Film Studies and English BA, 3-4 years
Start date:
Hitchcock made groundbreaking cinema. Joyce wrote landmark novels. English film and literature might appear opposites, but their similarities are striking. You’ll look at the relationship between the two disciplines, and learn the practical skills to work in both.
- Typical offer
- BBB
- UCAS code
- PQ33
- Department
- English, History of Art and Film
Admissions enquiries
+44 (0)116 252 5281
ahladmissions@le.ac.uk
Course enquiries
+44 (0)116 252 2620
ArtsAdmissions@le.ac.uk
Course description
Course description
The worlds of Film and English make an exciting combination – there is much intellectual common ground on issues such as authorship, genre, identity and representation – and there is a great deal of cross-over when film adaptations are made from English Literature.
This course gives you the opportunity to explore the similarities and differences between these two complementary disciplines.
Your English learning will take you on a chronological journey from the beginnings of the English language right up to the 21st century, exploring the work of those who have the most prodigious effect on English literature and language.
The Film Studies modules that you take will teach you the various methods of critical analysis that can be applied to film.
You can choose from a vast variety of option modules in your third year, allowing you to really focus of the areas of English Literature and Film Studies that interest you the most.
Entry requirements
Entry requirements
- A-levels: BBB at A-Level including English (Language, Literature or combined). Two AS-Levels may be considered in place of one A-Level. General Studies is accepted.
- EPQ with A-levels: BBC at A-Level including English (Language, Literature or combined) + EPQ at grade B.
- Access to HE Diploma: Pass relevant diploma with a minimum of 45 credits at level 3, 24 of which must be at distinction. To include 12 credits at Distinction in English Level 3 Modules.
- International Baccalaureate: Pass Diploma with 28 points, including 6 in Higher Level English.
- BTEC Nationals: Pass Diploma at DDM. Plus grade B in A-level English (Language, Literature or combined).
Other national and international qualifications considered.
Second Year Entry may be possible with suitable qualifications.
Selection Process
When considering your application, we will look for evidence that you will be able to fulfil the objectives of the course and achieve the standards required. We will take into account a range of factors including previous exam results.
Applicants are not normally interviewed. If you receive an offer you will be invited to visit the department.
English Language Requirements
IELTS 6.5 or equivalent. If your first language is not English, you may need to provide evidence of your English language ability. If you do not yet meet our requirements, our English Language Teaching Unit (ELTU) offers a range of courses to help you to improve your English to the necessary standard.
International Qualifications
Find your country in this list to check equivalent qualifications, scholarships and additional requirements.
Countries listFees and funding
Fees and funding
UK and EU Students
Starting in 2020
Tuition fees for 2020/21 are yet to be confirmed. As an indication of what you might pay, the fees for students who started in 2019/20 were:
- £9,250 in your first year. Tuition fees are subject to government regulations and may change in future years
- Year Abroad: your fee will be £1,250 for that year
Find out more about scholarships and funding.
International Students
Starting in 2020
- £17,450 per year
- Year Abroad: £4,362.50, which is 25% of the full-time tuition fee
Find out more about scholarships and funding.
Careers and employability
Careers and employability
We organise annual employability workshops to help you realise your career ambitions and consider what progress you should be making towards employment at each stage of your degree.
Our 'English and Education' final year module provides practical teaching experience with a placement in a local school.
You can gain experience in the publishing industry with the final year module on 'Transcultural Writing and the Publishing Industry'
Modules such as 'Film Production' have an applied focus – helping you develop the skills and knowledge required for careers in these areas.
We have a programme of visiting careers talks by leading experts in the arts and film industries who can provide insights into employment pathways.
Our Career Development Service is here to support you, with advice on interviews, CVs, work experience, volunteering and more. From Welcome Week to Graduation and beyond, they are here to help you reach your professional goals.
Related courses
Related courses
Course structure
Year 1
Year 1
You will acquire foundation knowledge in both English and Film Studies. You will learn about the most popular modes of literature and the predominant styles in film.
Modules
- Reading Film
- Introduction to Film History 1
- A Literary Genre: The Novel
- American Film and Visual Culture
- Film and Art: Academic Study and the Workplace
- Renaissance Drama: Shakespeare and his Contemporaries
Modules shown represent choices available to current students. The range of modules available and the content of any individual module may change in future years.
Year 2
Year 2
During your film modules you will explore national and transnational cinemas, and work in groups to create your own short video. You will add a new dimension to your English education by studying the critical theories that have developed in response to literature and provide possible explanations of our relationship with art.
Modules
- Researching World Cinemas
- Film Production
- Documentary Film and Television
- Realism and Cinema
- Concepts in Criticism B (double module)
Plus either Chaucer and the English Tradition (double module) or Renaissance Literature B (double module)
Modules shown represent choices available to current students. The range of modules available and the content of any individual module may change in future years.
Year Abroad (optional)
Year Abroad (optional)
If you want to, you can spend your third year studying abroad at one of our partner institutions (eligibility is dependent on your academic performance in Years 1 and 2). Alternatively, you can opt to continue studying at the University and complete your degree in three years.
Studying abroad is not just for people who are interested in travelling and meeting new people. It is about acquiring life skills that are becoming increasingly significant for a wide range of jobs in our modern globalised society. Whether you go on to work in the private sector, the state sector, a non-governmental organisation, or become self-employed you will find the experience invaluable. Find out more from our Study Abroad Unit.
Please note that a year spent abroad still incurs a tuition fee, but this is much lower than for a normal year at Leicester. See our Fees and Funding section for details.
History of Art and Film at Leicester has links with several European universities, administered through the Erasmus+ scheme. If you are eligible for a loan from Student Finance you can apply for a travel grant from them. Languages courses, at both beginners and advanced level, are available through the University’s Languages at Leicester scheme.
- For the latest information on the future of the Erasmus+ scheme at UK universities please see our Brexit microsite.
We have links with the following universities:
- Freie Universität Berlin, Germany
- Université Paul-Valery Montpellier, France
- Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, Netherlands
- Charles University Prague, Czech Republic
- Università degli Studi di Pisa, Italy
Modules shown represent choices available to current students. The range of modules available and the content of any individual module may change in future years.
Final Year (Film Studies Dissertation)
Final Year (Film Studies Dissertation)
During your final year you will research and write a dissertation on an area of Film Studies that most fascinates you. The rest of your learning will be entirely decided by you. A wide range of option modules will allow you to tailor your degree according to your interests and our expertise.
Choose 3 option modules from the following list. You must choose at least one of the modules marked *. You cannot choose both the 'Victorians' modules.
- Romanticism: Revolutionary Writing from Blake to Shelley*
- Victorians: from Oliver Twist to The Picture of Dorian Gray A*
- Victorians: from Oliver Twist to The Picture of Dorian Gray B (double module)*
- Contemporary European Cinema
- Contemporary Hollywood
- Stardom and Identities in Chinese and American Cinemas
- New Chinese Cinemas
- Hitchcock and Film History
- Film and Art Journalism
- Postwar Italian Directors
- Cinematic Representations of Latin America
- Blood, Terror, and Belonging: Culture at American Borders
- Coming of Age in America
- Modern Forms of Poetry
- The Child Writer
- Love and Death: The Novel in 19th Century Russia and France
- Feminist Fiction
- Church and State in Medieval Literature
- Writing Voices
- Criminal Women in Early Modern Literature
- English Around the World
- Classical Worlds: Translation and Reception
- Postcolonial Afghanistan: From the Great Game to the War on Terror
- English Place Names
- Detective Fiction
- Libertine Literature, 1660-1690
- Writing Prose Fiction
- On the Road Again: The Canterbury Tales After Chaucer
- Clinical Encounters? Narratives of Doctors and Patients from the Victorians to the Present Day
- Twenty-First Century Global Fiction
- The Living and the Dead in Nineteenth Century Literature and Culture
- Multilingual and Multicultural Communities
Choose 2 option modules from the following list. You must choose at least one of the modules marked*. You cannot choose both the 'Post-War to Post-Modern' modules.
- Modern Literature*
- Post-War to Postmodern: Literature 1945-Present Day A*
- Post-War to Postmodern: Literature 1945-Present Day B (double module)*
- Women and Cinema
- Screen Affect
- British Popular Culture Since 1945
- Norms and Margins in French Cinema
- The Cinema of Luis Buñuel
- Spanish Horror Cinema
- Modern Monsters: The Other in Contemporary American Texts
- Autobiography and American Literature
- Advanced Marlowe: Poems, Translations, Plays
- Writing the Middle Ages: Medievalism in Contemporary Literature
- Woman and the Feminine in Medieval and Renaissance Literature
- Late Victorian Gothic: Texts and Contexts
- Representing the Holocaust
- Jane Austen: Novels, Contexts, Adaptations
- Modern European Fiction
- Advanced Old English
- Historical Fiction
- Understanding Screenplays
- Kingdoms of Ice and Snow: Exploration in Writing and Film
- Writing the English Revolution: Literature and Politics in Milton and Marvell
- Tragedy
- Austen in Antigua: Literary and Cinematic Explorations of Rural Britain’s Colonial History
- Writing for Laughs
- Language, Power and Persuasion
- Sex and Sensibility: Women, Writing, Revolution
Plus your Dissertation
Modules shown represent choices available to current students. The range of modules available and the content of any individual module may change in future years.
Final Year (English Dissertation)
Final Year (English Dissertation)
Choose 4 option modules from the following list. You must choose at least one of the modules marked *. You cannot choose both the 'Victorians' modules.
- Romanticism: Revolutionary Writing from Blake to Shelley*
- Victorians: from Oliver Twist to The Picture of Dorian Gray A*
- Victorians: from Oliver Twist to The Picture of Dorian Gray B(double module)*
- Contemporary European Cinema
- Contemporary Hollywood
- Stardom and Identities in Chinese and American Cinemas
- Hitchcock and Film History
- Film and Art Journalism
- Postwar Italian Directors
- Cinematic Representations of Latin America
- Blood, Terror, and Belonging: Culture at American Borders
- Coming of Age in America
- Modern Forms of Poetry
- The Child Writer
- Love and Death: The Novel in 19th Century Russia and France
- Feminist Fiction
- Church and State in Medieval Literature
- Writing Voices
- Criminal Women in Early Modern Literature
- English Around the World
- Classical Worlds: Translation and Reception
- Postcolonial Afghanistan: From the Great Game to the War on Terror
- English Place Names
- Detective Fiction
- Libertine Literature, 1660-1690
- Writing Prose Fiction
- On the Road Again: The Canterbury Tales After Chaucer
- Clinical Encounters? Narratives of Doctors and Patients from the Victorians to the Present Day
- Twenty-First Century Global Fiction
- The Living and the Dead in Nineteenth Century Literature and Culture
- Multilingual and Multicultural Communities
Choose 2 option modules from the following list. You must choose at least one of the modules marked*. You cannot choose both the 'Post-War to Post-Modern' modules.
- Modern Literature*
- Post-War to Postmodern: Literature 1945-Present Day A*
- Post-War to Postmodern: Literature 1945-Present Day B(double module )*
- Women and Cinema
- Screen Affect
- New Chinese Cinemas
- British Popular Culture Since 1945
- Norms and Margins in French Cinema
- The Cinema of Luis Buñuel
- Spanish Horror Cinema
- Modern Monsters: The Other in Contemporary American Texts
- Autobiography and American Literature
- Advanced Marlowe: Poems, Translations, Plays
- Writing the Middle Ages: Medievalism in Contemporary Literature
- Woman and the Feminine in Medieval and Renaissance Literature
- Late Victorian Gothic: Texts and Contexts
- Representing the Holocaust
- Jane Austen: Novels, Contexts, Adaptations
- Modern European Fiction
- Advanced Old English
- Historical Fiction
- Understanding Screenplays
- Kingdoms of Ice and Snow: Exploration in Writing and Film
- Writing the English Revolution: Literature and Politics in Milton and Marvell
- Tragedy
- Austen in Antigua: Literary and Cinematic Explorations of Rural Britain’s Colonial History
- Writing for Laughs
- Language, Power and Persuasion
- Sex and Sensibility: Women, Writing, Revolution
Plus your English Dissertation
Modules shown represent choices available to current students. The range of modules available and the content of any individual module may change in future years.
Why Leicester?
The Complete University Guide 2019 ranked us 15th in the country for teaching film studies.
The David Wilson Library has extensive collections of rare books and manuscripts plus the personal archives of two local giants of 20th century writing: Joe Orton and Sue Townsend.
Our teaching staff have specialist knowledge in some fascinating areas, including female Hollywood directors, American B-movies, classic British TV drama and James Bond.
Notable authors who have spoken at the University include Carol Anne Duffy, Will Self, Amitav Ghosh, Jacqueline Wilson, Roger McGough, Fay Weldon, Linton Kwesi Johnson and Sarah Waters.
Teaching and learning
Teaching
You will be taught through diverse methods including lectures, seminars, small discussion groups and film screenings. For each module, you will typically have one or two lectures and a seminar each week, along with a number of additional events such as workshops on research and study skills, learning groups, and introduced film screenings. Lectures are designed to introduce you to important debates and contexts for understanding an author or filmmaker's work. Weekly seminars, in which a tutor leads a small group of students in discussion, will allow you to explore a text or topic in depth.
You will also have the opportunity to gain practical filmmaking experience in the Film Production module in your second year.
For your third year dissertation you receive one-to-one tuition across the term from a tutor with an interest in your chosen subject.
Assessment
You will be assessed through a combination of essays, exams, reviews writing, group work and oral presentations. These assessments are designed to help you build confidence in a range of skills and to provide prospective employers with evidence that you can work effectively both as an independent researcher and as a team member. Your final degree result will be based on the work you do in the second and third years of your degree.
You will have regular meetings with your personal tutor to discuss progress in your studies. Your personal tutor will also provide a sympathetic ear for all matters of personal concern including academic, financial, housing, career or social issues.
Independent learning
When not attending lectures, seminars or other timetabled sessions you will be expected to continue learning independently through self-study. Typically, this will involve reading journal articles and books, watching films, working on individual and group projects, undertaking research in the library, preparing coursework assignments and presentations, and preparing for exams. To help with your independent learning, you can access the Library and our social study spaces in halls of residence.
Your contact hours will depend on the option modules you select. You can see details of the contact hours on individual module pages.
Academic support
Our Student Learning Development Team provides help in the following areas:
- study and exam skills
- academic writing
- presentations
- dissertations
- numerical data skills
- referencing sources
Our AccessAbility Centre offers support and practical help for students with dyslexia or other specific learning difficulties, including physical, mental health or mobility difficulties, deafness, or visual impairment.
Teaching staff
You will be taught by an experienced teaching team whose expertise and knowledge are closely matched to the content of the modules on the course. PhD research students who have undertaken teacher training may also contribute to the teaching of seminars under the supervision of the module leader. Our teaching is informed by the research we do. You can learn more about our staff by visiting our Film Studies staff profiles and English staff profiles.
Apply now
Course | Qualification | Duration | UCAS Code | Availability |
---|---|---|---|---|
Course Film Studies and English | Qualification BA | Duration 3 years full-time | UCAS Code PQ33 | Availability Apply Now |
Course Film Studies and English with Year Abroad | Qualification BA | Duration 4 years full-time | UCAS Code PQ33 | Availability Apply Now |