The Student Room Group

English supercurriculars

I want to apply to study English at Oxford University when the time comes (I'm currently in year 11), and I've looked into Oxford admissions advice, and it all follows the same narrative- show your interest in the subject, which is best done through wider reading. However, I feel that wider reading is already a given for English, so I doubt reading a lot will do much to separate me from other candidates. I am not sure what else there is to do- right now my extra/super curriculars are:
Grade 8 viola, attended a physics summer school for 3 days, I'm in the middle of an application process for a physics work experience, I've done an economics work experience, and I am going to attend a philosophy course over the summer.
I feel like the majority of this has nothing to do with English, and I can't think of anything of a similar style for English either. Any suggestions?? I'm willing to do anything to improve my chances of getting in.
I think there is an English summer school at UCL over the summer, so I'll look into that...

Reply 1

I recommend doing an online course or two eg: subject tasters on Springpod or moocs on edx or openlearn
Suggestions for oxbridge: https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/files/publications/super-curricular_suggestions.pdf
(edited 2 months ago)

Reply 2

I agree with DerDracologe about doing online courses.

You could also email local bookshops, newspapers, and publishing houses asking for work experience.

Join your school newspaper, creative writing club, or book club if they have them. If they don't, why don't you talk to a teacher about setting one or more of them up.

Enter writing/essay competitions. There's lots of competitions out there. You just have to search for them online and find out which of them interest you.

You could (volunteer) tutor younger/gcse students in English lit and lang once you've sat your exams. If your school has a buddy system where the older students help the younger ones with English, you could do that.

Lastly, you could start a social media account, podcast, or blog about books and reading. Use it/them to review books and share your passion with others.

I hope this helps, and if you have any more questions, feel free to ask me. 😊

Reply 3

Your extra curriculars are all great things for your own personal development but they will be irrelevant for Oxford English.

It is not a given that everyone has done wide reading. Many people don’t read much beyond what they are asked to at school, or read quite narrowly (eg only certain genres, or not much from before the 19th century). So read lots of English literature which is complementary to or unrelated to your A level course, read from a wide range of periods and genres. This is the single most useful thing you can do to help your application.

Reply 4

'Reading widely' is highly recommended but you can also look into the background of authors and playwrights. Find out what was influencing their writing. Try listening to some of the relevant BBC radio 4 'In our time' podcasts e.g. this recent one on Thomas Middleton BBC Radio 4 - In Our Time, Thomas Middleton Jacobean playwright

Reply 5

Original post by DerDracologe
I recommend doing an online course or two eg: subject tasters on Springpod or moocs on edx or openlearn
Suggestions for oxbridge: https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/files/publications/super-curricular_suggestions.pdf

Thank you so much! I'll check it out

Reply 6

Original post by claraaa375
I want to apply to study English at Oxford University when the time comes (I'm currently in year 11), and I've looked into Oxford admissions advice, and it all follows the same narrative- show your interest in the subject, which is best done through wider reading. However, I feel that wider reading is already a given for English, so I doubt reading a lot will do much to separate me from other candidates. I am not sure what else there is to do- right now my extra/super curriculars are:
Grade 8 viola, attended a physics summer school for 3 days, I'm in the middle of an application process for a physics work experience, I've done an economics work experience, and I am going to attend a philosophy course over the summer.
I feel like the majority of this has nothing to do with English, and I can't think of anything of a similar style for English either. Any suggestions?? I'm willing to do anything to improve my chances of getting in.
I think there is an English summer school at UCL over the summer, so I'll look into that...

Check out the Cambridge undergraduate events page! They have lots of cool events for potential students on all the time such as:

https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/events/handmaids-tale-dr-michele-gemelos-murray-edwards-sixth-form-lecture-series

https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/events/christs-subject-meetings-english

https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/events/queens-college-estelle-prize-year-12-english-students

Oxford has similar programmes:
https://www.balliol.ox.ac.uk/admissions/schools-and-outreach/access-programmes-year-12-students

https://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/visiting-and-outreach/outreach-events/english-taster-day-3

https://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/visiting-and-outreach/outreach-events/mind-gap-moving-level-english-english

Some of these are for Y12s whereas some allow Y11s as well. Keep an eye out on the calendars for similar programmes over the summer and at the start of Y12. For now, focus on smashing your GCSEs. Best of luck :smile:

Reply 7

Original post by jasmineva3128
I agree with DerDracologe about doing online courses.
You could also email local bookshops, newspapers, and publishing houses asking for work experience.
Join your school newspaper, creative writing club, or book club if they have them. If they don't, why don't you talk to a teacher about setting one or more of them up.
Enter writing/essay competitions. There's lots of competitions out there. You just have to search for them online and find out which of them interest you.
You could (volunteer) tutor younger/gcse students in English lit and lang once you've sat your exams. If your school has a buddy system where the older students help the younger ones with English, you could do that.
Lastly, you could start a social media account, podcast, or blog about books and reading. Use it/them to review books and share your passion with others.
I hope this helps, and if you have any more questions, feel free to ask me. 😊

Thank you so much for all the suggestions- they are very helpful and just what I was looking to find! 🙂 I have looked into essay/writing competitions- at the moment I'm swamped by GCSE revision, but that is definitely something to consider for the future!
I won a poetry competition in year 7, but I fear that is too far in the past to mean anything now...

Reply 8

Original post by xyz1234567
Your extra curriculars are all great things for your own personal development but they will be irrelevant for Oxford English.
It is not a given that everyone has done wide reading. Many people don’t read much beyond what they are asked to at school, or read quite narrowly (eg only certain genres, or not much from before the 19th century). So read lots of English literature which is complementary to or unrelated to your A level course, read from a wide range of periods and genres. This is the single most useful thing you can do to help your application.

It might just be the school I'm in and the people I surround myself with then, as most people around me have read a lot and much more broadly than the school curriculum asks. I'd also assume that anyone serious about applying for English would have read further, but I am likely to be wrong as this is just my own experience (?). But yeah you are totally right- I agree that reading is the most useful thing I can do to further my application, I am just looking to go even beyond that!

Reply 9

Original post by BetaVersion2.9
'Reading widely' is highly recommended but you can also look into the background of authors and playwrights. Find out what was influencing their writing. Try listening to some of the relevant BBC radio 4 'In our time' podcasts e.g. this recent one on Thomas Middleton BBC Radio 4 - In Our Time, Thomas Middleton Jacobean playwright

Thank you, I'll look at that tonight! 🙂

Reply 10


Thank you so much! That is so helpful- I'll be sure to check these out 🙂
Just read around, beyond the A-level curriculum. Bear in mind old and middle English literature (and languages) are compulsory at Oxford, so have a look at some stuff in that vein - Beowulf and Chaucer are obvious options but you could also read for example some Bede or the Gawain poet also. There's lots of options from the early modern period (including Shakespeare's contemporaries) that you probably haven't read much - try reading what others were writing at the same time as Shakespeare!

You could also look into some literary/critical theory - lots of introductory books around surveying major approaches (some with "examples" of analyses in those veins).

Essay competitions may also be an option but that's not really essential by any means. See if there are any that you might like to write about and give it a go if so, don't worry about them if nothing fits your interests though.

Reply 12

Original post by artful_lounger
Just read around, beyond the A-level curriculum. Bear in mind old and middle English literature (and languages) are compulsory at Oxford, so have a look at some stuff in that vein - Beowulf and Chaucer are obvious options but you could also read for example some Bede or the Gawain poet also. There's lots of options from the early modern period (including Shakespeare's contemporaries) that you probably haven't read much - try reading what others were writing at the same time as Shakespeare!
You could also look into some literary/critical theory - lots of introductory books around surveying major approaches (some with "examples" of analyses in those veins).
Essay competitions may also be an option but that's not really essential by any means. See if there are any that you might like to write about and give it a go if so, don't worry about them if nothing fits your interests though.

Do you have any recommendations for books on literary/critical theory? That sounds really interesting. I was reading the A-level text for Doctor Faustus, and it had some fascinating comments on the side but they didn't go into much depth. Thank you so much for the suggestions! 🙂
Original post by claraaa375
Do you have any recommendations for books on literary/critical theory? That sounds really interesting. I was reading the A-level text for Doctor Faustus, and it had some fascinating comments on the side but they didn't go into much depth. Thank you so much for the suggestions! 🙂


There's various options! English lit students seem to really like Terry Eagleton's Literary Theory: An Introduction I think from what I've heard/read on here?

When I had to do a touch of literary stuff in a module a few years ago I liked Bennet & Royles Introduction to Literature, Criticism and Theory as I felt it was very readable and it had some nice "examples" of them analysing some passages from well known works in the context of the critical theory they were describing in that chapter. I also got Barry's Beginning Theory recently which I've read a couple chapters of and also seems quite readable, although I also only have read bits of it before going to bed and fall asleep quite quickly :colondollar:

You can also look for major papers from particular theoretical frameworks that helped define those or were otherwise quite notable/important - I don't really know that many examples but I recall we looked at a Levi-Strauss one on a structuralist view of mythology (particularly a part of it writing about Prometheus) which I heard is quite commonly looked at?
(edited 2 months ago)

Reply 14

Original post by artful_lounger
There's various options! English lit students seem to really like Terry Eagleton's Literary Theory: An Introduction I think from what I've heard/read on here?
When I had to do a touch of literary stuff in a module a few years ago I liked Bennet & Royles Introduction to Literature, Criticism and Theory as I felt it was very readable and it had some nice "examples" of them analysing some passages from well known works in the context of the critical theory they were describing in that chapter. I also got Barry's Beginning Theory recently which I've read a couple chapters of and also seems quite readable, although I also only have read bits of it before going to bed and fall asleep quite quickly :colondollar:
You can also look for major papers from particular theoretical frameworks that helped define those or were otherwise quite notable/important - I don't really know that many examples but I recall we looked at a Levi-Strauss one on a structuralist view of mythology (particularly a part of it writing about Prometheus) which I heard is quite commonly looked at?

Thank you so much for the recommendations! Those sound intriguing, I'll 100% check those out 🙂

Quick Reply