldn't get the higher grades then just go for it. I did and got an offer from Bristol. Make sure you've got a really enthusiastic personal statement, talk about why you love english and if u like the theatre etc, to show ur commitment to the subject. Don't be put off applying! just go for what u really want. :party:

Reply 10

Evil Muffin

Its rare to find a decent uni with offers lower that AAB.

Not true. Sheffield and Soton both gave me ABB/ABC offers, UEA, Edinburgh and Lancaster all want BBB. Reading wants between ABB - BBB i think. And that's just off the top of my head.

But generally, yes, English is competative. I was really worried that I wouldn't get any offers but I have 4 already so try not to worry too much. Just make sure you apply to at least a couple of places that want lower grades

Reply 11

Specialheffa

And Queen Mary gave me BBB last year and in 2003 they were top of theGuardian table. When it comes down to it, the course should be the most important.

Reply 12

Royal Holloway want ABB and they're great for english!

Reply 13

fasterpurple

Durham and Bristol list their average offers as AAA, I believe - someone earlier said AAB. Not a lot of difference I know but it can make enough difference for you to miss an offer :/

Edinburgh are very good (their research is rated 5, I think?) and the course is nicely balanced. Personally I think the Bristol course is rather too static, and the Durham and Cambridge courses offer better choice.

Look really carefully at what is and isn't required when you're looking for a course :smile:

Reply 14

fasterpurple

Look really carefully at what is and isn't required when you're looking for a course :smile:

I'd say that's probably the best piece of advice you should consider when choosing a uni. Courses can vary so much, and if you don't like the course then don't apply there! I made sure I applied for courses that seemed quite modern and that had a lot of choice - like at Sheffield you can do 80 credits in other subjects in your first year, and at Cardiff you can choose all your English modules. Some courses are more traditional than others, and contain a lot of old literature. That's what put me off some places (like Nottingham and York) that most people apply to for English. Also, the Nottingham course seemed quite drama based. Don't be one of these people who applies somewhere just because it has a good reputation - really do your research.

If you want any specific advice on unis or courses just ask me, I must have memorised every single English course out there!

Reply 15

fasterpurple

The reason I didn't apply to York was the lack of choice ^_^ I want to be able to take some modules from French and Ancient History (at Durham I can take Ancient Literary Criticism from the Ancient History course which is quite drool-worthy) so I don't want a course that's mostly requried.

I also hate studying novels - my strengths and preferences are in poetry and drama, as well as critical analysis - so I don't want to have to study it too much!

Reply 16

fasterpurple

I also hate studying novels - my strengths and preferences are in poetry and drama, as well as critical analysis - so I don't want to have to study it too much!

Yeah, I'm not the biggest fan of poetry. Obviously I won't be able to get away from it entirely, but if you apply to places with lots of choice, you can basically design your degree to suit you

Reply 17

Durham has a good course, but i don't know why they ask for 3As..seems strange to me! I mean i can understand Oxbridge askin for that, but not really Durham. Bristol's standard offer is AAB. I thought York was one of the most interesting looking degrees, especially the writing and performance english degree. Durham's course looks interesting, but I couldn't stand living in Durham. I suppose uve just got to look at the bigger picture.

Reply 18

sophieD

Durham's a good course, but i don't know why they ask for 3As..seems strange to me! I mean i can understand Oxbridge askin for that, but not really Durham.

It's all due to the popularity of the course, not how good the uni is. Exeter ask for AAA too. It's not even that brilliant for English, but loads of people apply there so they can afford to ask for AAA

Reply 19