Programme Code: Q300 BA/ENG

Venue: Russell Square: College Buildings

Start of programme: September

Mode of Attendance: Full-time

Studying English at SOAS offers an exciting approach that brings new voices and a global discipline to our specialist institution.  Building on existing strengths and expertise in literatures, languages and linguistics from around the world, English at SOAS also looks to its own location and literary heritage in the heart of Bloomsbury.  From our position in the ‘North’ and particularly London, we are interested in the ways in which English - in all its variations as a field of literary study - has long been in dialogue with its neighbours in the northern hemisphere and across the Global South.

Our vision is an interrogative one - cutting edge, deeply committed to interdisciplinary research and teaching across the humanities, and engaged with metropolitan, cosmopolitan and island histories. English at SOAS is truly international and the first degree of its kind in the UK. 

At SOAS you will be in a fantastic professional network in the literary hub of the capital: a place to meet like-minded peers, but also alumni, staff, and visiting speakers.  Our new ‘Conversations in Bloomsbury’ series, launched in 2015, takes its inspiration from the book by Mulk Raj Anand and our own Faber Building, where T. S. Eliot, the famous poet and dramatist, worked as an editorial director when it was the home of independent publishing house Faber & Faber.

Many novelists, poets, journalists, theatre directors and performers have studied at SOAS: Jung Chang, Zeinab Badawi, Saira Shah, Freya Stark, MK Asante, Ishtiyaq Shukri, Willis Barnstone, among others.  Honorary graduates and fellows also include award-winning writers J. M. Coetzee, Ben Okri, Wole Soyinka, and Meera Syal. See our honorary fellows and honorary graduates pages.

The English degrees at SOAS place the academic study of English language and literature in the global setting of Asia and Africa, where SOAS has unmatched expertise in linguistic, cultural, political and social contexts.

Suggested readings for new students on this programme are available on the Year 1 module Global Shakespeare and, looking ahead, the Year 2 module, The Novel and Its Others.

Student Profile

SOAS is a place you come to grow: as a person, writer and thinker. The Fictions of History class was a particularly transformative experience for me. As a bilingual, bicultural and interdisciplinary student it allowed me to explore not only the world but also myself. Henk van Woerden, Caryl Phillips, Alexandra Fuller... these are all authors I have come to love and would not have discovered without SOAS. And the best bit? I have not stopped exploring since.

Kalle Oskari Mattila, BSc International Management (China), Class of 2013
Graduate destinations:
Community Manager, Penguin Books UK
Nonfiction Creative Writing MFA, Columbia University in the City of New York

Contact Us

If you are interested in applying for BA English, please see Undergraduate admissions pages or contact the admission tutor for English, Dr Sarah Pett.

Please note that modules need a minimum number of students to run. Should the module not run, students will be notified of an alternative.

The programme consists of compulsory modules on key thematic concerns but with the flexibility to choose modules on either literature, language, linguistics, or a combination of them. Students will also be able to combine English with an Asian or African language and/or region and take courses on cinema, development, migration, diaspora, etc.

Year 1

Compulsory Modules

Students must take all compulsory modules in order to proceed to the next year

Optional Modules - Year 1

Take guided optional modules to the value of 60 credits from List A 

OR

Take 30 credits from List A and 30 credits from the Language Open Options List or Non-Language Open Option List.

Year 2

Compulsory Modules - Year 2

AND

Choose 30 credits from the Year 2 English modules below

Guided and Open Options

EITHER

Choose up to 30 credits of guided options from Year 2 English modules and the remainder 30 credits from List B (Regional Literature) or List C (Arts and Film).

OR

Choose 30 credits of guided options from Year 2 English modules or from List B (Regional Literature) or List C (Arts and Film) and the remainder 30 credits from the Language Open Options list or the Non-Language Open Options list.

Year 3

AND

Choose 30 credits from the Year 3 English modules below

Guided and Open Options

EITHER

Choose 60 credits of guided options from Year 3 English modules or List B (Regional Literature) or List C (Arts and Film).

OR

Choose 30 credits of guided options from Year 3 English modules or List B (Regional Literature) or List C (Arts and Film) and the remainder 30 credits from the Language Open Options list or the Non-Language Open Options list.

List of Optional Modules

N.B. Not all optional modules will be available every year

Year 2 & 3 - English Modules

Year 3 - English Modules

List A - Introductory Modules

List B - Regional Literature Modules

List C - Arts and Film

Programme Specification

• BA English programme specification 2019/20 (pdf; 403kb)

Important notice

Teaching & Learning

Why study English at SOAS?

Studying English at SOAS offers an exciting approach that brings new voices and a global discipline to our specialist institution.  Building on existing strengths and expertise in literatures, languages and linguistics from around the world, English at SOAS also looks to its own location and literary heritage in the heart of Bloomsbury.  From our position in the ‘North’ and particularly London, we are interested in the ways in which English - in all its variations as a field of literary study - has long been in dialogue with its neighbours in the northern hemisphere and across the Global South.  Our vision is an interrogative one - cutting edge, deeply committed to interdisciplinary research and teaching across the humanities, and engaged with metropolitan, cosmopolitan and island histories. English at SOAS is truly international and the first degree of its kind in the UK. 

Our teaching

You will:

• learn how Shakespeare's plays have influenced the world
• study literatures in English from around the globe
• analyse how English has been shaped and adapted by different cultures

You will also gain all the benefits you would expect from a high-quality English degree taught with a global dimension in a university at the forefront of international and multicultural studies.

Contact Hours

All full-time undergraduate programmes consist of 120 credits per year, in modules of 30 or 15 credits. They are taught over 10 or 20 weeks. The programme structure shows which modules are compulsory and which optional.

As a rough guide, 1 credit equals approximately 10 hours of work. Most of this will be independent study (see Approaches to teaching and learning at SOAS). It will also include class time, which may include lectures, seminars and other classes. Some subjects, such as learning a language, have more class time than others. In the School of Arts, most undergraduate modules have a one- or two-hour lecture or seminar every week. Some, but not all, also have a 1-hour seminar or tutorial every week.

More information is on the page for each module.

Tuition Fees

Full details of undergraduate tuition fees can be found on the Registry's Undergraduate Tuition Fees page.

Fees for 2019/20 entrants. The fees below are per academic year. Please note that fees go up each year. 

Scholarships

For further details and information on external scholarships visit the Scholarships section

• How to Apply
• UCAS website
• Request a prospectus
• Got a question - use our enquiry form (opens a new window)
• Funding options
• English language requirements
• Tuition Fees
• Admissions Contacts